With 65 novels and over 200 short stories to his name, author Stephen King (“Fairy Tale”) has offered up enough story material for the film industry to churn out at least one new film adaptation based on his work almost yearly. This year alone, the ill-fated “Firestarter” quietly made its theatrical run, while a remake of “Salem’s Lot” was slated to release this fall, but was later pushed back to 2023. Another film, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” silently made its way onto Netflix Oct. 5, showcasing a story, characters and production value about as unassuming as its lackluster marketing and poster.

Adapted from the “If It Bleeds” short story of the same name, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” is a quasi-cautionary tale of smartphone obsession. The titular device serves as a supernatural outlet through which the protagonist, Craig (Jaeden Martell, “Metal Lords”), carries out emotionally-driven, deadly revenge acts by calling his eponymous friend (Donald Sutherland, “Moonfall”) from beyond the grave. 

Trading a notebook for cell phones, this “Death Note” suggestive narrative woefully fails to deliver on its premise’s intrigue. For a film which promises paranormal happenings and enthralling moral dilemmas, little of either is apparent until approximately the last half hour. The rest of its run time is dedicated to establishing uninspired backstories and character dynamics which do little other than to check off  recurring King plot elements, whether it be a brutal high school environment or the reclusive old man archetype. In general, the story’s uneventful nature and lack of memorability leaves little to be dissected from it.

Despite their best efforts, the cast brings little to the table to make the film more compelling or redeemable. The supporting cast especially feels half-baked and underutilized, thus rendering many to feel practically irrelevant to the story. King film alum Martell, having previously played Bill Denbrough in Andy Muschietti’s (“Mama”) “It” films, is stricken by his character’s bland personality and generic motivations, even when depicted in more emotional situations later on. Even Sutherland, an acting veteran, cannot overcome his role’s cookie-cutter characterization, despite contributing some depth through his performance.

John Lee Hancock’s (“The Little Things”) direction, though competent, also comes off as dull and unoriginal. Though his work behind the camera shows a middling effect toward generating a gloomy, eerie tone, it ultimately seems as though the director phoned in his efforts on the film, showing little originality with its framing or colors beyond its obligatory muted color palette.

With so many stories in his repertoire, it should not be shocking to consider perhaps King has written some duds here or there. Though not necessarily low quality, some of his works may simply lack the impact, memorability or length to really warrant a film adaptation. Unfortunately for “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” this appears to be the case. While elements of its story and themes may work in a short format, its feature-length translation feels overstretched, inconsequential and uninteresting, thus raising into question why it deserved such treatment over the master of horror’s many other untouched tales.

Image from Netflix via YouTube