The Black Phone Review

There are a lot of modern horror movies coming through the woodwork, but none of them have garnered as much attention as some of the ones coming from Blumhouse Productions, and once again they put out a film that is getting a lot of attention. This time around it’s an adaptation of the story from Joe Hill, son of Stephen King. Adapted and made into a full length could very well mean trouble as there have been some misses in the past when adapting stories, ala “Thinner” for example. But here we are, the movie “The Black Phone” has come out and it garnered quite a bit of attention and movie goers went to see it, including myself and my girl Lynette.

The plot of the film revolves around a mysterious psychopath that is abducting and killing children. When he targets a kid named Finney, and puts him in a basement, a broken phone starts to ring, and a supernatural element comes through when the dead begin to talk. Meanwhile, there’s a secondary character having dreams about The Grabber (the psycho), and we get that thrown into the mix for good measure.

“The Black Phone” was slowly paced, and difficult to stay awake in if you’re not ready for it. I was beginning to get bored during the movie, but I stuck with it and throughout the movie there are moments that speak volumes to the ending, which is satisfying. I won’t reveal it, but it takes you on a slow moving trip, and then punishes your senses with some stellar moments. The acting is good, the movie tightens up a lot, slowing the pace just when you think things are going to speed up, and then brings forth quite the impact in the end.

While I didn’t like the pacing of “The Black Phone” I appreciated the villain, the pay off, and the overall cinematography. It is a well made film, and something that is going to haunt some for sure. If you can get past the slow moving process, you’re in for a treat, as this movie does well as a whole, not in pieces. I thought it was good, and well worth price of admission, albeit lacking in gore. That’s just a nitpick of course, otherwise this is a tight thriller of a horror picture that is sure to delight horror fans of all backgrounds.

Sharks of the Corn Review

The horror genre has a lot of different angles that can be utilized to scar audiences. In recent years, a lot of comedy has come through and while it is meant to be in the horror genre, it just fails to scare. That’s not the intent, as many directors and writers are looking to turn the genre into a comedic affair, which can work at times (IE Scary Movie), but can lackluster in others. With “Sharks of the Corn”, we get one of the coolest posters that I’ve seen in a long time, and something that really seemed promising going into it with no other vision but the poster. 

Once you start the movie, you realize that you are in straight to vhs territory. Not even dvd, mind you, as the quality of the film is not HD at all, and really feels like it was amateur at times. I brushed that all aside and pushed through and what we got was an intentionally bad, comedy horror movie. The movie’s plot surrounds a few things, including a serial killer that is taking out his victims with shark teeth, and of course sharks in a corn field taking out anyone and anything that comes near it. The movie shuffles a little, and even has an alien invasion twist to it, shoehorned straight into the middle of the movie. 

“Sharks of the Corn” has an interesting premise to me, I liked the idea, I didn’t like the presentation however, but once I started this thing, I was all in, and kept watching to the end. It isn’t going to win awards, and most people may not want to sit through it all, but it’s schlock and decent in my opinion. In fact, it’s one of the best worst movies I’ve seen in a while, and I tip my hat to the filmmakers for throwing themselves into the mix and making a movie, with limited budget, and yet still comes out with some stellar moments. Heck a shark attacks a helicopter at one point! Grab a beer, get some pizza, and watch the mess of a movie, it’s exactly what you would expect, or worse. I laughed, so there’s that.