Scott Derrickson's new horror movie The Black Phone rings its way into theaters on June 24, 2022, marking the filmmaker's seventh feature film since his directorial debut in 2000. Already earning rave reviews, the film follows a young teenager who is kidnapped by a mysterious assailant and held in his basement, where he begins receiving messages from previous victims on a defunct telephone.
As a proud purveyor of the scary and supernatural, Scott Derrickson's brand of cinema has led to well-suited blockbusters such as Doctor Strange and The Day the Earth Stood Still. To see where The Black Phone stacks up among his overall filmography, IMDb has weighed in on the highs and lows of Derrickson's directorial career thus far.
Hellraiser: Inferno (2000) - 5.4
Stream On Max Go
A true success story, Scott Derrickson began his directorial career in the doldrums of straight-t0-video horror movies, breathing new life into the moribund Hellraiser franchise with Inferno in 2000. More of a psychologically unnerving take on Dante's Inferno than a typical S&M body-slasher the series is known for, the film is much better than people remember thanks to Derrickson's direction and a stellar cast led by Craig Sheffer, James Remar, and Nicholas Turturro.
The story concerns the corrupt Detective Joe Thorn (Sheffer) who finds the ominous Pinhead Puzzle box at a crime scene and slowly begins to lose his mind as a result, ultimately leading him to a cryptic killer called The Engineer. While some disliked the daring new direction Inferno took, most IMDb voters feel the film adds a pleasantly refreshing new wrinkle to the tired and trampled Pinhead mythology that is far more cerebral and mentally vexing than some of the other listless, paint-by-numbers sequels.
The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008) - 5.5
Stream On HBO Max & Hoopla
After delivering his biggest hit movie in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Derrickson got a chance to helm a major studio blockbuster with a legitimate movie star in Keanu Reeves. Also playing to Derrickson's genre sensibilities, the remake of the classic '50s sci-fi take The Day The Earth Stood Still imagines the world being visited by aliens and a giant robot named Klaatu (Reeves) claiming he's arrived to save Earth from destruction. When Klaatu is threatened by the U.S. government, Dr. Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her son Jacob (Jaden Smith) race to save the day.
Despite becoming a global financial success, most IMDb users feel the film is dull and really poorly cast. Several users lambast Smith's performance as all but ruining the movie (including those who praise the rest of the film), as well as the chintzy, uninspired special visual effects that some claim is inferior to the 1951 version. As such, Derrickson would have to wait eight years to get another major studio blockbuster gig.
Deliver Us From Evil (2014) - 6.2
Rent On Apple TV
Remaining entrenched in the horror realm after making Sinister, Derrickson took a slight step back in the eyes of most IMDb voters with Deliver Us From Evil, a solid if somewhat middling exorcism movie starring Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez. Bana players NYPD officer Ralph Sarchie, who teams with an offbeat priest named Mendoza (Ramirez) to exorcise a demon from a series of human hosts.
Loosely based on a true story, Derrickson reunites with his longtime co-writer Paul Harris Boardman. As a result, many IMDb users feel the movie went into daring new corners most exorcism movies avoid, with the unpredictable mystery keeping viewers engaged and the odd-couple dynamic between the skeptical Sarchie and faithful Mendoza carrying the drama a long way. Others less impressed with the movie are quick to note how it starts strong but falls apart in the final act, ultimately regressing toward the mean of mediocre exorcism terrors.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005) - 6.7
Stream On HBO Max
A superior and much scarier exorcism movie directed by Derrickson from a script he wrote with Boardman, The Exorcism of Emily Rose makes Deliver Us From Evil look like The Exorcist. A deeply unsettling mystery framed as a legal courtroom drama, the story recounts the mysterious death of Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter) during an exorcism, putting the priest on trial for murder as he chronicles the harrowing supernatural encounter. The acting by Tom Wilkinson as Father Moore and Larua Linney as his defense attorney Erin Bruner is outstanding.
Aside from the brilliant framing device that weaves in and out of frightening flashbacks to tell a supernatural legal drama, the hair-raising demonic possessions scenes are among the most viscerally arresting of its kind, and the provocative thematic division of religion versus science is far more intelligent and refreshingly original than that of most typical horror fare.
Sinister (2012) - 6.8
Stream On Peacock
After trying his studio hand with The Day the Earth Stood Still, Derrickson returned to his horror roots and made the excellent independent horror movie Sinister in 2012. Also starring Ethan Hawke, the genuinely horrifying tale concerns true-crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (Hawke), who discovers a series of Super 8 snuff films boxed-up in the attic of his new home. The further Ellison digs into the tapes, the more realizes they relate to the current murder he's been researching, which dates back to a grand conspiracy in the 1960s.
Once again proving that he writes intelligent horror stories that make audiences think as much as they scream, Sinister is loaded with weighty ideas and compelling character work that are balanced by deeply disturbing imagery (that tree-hanging scene is the stuff of nightmares). With no shortage of effusive praise on IMDb, the best compliment paid is that Sinister will make even the most hardened and jaded horror film fans quake and quiver in their seat.
The Black Phone (2021) - 7.4
See In Theaters On 6/24/22
With over 1,700 IMDb votes already, The Black Phone sounds like it's a major return to form for Derrickson, who once again returns to the horror genre after a brief hiatus. Based on the Joe Hill short story and co-written with Derrickson by Sinister co-writer C. Robert Cargill, the film concerns Finney Shaw (Mason Thames), a 13-year-old boy who is kidnapped and held captive in a creepy basement, where he discovers a disconnected telephone that somehow relays messages from his abductor's (Ethan Hawke) past captives.
Marking the first film that Derrickson both directed and produced since Sinister, The Black Phone is a clear labor of love for the bona fide horror enthusiast. With near-universal praise for Hawke's mortifying performance, plaudits for The Black Phone on IMDb range from being a haunting masterpiece to the best horror movie to be released in years. In stark contrast to The Day the Earth Stood Still, the performance of The Black Phone's young lead Thames has also been singled out for soaring as high as Hawke's, which is no easy feat.
Doctor Strange (2016) - 7.5
Stream On Disney+
Given the dark arts that Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) experiences, it made a lot of sense for Scott Derrickson to helm Doctor Strange, named his best movie to date by IMDb. While fellow horror master Sam Rami did a bang-up job with the sequel, IMDb voters feel the original is still slightly superior. The highly amusing origin story shows how Strange channeled his mind, body, and soul to access the mystic arts, using his newfound powers to defeat Dormammu and Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen).
An ensorcelling FX-driven spectacle that actually justifies its dazzling visual display through well-written character-building, Doctor Strange boasts an organic elan that reinforces its grand spiritual themes. As such, the stellar CGI is praised time and again on IMDb, with many claiming the film to be one of the MCU's most crowning achievements to date. Here's hoping Derrickson can eclipse his best work in the eyes of IMDb when his untitled Labyrinth sequel comes out in the future.