Written by Bowen Grey , Zac Small and Harris Young, 12/11/2025.
THE BLACK PHONE 1 MOVIE REVIEW
Harris: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Black Phone 1 is a horror film released in 2021 and produced by Jason Blum. This movie gained popularity by approaching horror differently. For example, instead of consistently showing jump scares, it would instead show scenes with a slow build-up that would leave a greater impact on the audience and would overall be a lot scarier.
In my opinion, I thought that this movie was perfect. Throughout the movie, I felt like I was thoroughly enjoying it, and I personally loved the horror technique they had gone for. I had also felt like the ending of this movie was a great aspect that helped gain my high score, as it made me feel peace knowing that the capture was found and placed in prison. I will also be coming out with a review for the new black phone 2 soon, so make sure you guys keep checking the stand!!!
Bowen: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I loved black phone 1. The parts I loved were the hook. The main character, Finney, gets captured almost immediately, which creates lots of filming time in the grabber’s basement. I also love the different route the movie takes. Finney can talk to the grabber’s past deceased victims, and they help him escape, which creates a creepy, supernatural turn I have never seen before. The parts I think that could be improved upon are adding more horror factors. While the movie is scary at some points, most of the movie feels like a drama. If the movie wants to establish itself as a horror movie, it needs to implement more horror. I also think that the movie could show a bit more emotion in the characters. For example, in the end, they focus on Finney just surviving rather than showing trauma and emotion by being trapped. Overall an amazing movie. 5/5
ZAC SMALL: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Black Phone 1 was a horror film I absolutely loved for many reasons but most notably the way the whole movie is phrased in a way that made me feel completely immersed.
The film is set in the 1970s and quickly creates a scary atmosphere, mainly thanks to the creepy, masked villain, The Grabber played by Ethan Hawke. I was immediately hooked by the almost immediate kidnapping of the main character Finney, and by the unique mysterious black phone that plays a big role throughout the film.
The young actors were also fantastic with the main character Finney being played by Mason Thames doing great in his role really putting his all into the performance and the main character's sister Gwen played by Madeleine McGraw also did a fantastic job in her role.
The movie does a perfect job of mixing a tense, trapped feeling with a strong emotional story, making it a must-watch film built on strong acting and pure, earned suspense. If you haven't watched this movie already, make sure to as it is one of the best horror films I have ever seen and with the release of Blackphone 2 you're going to want to know the lore of the first film.