“The Black Phone” is a film that manages to surprise even as it relies on familiar beats from the horror genre.

Working from a short story by Joe Hill (pen name for Joe King, the son of Stephen King), director Scott Derrickson has created a thrilling tale that manages to be grounded in reality while adding an effective supernatural element. It’s a film that takes some interesting chances, mostly to positive results.

“The Black Phone” is set in 1978 in a Denver suburb, where a serial killer known as The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) targets children and has everyone on edge.

Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) are siblings living in the suburb with their abusive, alcoholic father (Jeremy Davies). Finney also struggles with school bullies.

Finney is abducted by The Grabber and locked in a soundproof basement, but he finds a way to the outside world via a disconnected black phone that allows him to communicate with the serial killer’s previous victims.

Derrickson, who directed the first “Doctor Strange” film as well as the creepy 2012 horror film “Sinister,” takes his time getting to the meat of the story, allowing the audience to get to know the two siblings and their fractured home life. By getting to know these characters, it raises the stakes in the second half of the film, making the audience much more invested in their plight.

Thames and McGraw are both very good in their respective roles, giving the audience another reason to root for these characters.

Hawke, who worked with Derrickson in “Sinister,” is the perfect foil – a horrifying performance that the actor really sinks his teeth into. He is absolutely frightening, even more so than his recent work in the Disney+ series “Moon Knight.”

The first part of “The Black Phone” plays out in such a realistic manner that it is almost jarring when the supernatural elements take place. In addition to Finney being able to communicate with the dead, Gwen has psychic abilities she inherited from her late mother.

Fortunately, those supernatural elements weave into the realism of the story quite well, creating a mish-mash of styles that manage to play well off each other and build to an intensely thrilling final act.

“The Black Phone” proves to be much more complex than I expected, a pleasant surprise that works hard for its audience – justly rewarding them with a unique horror film.

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Rating: R for language, bloody images, some drug use and violence

Playing at: Regal Bowling Green Stadium 12, Regal Greenwood Mall Stadium 10, Highland Cinemas (Glasgow), available for streaming via video on demand starting Friday

Grade: B