Based on the terrifying short story written by Joe Hill, The Black Phone introduces a new horror villain called the Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke, who is sure to become just as iconic as Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. Written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill and directed by Derrickson, who are also responsible for the horrifying film Sinister, The Black Phone features a child snatcher who wears a series of disturbing masks, which seem to give him power, much like Myers and Voorhees.
The Black Phone stars Mason Thames (Evel, For All Mankind) as Finney Shaw, who has the misfortune of being grabbed by the Grabber and locked in his basement to wait for whatever awful thing the kidnapper is planning to do to him, just like all the kidnapped children who were there before him. Madeleine McGraw (The Mandela Effect, Secrets of Sulphur Springs) plays Finney’s sister Gwen, who often has unusual dreams that eventually come true. Gwen begins having strange dreams about the Grabber even before Finney is taken, but after her brother’s abduction, she may hold the key to any chance of rescuing him, if she can convince the police to believe her. Both Thames and McGraw are fantastic in The Black Phone, which is all the more impressive once you see Finney go up against the Grabber. You’ve never seen Ethan Hawke in a role like this; his portrayal of the Grabber is so unsettling, it’s genuinely uncomfortable to watch.
During a recent press day, Daily Dead was excited to have the opportunity to talk with Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw about what it was like working on The Black Phone, their thoughts on horror movies, and a lot more. You can watch our video interview below!
Blumhouse and Universal Pictures will release The Black Phone in theaters on June 24th.
Michelle credits seeing Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street in the theater as the reason she’s a lifelong horror fan. For the past several years she’s been writing film reviews, conducting interviews, and moderating live panels for various online sites, while also advocating for accessibility and inclusivity in journalism, as a disabled woman working in the horror community. She was previously a featured writer at DreadCentral.com and has also written for Ghastly Grinning, F This Movie!, Nightmarish Conjurings, Horrornews.net, and several other sites. She has also been published in the online zine We Are Horror and wrote an essay for the Blu-ray release of the film Dinner in America for Arrow Films Video. She now resides in Wilmington, NC where she is a member of the North Carolina Film Critics Association.
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