Latest news with #Grabber
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
8 Horror Movies That Send Terror Through Old-School Phone Lines
The new Black Phone 2 trailer centers on a phone booth that allows the Grabber—who seemingly met his end in the first Black Phone movie—to hiss new threats at his intended prey. That's a shade more sinister than how the phone was used in the 2021 original, when a mysterious land line allowed the dead to impart survival advice to the living. But 'scary phone calls' are a time-honored horror tradition (check out io9's taxonomy here!). Forget cell phones, FaceTime, and internet ghosts: today we're looking at 10 memorable showcases of land-line terror brought to the screen. Scream Opening the film with a faux 'wrong number' that's actually a killer's way of taunting his next victim is scary; having the killer get all meta and steer the conversation toward favorite horror movies is even scarier; having the dying victim's mother pick up the extension and hear her daughter gasping her last breath is the scariest. Scream hit theaters in 1996, long before cellphones became ubiquitous, and while the franchise has continued on as technology has advanced, the first film's clever use of such a well-known trope remains a series standout. Black Christmas The groundbreaking 1974 holiday slasher is not only the most effective on-screen depiction of 'the call is coming from inside the house' of all time, it also features maybe the most genuinely distressing series of phone calls ever. The shrieking, overlapping voices are otherworldly and reference a narrative that has seemingly nothing to do with the freaked-out sorority sisters hanging on to the receiver. Black Christmas also goes hard with its call-tracing subplot, showing us just how much effort that used to involve in the days before cell phone towers could pinpoint creeps within 100 feet. And it ends with a phone ringing, hammering home that in the right context, there's no more frightful sound. When a Stranger Calls Released in 1979, When a Stranger Calls leans into that same urban legend of the call coming from inside the house, with the added flavor of a babysitter in peril and, when the story flash-forwards, the ol' 'escaped lunatic' storyline. These are all familiar now, but they weren't back then, and no matter how many times you hear it, 'Have you checked the children?' is a gut-punch of an opener when you pick up. Clown in a Cornfield This recent release (haven't checked it out yet? What are you waiting for?) takes place in the present day, which means when a pair of teenage girls are desperately trying to call for help, their levels of panic skyrocket when they're confronted by a rotary-dial phone. It's such a relic and so unhelpful, it might as well be the possessed Fisher Price phone from Skinamarink instead. Compliance This skin-crawling 2021 thriller starring The Handmaid's Tale's Ann Dowd is based on a true story, which makes its ick factor even higher. A fast food restaurant manager takes a phone call from someone who claims to be a cop investigating a theft involving an employee who's still there working her shift—and as the hours pass, the voice on the phone coaxes all involved to do some very regrettable things. Compliance is technically not a horror movie, but in so much as ordinary human beings can be cruel monsters, it might as well be. Telefon Another thriller with a horror-movie idea at its core, this 1977 Cold War tale has action star Charles Bronson propelling the narrative as a series of sleeper agents are activated one by one. The phone enters into its Manchurian Candidate plot because the 'on' switch is activated when a brainwashed, deep-cover agent overhears lines from a certain Robert Frost poem. The title alone tells you how important the phone is here; it's fully weaponized to turn seemingly ordinary folks into assassins with just a conversation fragment. 976-Evil Robert Englund directed this 1988 cautionary tale about pay-by-the-minute phone lines—which may seem like a novelty (in addition to being a very outdated distraction in 2025), but instead might actually be providing a direct link to Satan. Teen cousins find out the hard way what happens when you get too excited by a new devilish influence in your life, but only one ends up getting dragged to hell in the end. The Ring Of all the dreaded calls to come through your land line, what could be worse than a demonic child reminding you that because you watched a certain cursed video tape, you have just seven days to live? Even the Grabber doesn't have a ticking clock that precise.
