The Grabber

"It's For You."    *This article conatins spoilers from The Black Phone. Read at your own risk.**]]

## The Grabber

* Smile
* Frown
* Blank
* Face Reveal

 Basic Information

### Siblings

Max Shaw

 Portrayal

### Book

21st Century Ghosts (short story novel by Joe Hill)

### Gallery

Gallery*

**"The Grabber"** (died 1978) was a serial killer and kidnapper who abducted the movie's main character, Finney Blake.

## **Victims**

The Grabber targeted young children in their preteen years, his youngest victim was eleven years old. After the murder of Griffin Stagg, his victims were all at least 13 years of age.

### Griffin Stagg

Griffin Stagg was the The Grabber's first victim. Griffin was a resident of Denver, Colorado. He used to be a quiet and reserved boy. At some point, he studied with Finney Blake. Griffin stayed the longest in the basement, for about 2 years.

### Billy Showalter

Billy Showalter was The Grabber's second victim. Billy was a resident of Denver, Colorado. He worked delivering newspapers, alongside his pet dog. Not much is known about his life prior to his kidnapping.

### Vance Hopper

Vance Hopper was The Grabber's third victim. He was a former bully and considered the strongest boy in Finney Blake's school before his disappearance. He loved playing pinball at the arcade.

### Bruce Yamada

Bruce Yamada was The Grabber's fourth victim. Bruce was a baseball player for Finney Blake's rival school. As a child, he developed his love of baseball and a strong bond with his parents. Bruce had a younger sister named Amy, who was a classmate of Gwen Blake.

### Robin Arellano

Robin Arellano was The Grabber's fifth victim. Robin was a Mexican boy who moved to Denver, Colorado. Sometime before 1976, he lost his father in the Vietnam War. After moving, he met and became close friends with Finney. Robin hates bullying and often goes out of his way to interfere. For example, Robin stands up for Finney when he gets bullied. He was great at martial arts and loved going to drive-in movies with his uncle.

### Finney Blake

Finney Blake was The Grabber's sixth (and final) victim. He is the main protagonist of the movie. At home, Finney faces physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father. In addition, he is a victim of extreme bullying at the hands of some of his classmates. Even though he is being bullied, Finney does not enjoy the sight of violence and never stands up for himself. He is shown to have a strong bond with his sister, Gwen.

### Max

Max was The Grabber's brother and temporary roommate when visiting from Durango. He had an addiction to cocaine and a comical personality. In his free time, Max investigated The Grabber's crimes even though he unknowingly lived with the killer. He was murdered by The Grabber after discovering Finney in the basement.

## Background

Albert and Max were the first victims of "Naughty Boy" due to their abusive father. He grew up being a fan of magicians as they were popular within the 30s and 40s, hence why he chose it as a profession within his adulthood. His line, "It doesn't work, not since I was a kid." hints at the fact that him and Max grew up in the same house shown within the film, the basement probably being used as a place to keep Albert and Max during their father's game.

"Or some other family member, yeah. We don’t quite go into that, but yeah, the thread that you’re supposed to pull at there is that this is something he is trying to recapture. Even being a magician may play a part of that nostalgia. He’s doing this magic act in the ‘70s that was popular in the ‘30s and ’40s, so there’s some nostalgia there and some echoes of the past that created him. He has ritualized all this as a form of somehow reliving that or re-experiencing that or transferring that." - C. Robert Cargill, *The Hollywood Reporter.*

"Absolutely. The film is very much about dysfunction, the resilience of youth and how we can overcome that trauma. We can allow it to make us stronger, or it can damage us irreparably as it does with Grabber and Max." - C. Robert Cargill, *The Hollywood Reporter.*

## Sources

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/the-black-phone-movie-ending-grabber-1235172593/