The Black Phone (2021) MOVIE REACTION! FIRST TIME WATCHING!! 

I love movies that don't have to force feed the audience and shows more than tells. It's never said that Finn has a gift like his mom and Gwen, but the scene where the dad is beating Gwen about her dreams and he looks at Finn and says "same goes for you," suggests that Finn may have also had dreams or visions. It's such a quick line that I never thought anything of it until my second watch. Of course the fact that he could even hear the phone ringing and talk to the dead kids eventually tipped me off, but I just really like that they never explicitly say he has a gift.

Early on in the film, the Grabber hears his phone ringing upstairs. That was his brother calling to say that he's coming for a stay. The brother's presence totally throws off the Grabber's normal itinerary of whatever horrors that he normally inflicts on the kidnapped children. The Grabber has to stay upstairs the majority of the time. In fact, after Finnie is first kidnapped, we only see the Grabber actually enter the basement that first time. After that, the Grabber speaks to Finnie from the doorway. From standing there, the Grabber can't see that the bars have been removed from the window. The Grabber's absence gives the ghosts of the dead children time to coach Finnie on how to fight back against the Grabber.

There's one very cool, specific detail they added in this movie - Finney and Gwen's dad works at Rocky Flats. People who grew up in Colorado know what that means (the director grew up in Westminster, CO), but I wanna share for others that don't. Rocky Flats was a weapons-grade plutonium plant from 1952 to 1992, when it was shut down over the ridiculous amounts of safety violations. As in criminal investigations and prosecutions by the EPA, FBI and DOJ. It was so bad in the plant, they had rooms of toxic waste barrels leaking to the point they turned the concrete floor spongey. But the worst was that it leaked plutonium and cancer-causing chemicals into the groundwater and air (from fires they tried to cover up), all the way into surrounding towns. For decades. It became a Superfund Site after they shut it down, with billions spent over 15 years to clean it up. The site where the plant is located is still toxic and off-limits, with a huge buffer zone around it that's now a wildlife refuge. So, it adds a layer to the ominous feel of the movie. It wasn't just the alcoholic drinking that made their dad toxic. He was _literally_ toxic. He's probably not living too long after the movie ends. And because the director included such a specific detail, to me it feels like he's giving a nod to the radioactive superpower trope, with three of the characters having some form of psychic abilities, with the possible addition of The Grabber.

If you don't already know, this was from a short story by Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, thus the "IT" tribute with the yellow raincoat. Very well done adaptation, Ethan Hawke was terrific.

It took me until seeing your guys’ reactions to realize that Finny also inherited his mother’s psychic abilities. While his sister has premonitions, he can actually communicate with ghosts. I always thought the house was just haunted, but no other character hears the ghost kids.

The kids in this movie are amazing actors! The girl is the older sister of lil Nell from Haunting of Hill House. I also love that the cops in this movie believe the girl and actually listen to her!

Ethan Hawke is awesome at playing a villain in this movie.

Re-watching this, i realized the kid looks just like actor named Brad Renfro from the movie The Client. That movie is a classic and a must see. The brother has a stricken resemblance to Brad when Brad was the same age in The Client. The movie has Tommy Lee Jones & Susan Sarandon.

If the film reminded you of Stephen King, check out who wrote the short story this was based on.

Watch out for those kids.. they both have a bright future in acting, Ethan Hawke was great The movie is actually based on a book by Stephen King's son! There's also Rumours of perhaps a prequel, although to be honest I would prefer a Sequel. Definitely one of the best original horror movies in a long time..Great Reaction guys.👍🇬🇧

That little girl's crying was so real when her dad was hitting her and she was trying to placate him after. So heartbreaking.

The scene with the movie clip is William Castle's The Tingler. All his premieres had classic gimmicks, , like seats vibrating, which were gold. Wish they still did these....

7:31 I was beginning to wonder where the face cam footage was.

This movie stayed with me for days after I watched it. Parts of it were very uncomfortable to watch making it that much more haunting. The story was original. The jump scares were well placed and not overused. The acting was phenomenal. It has become one of my favorite horror/thriller movies. Glad you guys finally got around to watching it.

In the short story by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, the kids’ mother was not dead, and the sister’s name is Susannah instead of Gwen and was the older sibling. Tom was correct in that both kids gain their mother’s psychic ability. You should react to Scott Derrickson’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It is inspired by the true story of Anneliese Michel.

