Plot
In 1978 Colorado, live Finney and his younger sister Gwen. They live with their alcoholic abusive father Terrence. The town is being plagued by a serial kidnapper known as The Grabber, and Gwen is having psychic dreams about the kidnappings, which intrigue the police, and infuriate her father.
When Finney is the latest abductee, he finds himself in a basement. On the wall is a black phone which The Grabber reveals is disconnected. However soon it rings, and the voices on the other end belong to the other abductees, who are no longer with The Grabber, and try to assist in Finney’s escape.
Direction
Directed by Scott Derickson, who has a talent behind the camera for the horror genre. I have also reviewed his film, The Gorge. The ‘period film’ is sound, but I would have loved more attention to detail to show that this was set in the late 1970’s.
Cast
Solid talent in front of the camera.
Mason Thames plays Finney, who makes his feature film debut here. He will go on to star in the sequel. He also stars in the How to Train Your Dragon live action films.
Madeline McGraw plays Gwen, she too will return in the sequel, and has done voice acting in films like Cars 3, Toy Story 4 and Mitchell vs The Machines.
Ethan Hawke plays The Grabber, mostly appearing behind a mask for his scenes. Hawke has shown he too has a penchant for the horror genre.
Jeremy Davis plays their dad Terrance, who is one of the most unlikeable characters I’ve seen in cinema lately who *** spoiler *** makes it to the end!! However he does get some redeeming moments throughout.
Breakdown
Starting with a ‘cold open’ baseball game – that has a generational feel to it so you are aware it is a ‘period film’. That timeline being the late 1970’s.
We’re introduced to Finney. He lives with his sister Gwen, and his alcoholic dad Terrence – who beats both his kids constantly, and you can’t wait for him to meet his maker (but alas). Finney is still slightly childlike, scared of scary movies, and constantly clutching his toy rocket with a light inside it.
In the first half an hour we get a real sense of who these kids are. Finney is constantly bullied at school – and has a protector in Robin – the coolest kid in school. Gwen has ‘visions’ in her dreams which she lets slip at school, which causes dad to beat her till she bleeds, and the police question her as they are about the frequent abductions occurring throughout town.
The relationship between the brother and sister is wonderfully displayed here. They clearly love each other very much, and this is due to the recent passing of their mother. Now pretty much only having each other, they go above and beyond to keep each other safe. It was really sweet to see how they built this up.
When Finney is abducted (at the 30 minute mark), the film primarily focuses on him (with snippets of Gwen’s investigations of where he might be) and his time with the grabber. She even goes as far as to go against all her father hates in her investigations.
There are also some tender moments between the adults in the town to Gwen following Finney’s abduction – as the town feels sorrow for her. There is even a touching moment between her and Terrance which seemingly gives him his 180 character arc.
In a cold basement, he is trapped, and on the wall is a black phone in which The Grabber reveals ‘rings sometimes due to static electricity’ – from time to time it does ring – and on the other end are voices of the previous kidnapping victims.
At times this is quite creepy, as the kids don’t remember their own names, and in some scenes – we actually have a ‘ghostly’ apparition standing next to Finney as he is talking to them (and their voices sound to us like they would Finney on the phone… very clever). Near the end of the film where the voices tell him to “use what we gave you is incredibly deep”
Ethan Hawke, who since the mid 2010’s has shown he loves the horror genre is genuinely creepy at times, especially given The Grabber’s masks. His behavior is erratic – seemingly menacing at times, and almost childlike at others. He struggles with Finney’s resourcefulness
There is a tertiary storyline about a character Max, who the police investigate throughout… however he is not the grabber… but his arc is such a great red herring and plot twist! RIP to James Ransome his portrayer who passed recently. There is also a fun red herring where Gwen assists the police, and Finney is closer than they know!
The final act, and the ‘showdown’ between Finney and The Grabber is pretty epic, and you can’t help but cheer for the hero when he is successfull!
Overall
Absolutely stellar horror thriller with just a slight amount of supernatural to keep it in the realm of believability. There are some lovely moments between the family, especially Gwen and Finney, and Gwen and Terrance.
Strong performances, especially from Thames and McGraw help make this memorable.
Followed by a sequel.
4.5/5
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