SCAREDY CAT'S FILE

Is The Black Phone Scary? The Verdict and the Whole Plot

Rating: 6
Author: Scaredy Cat

Yes, 6 out of 10. It's a child abduction story with sudden jump scares, though the ghosts on the phone are on your side.

THE SCARE SIGNAL

SCARE SCORE

6 /10

DREAD LEVEL

Medium

You'll look at your own basement door a few times that night.

DOG

Dog: fine

fine, and Samson gets a steak.

Ruling: Watch it with the lights on, because the abductor and the sudden appearances are the scary parts.

The Black Phone runs one hundred and three minutes, and much of it takes place in a soundproof basement with a phone that isn't connected to anything. The phone is the most helpful thing in it.

The premise, briefly

In 1978 Denver, a shy thirteen-year-old named Finney is taken by a child abductor known as the Grabber and locked in a basement, where a disconnected phone starts ringing with calls from earlier victims.

How much do you want to know?

The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.

CUT TO THE CHASE

How it ends

Finney follows the advice of the dead boys on the phone, traps the Grabber in a pit, hits him with the phone receiver and kills him with the cord. Finney walks out alive. His sister Gwen and their father survive too.

The scene you're dreading

Near the end, the Grabber kills his brother Max with an axe when Max comes to free Finney, then attacks Finney. Finney traps him in the pit he dug and kills him while the dead victims taunt the Grabber.

The dog

No dog dies. Samson, the Grabber's dog, barks at a bad moment but is fine, and later gets a steak.

It is a tense kidnapping story with sudden scares, and it ends with Finney getting out alive.

THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN

How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.

What actually happens

One sister with premonitions, one father with a temper

A serial child abductor known as the Grabber has been taking boys in a North Denver suburb. Finney Blake lives there with his younger sister Gwen and their father, Terrence, who is abusive and drinks, and whose wife died by suicide after having disturbing psychic dreams. Finney is bullied at school, and his friend Robin keeps the bullies off him. Gwen has inherited her mother's dreams, and one of them is about the Grabber taking Bruce, a boy Finney knew from Little League. Two detectives named Wright and Miller question her at school because they think she might know something. Terrence beats her for talking to the police. Soon afterward the Grabber takes Robin, and then he takes Finney.

Reading this instead of watching it is the correct decision. Scaredy Cat makes that decision automatic, for free.

The phone that isn't plugged in

Finney wakes up in a soundproofed basement with a black rotary phone on the wall that is disconnected. It rings by itself. At first he hears only static, but then he hears Bruce, who tells him about a floor tile he can lift to start digging a tunnel. Finney digs, but the foundation is deeper than he can dig. The Grabber delivers dinner and deliberately leaves the basement door unlocked. Before Finney can sneak out, Billy, another earlier victim, calls to warn him that the Grabber is standing at the head of the stairs with a belt. It is a game, and the rule is that whoever tries to leave gets beaten unconscious. Billy suggests a hidden cable instead, which Finney uses to reach the basement window, but his weight pulls the grate off and leaves him with no way back up.

The wrong brother's basement

Gwen tells Terrence about her dreams of Finney, and Wright and Miller question a strange man named Max, who lives nearby with his brother and is very interested in the Grabber's crimes. What Max doesn't know is that Finney is being held in his own basement, and that the Grabber is his brother. Back downstairs, Finney gets a call from Griffin, another victim, who recites the combination for the front door lock and tells him the Grabber is asleep. Finney gets out and opens the door, but the Grabber's dog, Samson, barks and wakes him, and Finney is caught again. Vance, a fourth victim, tells him to break through a wall into a freezer, and the freezer door turns out to be locked. Finney is ready to give up, but Robin calls one last time and tells him to fight back, using the receiver packed with dirt.

The Grabber plays a final game

Near the end, Gwen sees the Grabber's house in a vision and phones Wright and Miller and gives them the address. The detectives go there and find the earlier victims buried in the basement. Meanwhile Max works out that Finney is in his basement and runs down to free him, and the Grabber kills Max with an axe. The scene people dread most is the final fight, and it comes at the end of the movie. The Grabber, upset about having to kill his brother, decides to stop playing and attacks Finney. Finney uses the pit he dug, the dirt and the phone receiver from his earlier attempts. He traps the Grabber in the pit, hits him with the receiver, and strangles him with the phone cord while the dead victims taunt him. Finney then throws a steak from the freezer to Samson so the dog won't bother him on his way out.

The ending, explained

Finney walks out of the house and finds that it is directly opposite the house the police searched. The Grabber and Max are both dead, and the bodies of the earlier victims have been found. Terrence, in tears, asks both kids to forgive how he treated them. Some time later Finney is seen as a hero at school, and he sits next to his crush and tells her she can call him Finn. Finney, Gwen and Terrence all survive, and Samson survives too, steak and all. Robin, Bruce, Billy, Griffin and Vance are the Grabber's earlier victims, and they stay dead, though their voices help Finney get out.

The post-credits ruling

There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.

✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, and Samson gets a steak.

Questions people ask at 1am

Is The Black Phone scary?

The Black Phone is a 6 out of 10 with medium dread. The fear comes from a child abductor and sudden jump scares, but the ghosts on the phone are helping the hero.

How does The Black Phone end?

Finney uses the dead boys' advice to trap the Grabber in a pit and kill him with the phone cord. He escapes the house, and he and his sister Gwen survive.

Does the dog die in The Black Phone?

No dog dies in The Black Phone. The Grabber's dog Samson barks and wakes him up at a bad moment, then gets a steak. A golden retriever shows up in a flashback and is unharmed.

Is there a post-credits scene in The Black Phone?

No. The Black Phone has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.

Who calls Finney on the phone in The Black Phone?

The Grabber's earlier victims call Finney from the disconnected phone: Bruce, Billy, Griffin, Vance and finally his friend Robin. Each one gives him a piece of advice for escaping.

BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION

The whole plot of The Black Phone is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.

You don't have to sit in the basement for The Black Phone to find out how it goes. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror for you before you see it.

Get Scaredy Cat, free