Most moviegoers know Scott Derrickson nowadays as the director of the 2016 Marvel film “Doctor Strange.” However, horror fans remember Derrickson well before he made the jump to the MCU. The writer/director has made a lot of low-budget genre fare over the years with a supernatural bent: 2000’s “Hellraiser: Inferno,” 2005’s “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” and 2012’s “Sinister,” starring Ethan Hawke, among them.
Now, Derrickson and Hawke team up again for a brand-new horror movie, “The Black Phone.” Based on a 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill, the new film stars Hawke as a serial killer who preys on the youth of a Colorado suburb. The killer’s latest abductee discovers an uncanny way to escape his clutches: a disconnected antique telephone that rings with calls from the killer’s previous victims. From the sounds of things, this film shares the same fascination with murder, analog media, and the paranormal as “Sinister.”
Alongside Hawke, “The Black Phone” also stars Mason Thames, Jeremy Davies, and James Ransone, who had a supporting role in “Sinister” and its sequel, “Sinister 2.” Madeleine McGraw, Brady Hepner, Jacob Moran, and Jordan Isaiah White round out the main cast.
Derrickson directs “The Black Phone” from a screenplay he co-wrote with long-time collaborator C. Robert Cargill. The pair initially conceived the project while in early development for “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness,” with Cargill promising to postpone production on “The Black Phone” until Derrickson was available to direct. However, Derrickson left the superhero sequel due to creative differences soon afterward.
“The Black Phone” just had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest (read our review of it here). While it’s too early to tell if Blumhouse and Universal have another horror franchise on their hands, Derrickson’s return to the genre looks promising. Will he stick around? Upcoming projects like a Bermuda Triangle-set action film starring Chris Evans, a sequel to Jim Henson‘s 1986 film “Labyrinth,” and a dystopian genre film with Indonesian director Timo Tjahjanto suggest he’s sticking in strange territory. In any case, “The Black Phone” hits theaters on February 4, 2022. Check out the trailer below.