THE BLACK PHONE

Cert 15

103 mins

BBFC advice: Contains child abduction theme, strong threat, violence, language, domestic abuse

Wow! What a surprise! The Black Phone was one of the most suspenseful movies we have seen in quite a while.

Mrs W usually avoids horrors but was glued to it from the start and we were both riveted with anticipation at its conclusion

And while there are some bloody scenes, the quality of Scott Derrickson's film comes from its mental torture rather than infliction of pain.

It also evokes memories of school days which many of us found more than a tad uncomfortable.

Set in 1978, The Black Phone stars Mason Thames as Finney, a boy who is bullied both at school and at home where his alcoholic widower father (Jeremy Davies) beats him and his sister (Madeleine McGraw).

His only saviour from attack is the school hard nut (Miguel Cazarez Mora) who repays his help with maths homework with friendship and protection.

Meanwhile, local children are beginning to disappear, believed to be kidnapped by a man who leaves black balloons as a calling card.

I feared that The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) would be a poor copy of Pennywise, the clown in It. But, while they have a similar-ish modus operandi, The Black Phone is very different.

It is a deliberately claustrophobic film but has an ingenious way of bringing in characters.

And, with one of the central elements being a girl whose 'dreams turn out to be real', it has a new and lively strand.

In addition, the acting of the young people is top notch - especially Thames and McGraw who bring the audience onside as they battle adversity on myriad fronts.

But the key to The Black Phone is that it completely defied our expectations. In a summer of hum-drum and disappointments, this bucked the trend.