The Black Phone  ★★★

ETHAN Hawke reunites with director Scott Derrickson for the entertaining horror film The Black Phone.

They last collaborated when Hawke played the lead role in 2012’s Sinister.

This time Hawke has a smaller but pivotal role as ‘The Grabber’, a masked kidnapper of young boys terrorising suburban Denver in 1978.

It’s a fictional tale, based on a 2004 short story, but the technique in the cinematography and Derrickson’s direction helps give the story an authentic vibe.

Adding further to the film’s appeal is the fact it puts two young actors at the centre of its story, eliciting similarities to the popular Stranger Things television series and the settings and characters for many of Stephen King’s literary works.

It won’t be any surprise to learn the short story that provides the source material for Derrickson’s film was in fact written by King’s son Joe Hill.

Mason Thames and Madeline McCraw play brother and sister Finney and Gwen and succeed to the extent that you wouldn’t be surprised if they were in real life (they’re not by the way).

Finney is the latest victim of The Grabber and finds himself battling to find a way of escaping a locked basement.

In the room is a black phone which The Grabber tells him doesn’t work. So why does Finney keep getting calls from previous victims who give him hints on how to escape.

At the same time, Gwen is struggling to make people believe that she has a gift that may help find Finney and The Grabber.

The story fits nicely together for the most part and give audiences a couple of ways to interpret the seemingly supernatural events.

Hawke is an under-rated and extremely versatile actor who always brings something interesting to his performances.

His villain is a complex character with much of this portrayed by Hawke through minimal dialogue and physical mannerisms with his face hidden behind a mask.

The Black phone is another product from the Blumhouse specialist horror company which continues to deliver mostly quality stuff.