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Albert Shaw, better known as The Grabber, is the main antagonist of 2021 supernatural horror film The Black Phone, which is based on a short story of the same name from 20th Century Ghosts book collection written by Joe Hill.
In his characterisation, he is a serial child abductor who preyed and murdered five teenagers of a Denver suburb after kidnapping them. Soon enough he abducted Finney Blake, the film's protagonist who ends up becoming his archenem when trying to force the latter to stay on his basement for the rest of his life or until he decides to torture and kill him.
He was portrayed by Ethan Hawke.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- He abducted five teenagers and imprisoned them in his basement behind his brother's back, before killing them and burying them in the house across the street.
- After killing one of the kids, he stole a lock from their bike and used it to lock the front door.
- He kidnapped Finney and imprisoned him in his basement. Even though he promised he won't hurt him and gave him food and drink, it wasn't out of honor.
- Though he left the basement door unlocked to allow Finney to escape, he was actually waiting for him to come over so he could beat him in a game of "Naughty Boy".
- When Finney tried to escape that night, he furiously caught him and forced him to keep his mouth shut if he screams so he wouldn't get caught. He later imprisoned him back in his basement.
- He killed his brother Max after he opens the basement door to save Finney.
- He tried to kill Finney out of rage for "making" him murder his brother before he got strangled to death by him.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- Genuinely loves his brother and tried to make sure he doesn't find out about his crimes. After he killed him, he furiously blames Finney for this and affectionately called him "my idiot". Although it was really his own fault and choice to kill him.
- He is shown to care for his dog Samson, affectionately calling him a good boy.
Trivia[]
- Despite the Grabber's status as Near Pure Evil, Ethan Hawke possibly sees him as Pure Evil, due to his comments of the Grabber being the first "real villain" he has played in his career, describing as a "murderer, creep and horrible person" who is truly evil in contrast to Arthur Harrow, his antagonistic Inconsistently Heinous role in Moon Knight.
- The sole prevention the Grabber has from being Pure Evil is his care for his brother Max, so maybe Hawke doesn't see his love as genuine but more an obsession.
- It's unknown if his original book version is Near Pure Evil or not.
- With the Sequel The Black Phone 2. Coming out in 2025 his NPE status might change if involves his and Max’s upbringing.
External Links[]
- The Grabber on the Villains Wiki
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 Near Pure Evils
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