I saw this movie in the theatre and I ABSOLUTELY loved it!! The whole theatre was rooting for Finn like whoa lol It was a surprising hit for me. Great film!

Glad you guys watched this one, Stephen King’s son wrote the short story that inspired this movie. Also, it’s implied that the grabber also assaulted all the kids he kidnapped, except for finney. Because he didn't play the naughty boy game

I remember watching this movie in theaters. It is definitely one of my favorites of the year. All the acting was amazing. 👏 I love that you guys loved it too! ❤️ So excited for more Halloween reactions! 🎃

One of my favourite modern horror films. As you both say there's been so much repetition with horror films to a point where a lot had all gore & no substance but this was refreshing as it was a different concept. Great reaction as always guys ❤

Me and my bestie watch horror films and we loved this. It was well done, well acted and the story was amazing. Easily one of the best horror films I've seen in the last few years.

Did you catch that the coked-up brother was played by “Deputy So and So” from “Sinister”??? Also, the main kid is definitely fashioned after the main kid in “Phantasm”!

This is an adaptation of a story by Joe Hill, aka Joe King, son of Stephen King.

Another excellent reaction guy's, great comments & discussion of a terrifying tense suspenseful horror movie.

Such a great movie. Ethan Hawke did such a great job. So glad you liked this film. Slightly underrated!

Joe hill (Stephen kings son) wrote the short story. He based the grabber off of real serial killers

Love your videos! I've noticed that alot of the movies I've been watching are because I seen them on your channel. So thank you.

I maybe would like a bit more backstory to the grabber or explanation of why and what is going on with his psyche . But on the other hand I kind of like not knowing. 9/10 movie for me.

The supernatural spooky thing is what ultimately helps the heroes defeat the real antagonist? This movie is technically Scooby Doo On Zombie Island

Since you liked this one, you might enjoy SUMMER OF '84.

Hawke was brilliant... but he was used perfectly. Never does he eclipse the child actor... the kids are the main characters, not him. In fact, we learn little about him, because the main character doesn't learn anything from him really. That shot of him sitting in a chair is incredible, conveys so much (particularly because we know about the fathers abuse by then). BTW, kudos to Jeremy Davies, amazing performance and i'm pretty sure it was a difficult one.

Guys, you have got to react to 2013’s Coherence one day. Sci-fi, mystery, horror film that’s mind boggling. A true underrated gem of a movie.

Ethan Hawke was also in Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams check that one out too.

I wish the reaction had started with the baseball game because the conversation after the game was so central to the story

So excited to watch this reaction! Thanks for posting :)

Great reaction!! As for what I am watching… about to sit down for the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. It’s a go-to. It is one of the few remakes I think top the original.

I think that Scott Derikson also did the Strangers if I’m not mistaken

my go to horror film for the spooky season is Oculus!

I wasn't expecting much when i watched this movie. I thought otcwould kill a couple of hours, but i was pleasantly surprised and will definitely watch it again.

I think you will love Summer of 84 🤩🤩🤩

The girl in the movie is incredible, her sister is in M3gan, talented family.

You guys are awesome 👏 ❤

This is like watching a live action version of the board game Mouse Trap 😂😂😂

Such a great film. Truly. As for me, I'm busy filming 31 Days of Resinween. Lol. It's a lot. Not sure I'll be doing it again next year. HAHAHA.

Cool reaction as always fellas 💯

Thanks, Shaun! Thanks, Tom! 😨 I loved this one. #CinemaRules #ScottDerrickson #TheBlackPhone

You guys are the coolest!

Great reaction lads! Excellent movie pick! 👍

Great reaction! This movie was intense!

I absolutely love this movie!!

Literally! just finished this one myself! lol

One little bit of the plot is taken from true events. One of the kids kidnapped was a paper boy which is a reference to Johnny Gosch who disappeared the very first time he went on his paper boy route alone.

Not sure if you guys know, but the story is written by Joe Hill, Stephen King's son, that's why there's a lot of throwbacks. It's a good movie, I give it an 8.5.

Hearing you guys talk about this being original horror stories, I need you to react to Talk to Me if you haven’t yet! Would love the reaction to that

You should react to Smile. One of the best horror movies lately

I heard good things about this, but didn't know much about it, so gave it a go with out really having that high of an expectation, but i was pleasantly surprised by how much i enjoyed it. Not the best i have ever seen, and the premise was pretty basic, but they made the most of it, and then some. To make it feel fresh and different from other films similar, has to be commended, and i liked it a lot. a solid 8/10 for me. Just a few things that could have been better, but still good.

