October is the perfect time to watch scary movies with all the lights out, and Netflix is hoping to grab horror fans with its latest movie based on a short story by legendary author Stephen King.
Dubbed Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, the creepy movie hit the streaming service earlier this week (Tuesday, October 5) and is already drawing a lot of interest from subscribers as we head into the weekend.
After just a few days on the streaming service, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone has already landed in Netflix’s Top 10. The film is currently in the number 2 position behind only Last Seen Alive, an action thriller starring Gerard Butler that has found a second life via streaming.
With Halloween on the horizon, we hope Mr. Harrigan’s Phone stays on the charts. However, it’s another Netflix movie that gets mixed reviews, with viewers seemingly more impressed than critics.
What is Mr. Harrigan’s Phone about?
No stranger to King adaptations, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone features Jaeden Martell, who also starred in 2017’s It, as Craig, a small-town boy who befriends reclusive billionaire Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). ).
The unlikely duo quickly strike up a close connection after bonding over their shared love of books and reading. Craig even gives Mr. Harrigan his first cell phone so the pair can more easily keep in touch. However, when Mr. Harrigan sadly passes away, Craig is shocked to discover that he can still communicate with his friend through the phone that was buried with him.
Even more disturbing, Craig’s real-world tormentors begin to experience strange apparitions of a vengeful spirit that Craig suspects might be Mr. Harrigan. Part coming-of-age tale, part horror film, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is based on the popular short story from Stephen King’s If It Bleeds collection, first released in 2020.
What do critics say about Mr. Harrigan’s Phone?
It’s fair to say that critics haven’t been very impressed with Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. At the time of writing, the film scored a rather disappointing 39% on rotten tomatoes (opens in a new tab), but this number is slowly increasing. In fact, it’s up almost 10% in the last 24 hours and could go even higher as more crits step in.
While the film’s RT rating may be quite disappointing, it’s far from the lowest rating a King adaptation has ever received. 2016’s Cell managed just 11%, while 2017’s much-criticized film version of The Dark Tower didn’t fare much better at a dismal 16%.
Brian Tallerico from rogerebert (opens in a new tab) he praised the performances of Sutherland and Martell, but joked that “you’ll want to send this one to voicemail”. IndieWire (opens in a new tab)David Ehrlich of ‘s was even more blunt, stating that “such background source material proves to be an insurmountable handicap for John Lee Hancock’s Netflix adaptation of the same name, a downbeat and utterly terrible supernatural drama.”
Benjamin Lee of the guardian (opens in a new tab) he wasn’t particularly impressed either, saying, “It’s all unforgivably boring, a call to be quickly ignored.” audio-visual club (opens in a new tab)Courtney Howard concluded her review by noting that the film is “more akin to a stern adult lecture than a creepy and unsettling cautionary tale.”
Positive reviews are currently quite scarce, but Slashfilm (opens in a new tab) he labeled the film “an old-fashioned ghost story”. Furthermore, this already seems like another case of critics and viewers disagreeing, as Mr. Harrigan’s Phone currently enjoys a much more positive viewership score of 63%.
Should I transmit Mr. Harrigan’s phone number?
Many of the biggest new Halloween 2022 movies will be released in theaters only with Smile and Halloween Ends which are currently not available to stream. So if you’re looking to put together a horror marathon at home, it’s definitely worth considering giving Mr. Harrigan’s Phone a watch.
It’s probably unlikely to be the scariest horror movie you’ve ever seen (it’s only rated PG-13, after all), but Sutherland and Martell seem to be in top form, and the premise seems ripe for enjoyment. terror. Critics aren’t particularly impressed, but don’t write the film off entirely, as Netflix subscribers are clearly making a stronger connection to it.
Next: Do you love watching Community on Netflix? We have Community Film Cast news! We also have all Live broadcast of the MLB playoffs details!