Black Phone 2 Review

A Fun and Visually Striking Sequel That Greatly Expands the Lore of the Original

By: Marc Kozak

Black Phone 2

A Fun and Visually Striking Sequel That Greatly Expands the Lore of the Original

By: Marc Kozak

There was really nothing in 2021’s “The Black Phone” to suggest that a sequel would be on its way, particularly when you consider the final fate of Ethan Hawke's serial killer character, the Grabber. Then again, no good original IP -- especially horror IP that makes $161 million against a paltry $18 million budget—can remain untapped, so the original team of writer/director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill figured out a way to bring the whole band back together for another go-round.

The original movie was very much in the mold of a classic Stephen King story (which isn't a surprise, considering it was based on a story by King’s son, Joe Hill), set in the '70s with a handful of small-town kids with ties to the supernatural trying to bring down a masked killer. The magical elements were left pretty undefined—all we needed to know is that Finney (Mason Thames) was kidnapped and kept in a room with a black rotary phone that allowed him to communicate with the ghosts of the Grabber's past victims, helping him to escape and eventually kill his captor. "The Black Phone 2" attempts to build a larger lore around not only this mystical phone but the shared history between Finney's family and the Grabber. It's a fun and effective sequel that sets up "The Black Phone" as the next "Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, complete with a memorable villain, solid actors, and a distinct visual language.

Set four years after the events of the original, Finney is now a tough and brooding teen, clearly struggling to get past the trauma of his experience with the Grabber. He gets in fights at school and leans against all kinds of buildings while smoking, much to the chagrin of his sister Gwen (the returning Madeleine McGraw), who keeps trying unsuccessfully to get Finney to open up. He hasn't lost his connection to the spirit world, but it's not exactly helping him anymore; The Grabber's ghost shows up to taunt him every once in a while, not to mention that any pay phone in his proximity starts ringing with calls from more dead souls looking for his help ("Sorry, I can't help you" is all he can muster before hanging up).

" It's a fun and effective sequel that sets up "The Black Phone" as the next "Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise. "

Gwen also isn't thriving, haunted by strange dreams in which a teenaged version of her late mother talks about her own visions of murder at a Christian youth camp she attended back in 1957. Gwen is understandably concerned that she's starting to go nuts, seeing as how her mother reportedly hung herself due to these kinds of visions. Wanting to investigate further, she convinces her brother and her blossoming crush Ernesto (also the brother of one of The Grabber's victims) to sign up as counselors at the same camp (which luckily still exists) so they can have a look around.

When they arrive, the camp is cleared out due to a sudden blizzard, and our heroes end up getting snowed in with only camp supervisor Armando (Demián Bichir) and a few other employees as company. Armando tells a story about how three kids disappeared all of those years ago, presumed to have drowned even though no bodies were ever found. All signs past and present point towards the Grabber, who begins his assault from beyond the grave, drawing power from his past victims and looking for revenge against Finney for killing him.

Derrickson has always had a bold visual style (see "Doctor Strange"), and the snowy, desolate camp is a perfect spot for ghostly images. The dark cabins, white snowbanks, and blue frozen lakes all add an additional layer of danger, or even comedy in some cases (there is a particularly memorable scene where The Grabber glides around on ice skates). Cinematographer Par M. Ekberg cleverly uses a grainy Super 8 look to represent Gwen's dream states, complete with muted audio that sounds like it's coming from an old record player. It's just one of a few creative visual choices that make the supernatural elements really stand out. Derrickson also has a pretty good handle on blood and gore and isn't afraid to show truly horrific acts of violence against young people, as we get some extremely gruesome scenes that show what really happened to the three missing children.

The movie is at its best when we're following Gwen through her various sleepwalking episodes, as there's a real sense of danger due to the fact that none of the other characters can help her. Ethan Hawke's face is mostly hidden behind The Grabber's mask throughout, but his vocal performance still carries a good deal of weight, gleefully delivering sick lines of dialogue with the swagger of a character that knows he has the upper hand. McGraw is even more impressive as the foul-mouthed Gwen, especially since she is asked to do quite a bit of emotional heavy lifting, seamlessly moving in and out of various extremes with a surprising confidence.

Things stumble a bit in the back half as there is a lot of explaining to do, often done with clunky scenes of exposition or repeated plot points that try a little too hard to make sure the audience understands what's going on. I understand the desire to make things hold up to some kind of logic, even (or especially) when dream logic is involved, but the movie might have been better served by just letting things be even wilder and more unexplained.

Still, things come to a head in a wild and bloody climax that is maybe more goofy than scary, as all loose ends are more or less tied up effectively and our young heroes get some sense of closure. It's hard to say how long that peace will last, as it's hard to imagine a third movie isn't in the pipeline. Who knows how The Grabber can possibly recover from his spot at movie's end, but if Derrickson and company want to come back and try again, I would be happy to see what they come up with.