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The poster for “The Black Phone,” directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw. “The Black Phone” is rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some drug use.

The poster for “The Black Phone,” directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw. “The Black Phone” is rated R for violence, bloody images, language and some drug use.

For folks of my generation and younger, there’s a certain fascination with the “serial killer” era of US history: that dark stretch of time in the 1970s where it seemed like crazed madmen with names like the Zodiac and the BTK Killer stalked every shadow, snatching up dozens of victims.

Out of morbid curiosity, I’ve read a lot about that period and of how the craze around “celebrity” killers seemed to die down just as quickly as it began.

Of course nowadays, sure, people still get abducted and killed. But the days of mysterious notes and taunting clues being left behind seems to, thankfully, be a thing of the past — or just the plot of a good horror movie.

“The Black Phone,” directed by Scott Derrickson of “Sinister” and “Doctor Strange” fame, takes us back to those days of record players and shadowy killers.

Set in 1978 Denver, the film follows Finney Blake, the quintessential middle schooler straight out of the “Wonder Years” playbook.

Finney’s got a full plate of the usual childhood challenges: Winning his little league games, talking to his classroom crush, and trying to protect his little sister from their alcoholic father.

But meanwhile, kids around Finney’s neighborhood are vanishing one-by-one, the only clue left behind being scraps of black balloons.

The papers give the alleged killer a name: The Grabber.

And, sure enough, when a mysterious black van pulls up beside Finney on the sidewalk, he gets grabbed and wakes up trapped in a basement holding cell.

Besides a toilet and a bare mattress, the only other feature of the room is a plain black rotary phone hanging from the wall.

It’s a straight-forward setup and, honestly, a comfortably straight-forward film with a simple question: Will Finney escape?

The film is as much a thriller as it is a chiller as we watch Finney try this way and that to escape his dingy cell. There’s plenty of exciting “Come on, Finney!” moments that you find yourself rooting for him.

And though there are certainly some dark moments, I honestly think this is a fairly tame horror flick and would make for a really good “scary movie” for parents of younger kids looking for something fun but not horrific.

That being said, that also means it might not quite hold the attention of a more seasoned horror fan.

In between Finney’s scenes, we get little glimpses at the other characters in the neighborhood and you end up wanting to know more about those than you do seeing Finney’s latest wacky escape attempt.

But, again, it’s a cozy horror flick if you’re not looking for something too stressful.

Up-and-coming actor Mason Thames, in his first major film role, does a fantastic job playing Finney. You can already tell that the amount of emotion in that kid’s eyes is gonna take him far.

And he manages to more than hold his own acting alongside the always entertaining Ethan Hawke, who plays the deranged Grabber.

Also, shout out to the Grabber for having hands-down one of the best horror masks since the iconic Ghostface from “Scream.”

And, finally, kudos to actress Madeleine McGraw as Finney’s little sister, Gwen.

Played with just the right amount of adorable sappiness, Gwen spends the movie as a little Harriet the Spy doing her best to track down her kidnapped brother and just brightens the screen in every scene.

So, again, I came of age in the era of “Saw” movies that turned the cruelty up to 10. “The Black Phone,” by comparison, is more about fun than carnage.

And sometimes, that’s all the escape you need.

I give “The Black Phone” 3 stars out of 5.

P.S. If you are looking for a much, much darker take on the serial killer days of the ‘70s, I highly recommend checking out the series “Mindhunter” on Netflix. Not for the faint of heart, but wonderful if you can stomach it.

Have you seen “The Black Phone?” What did you think? Follow Ben on Twitter at @BenRowePhoto and leave your thoughts in the discussion post there.

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