Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Jeremy Davies, Madeleine McGraw

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Universal, out now

 

After being abducted and locked in a soundproof basement, a teenage boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected black phone.

Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange) and his Sinister co-writer C Robert Cargill return to the horror genre with a startling adaptation of Joe Hill’s 2004 short story. While the subject matter might put you off, this is a perfectly constructed tale of survival against the odds, with plenty of scares to carry you through.

Set in 1978 Denver, five children have already been abducted by The Grabber (Sinister’s Ethan Hawke), dragging them into the back of his balloon-filled van before incarcerating them in his dungeon. Finney (Mason Thames) lives with his abusive father (Jeremy Davies) and feisty sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), and doesn’t have the strength to stand up against the bullies (father, school kids). He’s a victim in waiting and sure enough soon finds himself in the dungeon. But then the phone starts to ring, even though it’s disconnected.

What follows is a tense and thrilling tale of fortitude. I guess it helps that I would have been a similar age to Finn in 1978, and abduction is surely the ultimate child’s nightmare. Mason Thames is never less than compelling as the abductee, aided admirably by Madeleine McGraw’s Gwen, who has a fine foul mouth on her that allows her to hold her own against the adults around her. Kudos also to Ethan Hawke, playing a dreadful person that we’re just waiting to have bad things happen to.

Verdict: Compelling, creepy and occasionally edge-of-your-seat, this Misery-meets-Room by way of Sinister is my favourite horror movie so far this year. 10/10

Nick Joy