Mr. Harrigan’s Phone trailer reminds us not to answer phone calls from dead people

“A person shouldn’t call out unless they want an answer.” That’s just one of several chilling one-liners delivered in Netflix’s official trailer for the upcoming horror film Mr. Harrigan’s Phone.

I can’t think of a single time in history where a character deciding to answer a phone call from a dead person ended up being a good idea in the long run, but here we are! The new movie is based on the short story by Stephen King from his collection If It Bleeds.

Jaeden Martell stars as Craig a bullied teenager who finds refuge with an older, reclusive billionaire named Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland). He even gives Mr. Harrigan his first iPhone and helps him set up an account under the name “pirateking.”

At school, Craig is frequently tormented by his peers, to the point he wants to seek revenge against one of them. In the trailer, Craig is shown asking his older friend how he dealt with people trying to advantage of him, to which Mr. Harrigan replies, “harshly.”

Unfortunately, Craig’s time with Mr. Harrigan is cut short when the older man tragically passes away, leaving Craig alone once more. He starts leaving voicemails for his friend after tucking his cell phone into the coffin, and to his great surprise, “pirateking” calls him back from beyond the grave. From there, Craig starts getting assistance from his dead pal to seek revenge against those who would harm him. But I think we can safely assume things won’t go according to plan.

Watch the official trailer for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone

Adaptations of Stephen King’s works tend to be hit or miss, but there seems to be more luck with KIng’s short stories and novellas than his novels (see The Shawshank Redemption and The Mist). It’ll be interesting to see if this new feature can hold up to those movies. John Lee Hancock writes and directs the film which is produced by Blumhouse and Ryan Murphy for Netflix.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone premieres October 5 on Netflix.