The Black Phone was released in 2021 and delivered a grimy 70s based kidnapper thriller that leaned a little into the supernatural. The story, originally written by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, was inventive enough to leave a mark on the horror world for a minute. It seemed to have a self contained story with a definitive ending, but as we know with all things horror, there’s always room for a sequel.
Black Phone 2 now follows the original survivor, Finn (Mason Thames) and his sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), in their older teenage years. Gwen, being prone to visions and prophetic dreams, is now being tormented with visions of a faraway icy lake where young boys have been killed by a very familiar psychopath. So, because the scary movie has to happen, she and Finn travel to the winter camp to find out why she’s being called there.
The only problem is, the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) has a very strong tie and history with the camp and is able to haunt and harm his victims in newer, unseen ways.
This is a movie that shouldn’t exist and barely has a reason to exist. Yet, I’m so happy it does. If you pull it back, it’s silly that the filmmakers need to include a ghostly black phone, where it comes off as all too convenient. Even including The Grabber again feels like they’re trying to reach the potential given in the first movie.
Though, what works for the script is that it takes the elements of the first movie – the characters, the ghost children, the analogue vibe – and it resets the genre. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a genre switch isn’t always a great idea (see also: M3gan 2.0).
The first movie, while still including spirits and special abilities, really wanted to stay within the grimy realism of a child killer and the evil that exists within some people. The Grabber was human and therefore, weak. With this sequel, the writers (Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill) have gone full schlocky horror slasher sequel. I hope we all remember a time when Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, or Friday the 13th sequels got progressively more bonkers. Black Phone follows suit, but thankfully doesn’t have the declining quality of those franchises.
With a very small cast, there’s a lot of heavy lifting for these young actors to take on, and often they seem wooden, but emotionally you don’t want anything bad to happen to them. In the first movie, Finn was the lead. Now, Gwen becomes the central protagonist, but also the immediate target for The Grabber. She is constantly in danger and the movie goes out of its way to show that.
While there are a few jump scares, the filmmakers want you to fear the power that The Grabber now has. I had always just felt that the scary mask was a good gimmick, but only that. Now, in this sequel I felt the tension in every scene he was in. He’s so effectively manic and creepy, that I didn’t even scoff when he rode in on ice skates. (Also, cool nod to the 80s horror movie, Curtains)
Also, major props to this movie for balancing religion, curses, vengeful spirits, PTSD, and family trauma and promoting good character moments from each topic.
I like Black Phone 2 more than the first movie. It takes itself just as seriously, but the concept of the movie delves deep into the supernatural and is better for it. There’s far too many conveniences and family involvement for my liking, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by this horror sequel and would like another please. B
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