The Black Phone is a horror film set in the 1970s, directed by Scott Derrickson.
The film follows a young boy who is kidnapped by a serial killer known as the Grabber.
The boy discovers a black phone in his basement, which allows him to communicate with the previous victims of the Grabber.
The film is a thriller with horror elements, well-crafted and starring Ethan Hawke as the Grabber.
Classic Cinema TV fans, this is Jason here with you once again bringing you another silver screen spotlight and yes it is Halloween season, it is October, it's time to jump into some horror films right and we're really enjoying the horror films here at Classic Cinema Plus studios. And yes, we are classic horror here at Classic Cinema Plus, but sometimes we like the newer stuff sometimes. Sometimes some of these films are just so good. It's like, wow, how do you not put them on your list, right? And so yeah, today we're taking a break from classic cinema and talking a little bit about more contemporary cinema and horror. So be sure to like, share, and subscribe, and let's jump into this. Today we're talking about Ethan Hawk in The Black Phone. This, of course, is 4K and Ultra HD and digital. This is a very interesting film. I think what I really love about this film, it takes place in the 70s, and boy is it well done. Oh my goodness. You would literally think that this was shot in the 70s. That is how good this is. Now I wasn't in the 70s. I was more or less a late 80s, early 90s baby, young adult, I guess teenager, whatever you want to call it. I was that. So I wasn't really 70s, but I love 70s. I love the 70s. I love the 70s TV shows. I love the 70s looks. I love everything about the 70s. It looked like a really fun time to live and to be around. I mean, not as much of the hustle and bustle. Not so much. You were kind of like, you didn't have all the, and I love the modern convenience. Don't get me wrong. I love the internet. I love cell phones. I love all this type of stuff. But it seemed like a simpler time and more of a time of getting out and doing something other than relying on the internet to do something. You know what I mean? Not a lot of – there wasn't a lot of video games like that. You had pinball. You had stuff like that. You had video games but not the type that we have now with like Xbox and PlayStations and all this type of stuff and people just sit in front of the thing like this this all the time that people got out and do something right and and it seemed like such a cool fun time right uh so anyway the producers decided hey we are gonna make a horror film set in the 70s and uh the late 70s and it was it is so cool uh the the black phone uh deals with a um a kidnapper named simply known as the grabber and he's grabbing kids and and uh murdering them and uh and all this type of stuff and they're trying to figure out who he is where he is and all this type of stuff and there's this uh this newest kid that he he kidnaps and he's there and he locks him in the basement and all and uh and he starts to play this game trying to get him to fight back. Because when the kid fights back, then he can really torture. And he gets like a sick kick out of this, right? Now, the interesting thing is there's a phone on the wall in the basement where the kid is at. It's the black phone. And he begins to hear the phone ringing. And he begins to answer it. And every time he answers it, there's a previous victim, one of the kids on the phone. And they start to tell him things, give him ideas, try this, try this, try to escape here and do this. And, and he starts to, I mean, it is so well crafted of a film. Uh, the screenplay is just so well crafted. Um, and Ethan Hawke is just amazing. Um, you know, and especially he's amazing because he plays this film basically behind the mask. and he has to, you can't use your facial expressions to really do anything. You have to do it with your voice and boy does he do a great job. Wow, it's so amazing. As we said, the film is crafted so well and it's more than a horror film. It's more of a thriller. There is horror aspects but it's a thriller because it's about this kid that's trying to find a way to survive and to get away from this killer and all. And so I consider it more of a thriller, but there is a lot of horror aspects in it, right? But it is so awesome and so well-crafted. Now, I have to say, as a classic film fan, I'm not a big fan of films that are filled with profanity. I grew up on films like Vincent Price films and Bela Lugosi films and Boris Karloff and these type of films Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and all these and they didn have a lot of profanity in them So to me I not a big fan of that type of thing but it is what it is This one is pretty heavy in profanity. So if you are looking for a film that is really good and you want to check out The Black Phone, just be aware of that. that if you're looking for something that's a little more classic that doesn't have a lot of that in it, this isn't going to be it because there is quite a good chunk of profanity in it. And there's some language that some might deem offensive. So just be aware of that. But you have to understand this film was shot as if it took place in the 70s. So the 70s was a different time. and there was a lot of words and a lot of phrases and a lot of things that were said back in the day that we look at this generation and we go, ah, that's bad. But this was a different time, so you just have to take that into consideration. But it is a great film. It really is a great film. Wow. So it is presented in 4K and in Blu-ray and in the digital, so you can have it on digital as well. I love the idea of having it on digital because then you can watch it if you're out and about somewhere. Maybe you're somewhere away from your Blu-ray 4K collection and you want to watch the film or you're sitting with friends somewhere and you want to show them this film. Well, yeah, you can do it. It's a cool bonus to have. But in addition to the 4K and the Blu-ray, You get bonus features of deleted scenes, Ethan Hawke's evil turn, a little featurette, answering the call behind the scenes of the black phone, devil in the design, another featurette, Super 8 set, talking about being shot in Super 8, which really brings a lot of the dream sequences and the classic sequences, kind of like takes it to a different level. It really makes it feel like a dream, like you're looking back in time. It's really well done. There's Shadow Prowler. It's a short film. There's audio commentary, all kinds of good stuff. So it's pretty cool. I love this. There you got the Blu-ray and the 4K discs right there. uh it basically the same artwork on both discs as you can see but uh pretty cool stuff uh i really enjoyed it uh for what it was i wish it wasn as heavy with profanity but that me But you know it still was a very exciting film And I will be re-watching it again very, very soon because it was that good. It really was. It was a pretty awesome little film. Ethan Hawke is amazing in this release, in this film. Definitely worth checking out. So, yeah, that's just a little suggestion today for maybe your Halloween viewing if you're looking for something a little different. If you haven't seen the Blackphone and you're looking for something that's just a little bit different. Yeah, definitely check out the Blackphone. Well crafted, well shot, has that classic feel of the 70s. So pretty cool film, actually. We have a full written review of the Black Phone in 4K up at Classic Cinema Plus. You can check out the link and check out the whole written review and decide if you want to add this to your collection. It is really, really good, so you may want to do that. I want to thank you for joining me today. This is just a look at some new releases and some classic releases at Halloween time. Good stuff. So give us a shout-out. let us know what you think about it. Tell us your thoughts about the black phone. Did you enjoy the black phone? Have you seen the black phone? What do you think of Ethan Hawke's performance? Let's talk about this. Whatever you want to talk about, whatever you decide, we'd love to hear from you. I'd love to have a conversation with you. You tell me what you think and I'd love to hear your comments. Be sure to do that. and be sure to like, share, and subscribe. Please do so. It helps out so much and lets me know you appreciate what we do here. So please do that. It would be a blessing and let me know you really enjoy what we do here. So please do that if you would. And be sure to go to Classic Cinema Plus. Check out all of our reviews. We got reviews five days a week. Every single week, five days a week. sometimes even more depending on how many releases we get here. But at least five days a week, every weekday, we put up new reviews. So go check them out at Classic Cinema Plus. And until we see you next time with another Silver Screen Spotlight, this is Jason Locker reminding you that if you want to see a great film or TV series, check out a classic, and we'll see you next time here on Classic Cinema Plus. Thanks for watching. Bye. Thank you.
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