See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"The Black Phone 2" Is More Violent, Scarier, More Graphic, Says Director Scott Derrickson
Yara Sameh "Dead is just a word," that's the message behind Universal and Blumhouse's "The Black Phone 2". The official trailer unveiled Sunday at CCXP Mexico, a pop culture convention being held in Mexico City over the weekend. The movie is the sequel to the surprise 2022 hit that grossed $161 million against an $18 million budget. Based on a short story by Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King, the movie introduced audiences to the Grabber, a masked serial killer who abducts children, locking them up in his basement. One such kid, however, finds an unplugged but haunted rotary phone that connects him to the ghosts of the previous snatched boys, and in that a possible way out. The movie ends with the Grabber dead, so how is he back? The trailer shows builds to a chilling phone conversation between our hero, played by a returning Mason Thames, and the Grabber, once again played by Ethan Hawke, with the latter telling the teen, 'You of all people should know that dead is just a word.' Then the trailer unleashes a barrage of horror images. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Director and co-writer Scott Derrickson elaboratedthe nature of ghost stories. 'The first movie was a ghost movie but all the ghosts were victims, which is typical, a ghost story,' he said prior to the trailer 's reveal. 'But in this one, you've got a ghost that is a villain.' With the first movie, Derrickson tapped into his Denver childhood, where bullies and violence were common. For the new movie, he drew on his high school experience of going to winter camps in the Rocky Mountains. The severity of the weather, the environment and the surrounding Rockies contributed to the tone of the sequel. The difference between middle school and high school ages of the characters is the big change in tone. 'A middle school coming-of-age horror movie is a different animal than a high school coming-of-age horror film,' Derrickson added. 'A there's a ratcheting up of intensity because of that.' Derrickson wasn't necessarily planning on a sequel to "Black Phone" but said Hill wrote to him a month or two after the movie came out with some ideas. And having it set in the high school years proved appealing, especially when he worked out the timing in his head. 'I thought if I go make another movie first and don't make a sequel now like you're supposed to, then by the time I finish, these kids are all going to be in high school,' he explained. The movie he did was the large-budgeted monster Apple TV+ movie titled "The Gorge" with Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. 'And I can return to these characters in this different stage of their lives.' And because of that, "Black Phone 2" is more of a horror film than the first movie, which he considers to be a supernatural thriller. 'It is certainly more violent, scarier, more graphic,' he said. 'And part of that is because of the age of the kids.' read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan
See - Sada Elbalad
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"Black Phone 2" Reveals Trailer And Poster
Yara Sameh Blumhouse unveiled the first poster and trailer for "The Black Phone," the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2021 supernatural horror film that grossed $161M globally, at the CCXP Festival in Mexico City on Sunday. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Black Phone (@blackphonemovie) The 2021 movie starred four-time Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke, as a child abductor and murderer called the Grabber, and Mason Thames, a 13-year-old boy named Finney who crosses the killer's path. The Grabber locks Finney in a soundproof basement, where nobody can hear him or come to his rescue. The only item is the basement is a disconnected telephone that begins ringing. When Finney answers it, he realizes he's able to communicate with the spirits of the Grabber's deceased victims. The kids' ghosts teach Finney how to survive and fight back, and he's able to escape the Grabber's clutches in the end. In the sequel, the Grabber seeks vengeance on Finn from beyond the grave by menacing Finn's younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) "Black Phone 2" also includes Oscar nominee Demián Bichir as the supervisor of the camp, Arianna Rivas as his niece, Miguel Mora as the brother of one of The Grabber's victims, and Jeremy Davies, returning as Finn and Gwen's father, Terrence. It also features new cast members include Maev Beaty and Graham Abbey. Scott Derrickson returns to direct "Black Phone 2", from a script he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill, based on characters created by Joe Hill. It is produced by Jason Blum, Derrickson and Cargill. The executive producers are Adam Hendricks and Ryan Turek. "Black Phone 2", presented by Universal Pictures and Blumhouse, is set to open in theaters October 17, 2025. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘The Black Phone 2' Dials In Some Ominous Teasers
In 2022, horror duo Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill of Sinister fame teamed to adapt Joe Hill's short story The Black Phone. Things wrapped pretty conclusively in that one, but you can't keep a good Grabber (Ethan Hawke) down it seems, because he's back in a sequel coming this fall. The first film saw Finn (Mason Thames) kidnapped by the Grabber and stuck in a room with a rotary phone that could contact ghosts of the killer's previous victims. With their help, Finn killed the Grabber and reunited with his family. In anticipation for Black Phone 2, Blumhouse's released three teasers that let you know the Grabber's returned and set his sights on kids at Colorado's Alpine Lake Youth Camp during the winter. 'The phone is ringing again. Are you going to answer?' We just got a text that included the first tease for BLACK PHONE 2! Only in theaters this October. — Fandango (@Fandango) May 31, 2025 'We're going to die out here.' A third video teasing BLACK PHONE 2 just arrived in the form of another mysterious text message… on our phone 😱 — Fandango (@Fandango) May 31, 2025 Each of the teasers contain grainy shots of the snow-covered camp and its various facilities, photos of young boys kidnapped and what remains of them after the Grabber's finished. (One victim's left in the ice, another folded under a bed, and the third has half his face burned and appears throughout all of them, either looking at the camera or appearing and disappearing without a word.) Each teaser also has a single word flash onscreen, which spell out the phrase 'Word is Just.' Finally, there's a phone booth somewhere on the premises with its own black phone, which keeps ringing and is waiting for someone to answer. Back at April's CinemaCon, Universal showed off Black Phone 2 footage teasing the Grabber is using the titular phone to come back and haunt the surviving kids from the previous movie. If that's the case, he certainly hasn't lost a step, and we'll find out what other tricks he's got up his sleeve when the film releases October 17.
