See below for the exact times and descriptions of the 3 jump scares in The Black Phone, which has a jump scare rating of 2.0. Synopsis: Kidnapped by a man called 'The Grabber', a young boy must seek a way to escape from a terrible faith.
And by turning the Grabber into a killer without apparent trauma, The Black Phone makes sure Finney's fate cannot be escaped by appealing to any kind of humanity. The idea that the Grabber could hide so well is scary, but the notion that there's no real motivation for his crimes is more terrifying.
It's quite effective. That said, there's still plenty of bloody violence, and a good deal of profanity, which will make most parents think twice before letting their teens watch this. For adult audiences with a tolerance for profanity and violence, The Black Phone is a capable horror thriller.
Is there any inappropriate scene in The Black Phone?
Images include a bloody face from getting continually punched and the bloody knuckles that did the damage. There is also a scene where a person is killed with an ax, and while it's very brief it's fairly graphic. There are multiple of scenes of bullying with kids hurting other kids and blood is present.
The film, again, doesn't explicitly state that the Grabber's victims were sexually assaulted, but it calls upon the audience to fill in those details. The ghost victims describe being beaten, and the audience sees the Grabber sitting menacingly, shirtless, with belt in hand.
For reasons unknown, the Grabber abducts young boys and imprisons them in his basement unbeknownst to his brother. He would eventually kill the boys and bury the bodies in a house across the street. He had killed a total of 5 children, with Finney Blake's friends Bruce and Robin being his latest victims.
Instead, The Grabber employs the mask as a sort of theater — the different Grabber mask variations each represent characters in a show he's putting on for himself and his victims. A few scenes in The Black Phone suggest yet another motivation for his mask: he uses it to hide from himself out of shame for his actions.
The startle response provoked by the jump scare can be unpleasant. The rapid and massive activation of skeletal muscles can even be a little painful, like receiving a mild electrical shock.
Rosemary's Baby takes a slow burn approach to horror. There are no jump scares here; instead, the tension builds slowly and steadily until it reaches a horrifying climax.
Relax -- know that the jumps are coming without worrying about them. Paradoxically, just knowing when a jump scare will likely occur may make you more likely to jump. That's because people start to fixate on the idea of the scare coming up, giving it their full attention as their fear mounts.
Jumpscare are about building suspense through the music …. watch your movie with the volume on low and when you think the jump scare is coming “mute” .. then return the movie to normal. This will cure your jumpscares, it worked for us!
"If you want to react less, watch more and start with films where you can manage (only just) to not look away," he said. "Then work upwards... "If you look away go back to the bit you did and watch it several times until it bothers you less.
The Black Phone ends with Finney brutally killing The Grabber and escaping his house, finding Gwen and the police waiting outside, before they reunite with their father.
Max was The Grabber's brother and temporary roommate when visiting from Durango. He had an addiction to cocaine and a comical personality. In his free time, Max investigated The Grabber's crimes even though he unknowingly lived with the killer. He was murdered by The Grabber after discovering Finney in the basement.
He became traumatized and started to deny them. He kidnaps boys and plays the "Naughty boy game", because that's what his father did to him. He wants to release all that pent up rage and resentment he has towards his father, upon his victims. That's his origin story.
At the opening of The Black Phone, only three boys have been abducted by The Grabber, with abductions four and five quickly following, ultimately culminating in Finney being the final victim taken by The Grabber.
The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, bloody images, language and some drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of bloody murders with one man being struck in the head by an axe, several fights between teenagers with a lot of blood shown, a teen boy fighting a man, a child being whipped ...
If they handle scares and gore well, and you don't mind them hearing salty language, they may enjoy The Black Phone. We wouldn't go younger than 14 for this one, however.
