Brief Story Line
Set in the year 1978 in a small town in the US, few young boys were missing and said to be kidnapped by someone nicknamed Grabber. As Finney (Mason Thames) and his younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw - Secrets of the Sulphur Spring TV series etc) separated themselves while going home, he became the next victim of the Grabber (Ethan Hawke - Moon Knight TV series, 24 Hours to Live etc).
Finney was then kept in the basement where a non functioning black phone somehow worked and he was able to communicate with victims from the previous kidnappings.
So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this movie.
End of Brief Story Line
Well this film was really good and entertaining. From the start of the movie, we could already feel a bit of darkness, especially with the opening scenes which felt a bit chaotic and loud (it looked like the opening credits of True Blood TV series). The early part might seem to take long as the focus was on Finney and Gwen struggling with their lives. But it did not feel draggy at all. In fact we actually felt more attached with them and the story become more interesting for us.
However, once the kidnapping was done, the movie became more horrifying when the black phone started to ring in that basement. With the performance of Ethan Hawke as the frightening grabber wearing various masks to hide his face, it only added to the scary element. My wife and I are accustomed to the jump scare scenes in horror movies, but in here, that was not the source that terrify us. There were very limited scenes of such (with one particular scene that truly shocked us), but it was more towards the suspense of what Finney experienced.
I believe that this movie was enjoyable because of the amazing performance of the cast. Mason Thames was wonderful in portraying the kidnapped victim. His interaction with the Grabber, the communication with previous victims over the phone and the mood changes were awesome. Meanwhile Madeleine McGraw was just amazing. I could not remember where I saw her before, till my wife told me she played in that hit Disney+ series. It was a completely different characterization from the family friendly TV series to this foul mouthed, daring girl here. In addition to the 3 lead cast, there were also the support of Jeremy Davies (Justified TV series, Solaris etc) as Finn & Gwen's father Terrence and E. Roger Mitchell as Detective Wright.
During the opening credit, I could see that the movie was based on short story of the same title written by Joe Hill (one of his famous works for Locke & Key which has been adapted to a TV Series). My wife told me that she sense a strong Stephen King novel adaptation feel when seeing this movie which is possible considering Joe is his son and there might be a little bit of King's influence on his works. The film was directed by Scott Derrickson who was no stranger to horror movies as he previously directed The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil and even blockbuster film like Doctor Strange. So it was no surprise that this one was entertaining.
Another factor that I thought made this movie good was the musical score and sound effect that was put to good use, like in that scene which still managed to surprised my wife even though she had seen it in the trailer before. Btw, this one had a duration of 103 minutes which was not too long and felt just nice. It did not have any mid or post end credit scene like typical horror movie. Overall to me this is an amazing horror thriller movie. And what's not to like? It has a simple yet captivating story, set in the small town during the time when technology was not as advanced as now & supported by wonderful cast. So if you are interested in watching a different kind of horror movie that is still suspenseful without the constant jump scare scenes and felt truly intense, then this one should be satisfying for you. Even my wife who is not a big fan of horror genre could still enjoy the film (although she dare not see few of the scenes).
Happy watching!
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment