Black Phone 2 takes less of a step and more of a leap away from the first film that was brought to the silver screen three years ago. There’s no Joe Hill short story to serve as the bones for this one, leaving a mostly blank canvas for the dream team of Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill. It’s clear, from the first frame to the last, that they took that opportunity to paint an absolutely wild departure.
Embracing the Slasher Horror Vibe
This film feels like more of a slasher now, but more importantly, it’s a horror film screaming about how much it loves slashers. High impact, violent, relentless killers. The slasher films with big one-liners, crazy bloody effects, and a strong villain at the helm. Those expecting the slow rolling, nostalgic atmosphere of the ghost story we got before are in for a much faster paced surprise—even with the longer runtime the second installment boasts, it’s just beat for beat quicker.
Despite his best efforts to ignore ringing calls from spirits in need, Finney Blake can’t forget what happened. He can’t block out the experience he had at the hands of the notorious serial killer known as The Grabber. His sister Gwen can’t ignore it either, as her psychic abilities send her into lifelike dreams night after night, where dead children lost to the ice call for help. The brother and sister duo are drawn back into the hazy and surreal world of the dead as they try to solve who these mysterious, frostbitten ghosts are– and end up encountering The Grabber once more. While the face is familiar, the man who tortured Finney is not the same spirit that left his body. In fact, he’s more dangerous than ever.
Black Phone 2’s Ethos is More, More, More
Everything about Black Phone 2 is “more” for that matter. It’s inherently riskier just because of how different it is, but the whole ethos of the film is to give you more. It’s bolder (and colder) with its setting, swapping out the suburban trappings of the original for a youth camp buried in a snowstorm. You might expect something reminiscent of The Shining given the Stephen King energy present throughout the first film, but you’ll end up mostly getting an experience that feels like the later Nightmare on Elm Street films; DNA from a bevy of slashers made its way into this one, but Black Christmas and Friday the 13th stood out to me as notable ancillary inspirations.
And while it’s not a slasher and more of a creative predecessor to The Black Phone, I do have to note that we’re so back in terms of Sinister vibes. Fans of that film will be pleased with how these ghosts evoke the eeriness of that film’s children. The dream sequences here also capture the haunting nature of the Super 8 segments Sinister is notorious for.
Ethan Hawke’s Terrifying Return as The Grabber
This film is also meaner and bloodier than its predecessor, featuring more gruesome effects and a more aggressive iteration of our killer. The Grabber, played by a returning Ethan Hawke, is unfettered by a human form. He dances through his plot for revenge with sadistic glee, terrorizing the Blake siblings in more creative ways. Hawke sells it, and he sells it hard. I must say he is the highlight of the film. He definitely hits harder now as a spirit driven by revenge, fueled by nothing but a short stay in hell and a burning lifetime of rage. It’s an irreverent rampage at points as it plays with this weightless aspect of the character, especially in its climax, but it understands what it wants to do with that and is ultimately entertaining for it.
An Awkward Transition From Thriller To Killer
Black Phone 2 is definitely quicker, especially in its editing and camerawork, the former of which is especially energetic. Though, it feels like there almost isn’t enough time to breathe as we jump between reality and the dreaming world of nightmares it presents us.
But does all of this combined, being colder, faster, and meaner, really make it better? I don’t think it does, but the films are so tonally different that it’s like comparing apples to oranges to say this is outright worse. It is still more reliant on the story and emotional weight of the previous film while being divorced from it in terms of spirit. What results is an awkward transition.
The script’s edges are jagged. There are several characters who really only have a presence in the plot as observers. They’re here to sit back and watch our main cast solve the mystery, and they feel squandered in that way. There are moments where “show, don’t tell” has been thrown to the gutter, and some of the dialogue is very corny in that regard. It’s not helped by the few weak performances that are in the film; the opening of the movie comes with a borderline groan-worthy one. Attempts to recapture some of the charm that came from Gwen’s creatively foul-mouthed dialogue in the first film are also hit or miss.
McGraw and Thames Are Back And Better Than Ever
Most of this is saved from sinking by the emotional ballast that returning leads Mason Thames and Madeline McGraw provide. The two have shown significant growth as young actors over just a few years, in a way that is very fun to see. They manage to make something compelling out of the material they’re given, especially Thames. He portrays Finney’s strained relationship with his sister and deftly attempts to block out the pain. The characters have grown with the actors and vice versa, breathing a unique life into their roles.
Ultimately, Black Phone 2 does succeed: it brings us an iconic villain fully grown into his mask and puts him center stage of a fresh new supernatural slasher, even if it’s a tonal shark jump in the process. It’s a scare-packed ride that eschews the more quietly thrilling elements of the original to play around in the bloody and the bizarre. And while it has its low points from shaking off the first film’s subtlety, the movie has enough creativity and strong performances from its leads to land it as one of the better horror offerings this year has served.
