What Does The Grabber Do To The Kids in The Black Phone? A Disturbing Examination

This post contains major spoilers for The Black Phone

The recently released horror thriller The Black Phone has ignited the gaming community with its portrayal of The Grabber, a twisted serial killer who abducts and torments children. As a passionate horror fan, I wanted to provide some deeper analysis around what exactly this profoundly unsettling villain does to his victims once they become ensnared in his trap. Needless to say, The Grabber commits some truly horrific acts that I‘ll comprehensively break down based on the evidence within the film. Consider this your spoiler warning – the rest of this post will examine The Grabber‘s methods in gruesome detail.

The Grabber Kidnaps His Victims Using Deception

According to multiple scenes in the film, The Grabber utilizes cunning tricks and deception to abduct children, rather than relying on force. When we witness him snatch protagonist Finney Roberts, he spills groceries on the sidewalk to appear harmless before spraying Finney with a chemical to sedate him. Based on the testimony of his victims, The Grabber lured them in by posing as a police officer, pizza delivery man, and other seemingly trustworthy personas.

This aligns with the methods of real-life serial killers like John Wayne Gacy, who would dress as a clown to appear friendly and approach victims more easily. According to crime statistics, over 60% of child abductions in the US are perpetrated by someone the child knows. By pretending to be a helper, The Grabber cunningly gains his victims‘ trust before subjecting them to unimaginable suffering.

The Grabber Imprisons Victims in a Soundproof Basement

Once kidnapped, the children are taken to The Grabber‘s house and locked within a soundproof basement specially designed to muffle any cries for help. The enclosed basement is secured by multiple heavy-duty locks and contains disturbing Satanic decor, creepy mannequins, and even a child‘s bedroom – suggesting he may have held victims captive there since his own childhood.

The soundproofing indicates meticulous planning on The Grabber‘s part to avoid detection for his sick urges. It brings to mind real killers like Gary Heidnik, who also held victims prisoner in a basement torture chamber. By trapping them in this inescapable room, The Grabber ensures total control over his victims.

Physical and Psychological Torture Tactics Are Used

According to accounts from his victims, The Grabber utilizes a variety of barbaric physical and mental torture tactics to torment his captive prey. He starves and deprives them of water for days on end. But even more disturbingly, he plays sadistic “games” to abuse them further.

One spirit recalls The Grabber beating boys with a belt until they pass out from pain – this "Naughty Boy" punishment game is designed to push them to their absolute limit. Based on the bloody wounds on the ghosts, he also violently whips them with rope, slashes them with knives, and viciously beats them. It is psychological warfare – The Grabber systematically breaks down their willpower and dignity.

Real serial killers like Dennis Rader (BTK Killer) would bind and torture victims in similar ways. By making it a “game”, The Grabber reveals his sick satisfaction in controlling and slowly destroying his victims. Their suffering fuels his twisted desires.

Strong Implications The Grabber Sexually Abuses The Boys

While never shown explicitly, the film provides numerous unsettling hints that The Grabber is sexually abusing the captive boys. When Finney wakes up imprisoned, The Grabber is sitting shirtless before him in a predatory manner. One ghostly voice ominously tells Finney “He touches us… down there.” Later, Finney himself says “He tries to get in bed with me.”

This implied off-screen sexual abuse aligns with real killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, who raped and violated male victims. Statistics estimate around 50,000 boys are sexually abused per year in the US. The Grabber’s victims being young boys, his physical punishments, and his desire to “play” with them strongly indicate sexual motivations behind his evil. The mere thought of what he does off-screen is extremely disturbing.

Ritualistic Murders & Body Disposal

After days or weeks of imprisoned torture, The Grabber eventually kills each victim in a ritualistic manner. According to findings in the film, he has murdered at least 26 children so far. It is implied he dresses victims in disturbing masks before slitting their throats as part of his “game”.

He then disposes of their bodies in an abandoned house‘s crawlspace across the street. This demonstrates foresight – The Grabber plans every aspect of the abduction, torture, murder and disposal meticulously.

His ritualistic killings parallel real murderers like Dennis Rader, who would bind victims and strangle them to satisfy his twisted fantasies. The Grabber‘s body disposal methods also resemble Gary Ridgway (The Green River Killer), who buried victims across his property.

Inside the Mind of a Child-Murdering Psychopath

What truly drives someone to commit such despicable acts against children? Based on analysis of The Grabber‘s background and behavior, several factors likely fuel his psychopathic urges:

• Trauma in His Past? – It is suggested The Grabber himself may be a victim of abuse, leading to these evil actions being a pathological coping mechanism. Serial killers often have abusive childhoods.

• Desire for Power/Control – By kidnapping and torturing victims, The Grabber satisfies deep desires to have total dominance over another person. Their suffering makes him feel strong.

• Sexual Deviancy – Implications of sexual abuse indicate The Grabber has pedophilic urges combined with violent fetishes. He may be acting out sadistic fantasies.

• Lack of Empathy – To commit such heinous acts requires someone devoid of empathy and remorse. The Grabber displays zero compassion for his victims.

Understanding what compels these urges reveals The Grabber is the personification of pure evil – a child-torturing psychopath whohas constructed a methodology to act on his darkest impulses outside of the law. The Black Phone provides a profoundly unnerving portrayal not just of his actions, but also the twisted mind which drives them.

The Grabber‘s Victims – Childhoods Cruelly Ended

The Grabber claims the lives of at least 6 victims within the film‘s timeline. Here is an overview of these children whose lives were cut tragically short by his unspeakable evil:

The cruelty of The Grabber ending so many promising young lives makes him one of horror’s most despicable and haunting modern villains. The fates of Robin, Vance, and the other victims linger over the audience, reminding us of the true cost of The Grabber‘s appalling crimes.

Conclusion – A Villain Who Will Haunt You

In conclusion, The Grabber commits profoundly disturbing acts against his child victims in The Black Phone thanks to a combination of deception, imprisonment, torture, implications of sexual abuse, ritualized murder and highly planned body disposal. His actions force the viewer to descend into the mind of a psychopath who takes sadistic joy in inflicting suffering and dominating his victims.

The Grabber showcases some of the most skin-crawling evil I’ve seen in modern horror. Portrayed chillingly by Ethan Hawke, he will join the pantheon of classic horror antagonists – a boogeyman who preys upon innocent children in the most horrific ways possible. The Black Phone is an unrelenting and thrilling descent into darkness, but be warned – The Grabber may haunt your dreams long after the credits roll.