Roxy Anne – Google

Salem's Lot by Stephen King remains one of my all time favourite horror novels of all time to this day. I really feel like this movie missed the mark on some of the most suspenseful and most bone chilling moments of that novel which they very easily could have adapted to the big screen with today's technology. Just as an example.. I'll never forget the graveyard keeper scene in the book where, after burying the Glick boy, the keeper is consistently getting the feeling as if he isn't actually dead. He feels so "compelled" by the idea that the Glick boy is still alive, that he digs him back up and opens the coffin to find that the boy's eyes are wide open. That chapter gave me nightmares for a month straight and they easily could have pulled that off cinematically, but instead chose.. action, fires and explosions which I found to be really disappointing given the treasure trove that the source material is for true terror. That said... the overall plot and main characters were solid in their performances and the message still got across with all surviving members of the novel reaching the finish line in this film adaptation as well. In this regard, you could say that the film stayed mostly true to the book, but I found it lacking in true depth and the characters came across as hollow. Overall, this is one of the worst adaptations to a Stephen King novel that I've seen in years.. following only narrowly in front of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.

I am actually surprised to see so many 5 star stellar reviews for this movie. This wasn't anything special or even all that unique. I am a huge fan of Sinister and I can see some similarities between it and The Black Phone, but when it comes down it, this movie just doesn't live up to all the hype. Plot holes aside, the best acting really came from Madeleine McGraw and I truly believe that she will be someone to watch for in the future as she really stole every scene she was in. That's part of the problem though, isn't it? When a side character is far more interesting and far more compelling than the main stars of the film are, you start to wonder why they didn't just go in another direction with the film at that point. Overall, it was a decent film. The cinematography is the absolute strength of this movie. The acting was solid, but as I stated earlier, minor characters stole every scene they were in. I'm not really sure I would call The Black Phone a horror movie though. Well, at least not until the final 2 scenes. Beyond that, it's more of a crime thriller or a twisted drama with elements of the paranormal thrown into the mix.