The Black Phone has aroused great expectations among viewers, who had more than one scare after watching the film. Although a case like the one presented is a frequent narrative in horror films, many assured the film was based on a real tragedy.
Directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke, The Black Phone is the adaptation of the hom*onymous short story by Joe Hill (Stephen King’s son). It tells the story of a teenager named Finney (Mason Thames), 13 years old, who is kidnapped by a murderer and locked in a basem*nt, where there is only a mattress and a black telephone with which he can only communicate with past victims.
This is not a spoiler. Although it would seem that the story could be related to a real-life case with some fiction because of the production and certain paranormal effects, the truth is that it is not specifically based on a single story but it could be some sort of a compilation.
Director Scott Derrickson’s childhood
The Black Phone was directed by Scott Derrickson, who lived his childhood and adolescence in the 70s and 80s, just two of the decades that witnessed more cases of serial killers and kidnappings in the United States, such as John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown.
In an interview with news.com.au, the director commented: “I grew up in an area of north Denver that was pretty violent, with a lot of bullying, a lot of fights, a lot of kids bleeding all the time.”
As well as noted, “It was also right after Ted Bundy came through Colorado, killing people. And the Manson murders had just happened… There was a lot of domestic violence, even in my own home and in the homes of a lot of these kids that I knew.”
“Parents punished children much more aggressively, so it was a very violent and scary place to grow up. I wanted that environment to be felt in the film,” he mentioned.
Furthermore, in another interview with Time magazine, he revealed that there were things that were too dark in his childhood that were impossible to reflect on in the film. “I think you have to have a sensitivity of what an audience can tolerate without really turning off or turning on the movie itself,” he mentioned.
The Boogeyman that terrified children in the 70s
In an interview, the protagonist Ethan Hawke mentioned: “There is nothing more terrifying than that iconic figure that is eager to steal children; it’s the worst,” which goes back to the legend of The Boogeyman, that imaginary character that terrified children but also adults in the 70s.
The Boogeyman was an imaginary figure that took on a human appearance with a kind of creature mask and elongated fingers that resembles the image of ‘The Grabber,’ Ethan Hawke’s character.
The Steven Stayner case
In addition to The Black Phone, there is also a real-life story that users have related to the film, such as the case of Steven Stayner, a 7-year-old boy who was kidnapped by Kenneth Parnell on his way home from school in December 4, 1972.
Steven Stayner lived a series of abuses between threats and domestic violence by Kenneth Parnell, who even forced him to change his name to Denis Parnell to pretend that their relationship was that of father and son.
At the time, the kidnapper already had a history of assault on a 9-year-old boy; however, his name was not on the records in the region. After 30 days in captivity, Parnell enrolled Steven Stayner in a local school, pretending to be his father.
Eight years into Steven Stayner’s captivity, on February 14, 1980, Kenneth Parnell kidnapped another child named Timothy White, who was only 5 years old. It is said that Parnell tried to kidnap more children with Stayner’s support, but Stayner always tried everything to make the attempts fail.
Steven Stayner became attached to Timothy White and defended him from Kenneth Parnell’s abuse. After attempting to escape on several occasions, on March 1, 1980, the victims managed to reach a police station where they accused their kidnapper.
Steven Stayner and Timothy White returned to their families, and Kenneth Parnell was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison. However, he was released after five years for good behavior. He died in 2008 of natural causes.
The Adam Walsh case
The other case that has been related to The Black Phone was the case of Adam Walsh, very famous in the 80s, which happened in Florida, United States. It was about a child who was robbed in a shopping mall; 14 days later they found his head.
The Black Phone has raised great expectations about its true story, and although it is not specifically based on a specific one, it could be a compilation of several cases that overwhelmed the United States in the 70s and 80s. Although let’s remember, it is also an adaptation of the hom*onymous story by Joe Hill, part of the collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, from 2005.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