Favorite Ethan Hawke films: Training Day Gattaca The Black Phone Day Breakers Sinister

The films I watch over and over: Return Of The Living Dead (1985;) Night Of The Living Dead (1968;) Night Of The Creeps (1986.)

Based on a story by Joe Hill, who is the son of author Stephen King. He changed his name to Joe Hill so he could make it as a writer on his own merit. His stuff is very good.

why just your voice????

I hope you two will watch and react to “Terrifier” both 1 and 2

the Stephen King references make sense because this movie is based on a short story written by Joe Hill who is Stephen King's son!!

This movie creeped me out bigtime and made me so scared the whole time. Especially being a mother. Also it's not confirmed why the Grabber is broken. Whether it was due to his own child abuse OR if he had a normal childhood & still ended up broken (Which is even scarier, when you think about it). It's not confirmed because like Ethan Hawke said himself, "because it doesn't matter why he's broken, what matters is he IS broken." The movie shows the Grabber was a sick paedophile that murders his victims after they play his "naughty boy" game. They made a few subtle signs to show what he was, hence why he was shirtless, & why one victim mentions the grabbers "favourite" part of naughty boy etc. Also noticed that the Grabber did, in fact pick certain types of kids. The Grabber only picks boys and notice how they all have long hair, that he can play with.😖

Loved this movie so much.

Ethan Hawke is always great but he is next level in this.👍

A very well made effective film. I went to the Showcase to see it. It's based on a book written by Stephen King's son, Joe.

Love this movie

Surprised. This is where the movie is better than the source material. Same thing with horns.

Would you like a stupid yet brilliant movie to react to? I recommend kung pow: enter the fist (2002)

Don't kill him? Wtf??? I'm normally not one for vigilante justice, but that was a 14 year old boy who was still trapped in the room with a serial killer because his dog was guarding the door! Finn's life was still in imminent danger. It wasn't vigilante justice to kill him, it was completely self-defense!

Please watch the movie Contagion (2011)

It's about a man who kidnaps boys and rapes an tortures them in the short story also the "grabber " is a fat man who dresses as a clown , which reveals this is based off of serial killer an rapist John Wayne Gacy. They didn't want to show to much more of the grabber probably because other then him talking an acting like a creep it's of him raping an torturing them so I can see why they probably didn't show him more in the movie because it would probably feel not comfortable to much for any actors or actresses to play out those types of scenes ..

I thought there was a strong opening and performances, but was a weak final third. It did not grip me like it gripped you guys.

Where’d your faces go?

Honestly kinda disappointed there’s no face cams in this reaction. Normally I’d be happy but I like seeing their reactions. Hopefully that’s just in the beginning

This movie ia fuckin awesome

Why is your face not in the video for half the video

Please please please do hereditary,

Remember schizophrenia and DID are very different 👍

Such a great movie. I hope we get a prequel that tells us what happened to the Grabber that he became a child killer.

I hated this movie. Not because it was bad, but because it could have been amazing. Ethan Hawk was so misused. They should have one more with his character. And if it wasn't for him, it would have been really boring. But man, they could have went so deep with Hawk playing a bad guy. And spent more time on him. Missed opportunity imo

I thought Stephen Hawking was fantastic in this movie.

I saw it in theaters and was so pumped and was utterly disapppinted in how cliche and by the numbers it felt. Never felt the kid was really in danger nor did I ever get a sense that anything beyond the kidnapping was capable of happening to him. Of course it could in the sense that the villain is a killer, but the movie never convinced me he was really in danger at all. Just kinda was a watch that I forgot about. I read the short story and loved it but the movie just was bland to me. I’ll rewatch. I tend to enjoy movies more at home as the theater setting always prevents me from getting to immersed.

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why are u guys not on screen for half the video? hated it

I need to see the kid that acted Robin in more things!!!!! The two siblings too!

I personally thought Black Phone was hugely overrated.

I don't like the new format look. I wanna see your faces reacting.

I didn't like this movie, the girl was wrong and useless and got way too much screen time. The movie should have focused more on the boy in the basement and grabber

Why does it have to be BLACK phone, why can't they just call it "Phone"?

i found it very overrated, but i thought the kids did a fantastic job and I'd watch the same characters in a follow up with a better script.

Your edits used to be better. You cut too many of the best moments and of your reactions at the beggining.

🧛Bros hope you do movie reaction on The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) damn creepy vibes🧛