'Black Phone 2' will chill you to the bone
The Black Phone 2 arrives in theaters just in time for Halloween
Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in Black Phone 2, directed by Scott Derrickson. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.
"Black Phone 2" is Scott Derrickson's ("Sinister") newest film, and it arrives just in time for Halloween! It follows the previous film's protagonist, Finney, played again by Mason Thames ("How To Train Your Dragon"), as he starts receiving more calls from the dead, claiming The Grabber has returned from the grave.
His sister, Gwen, played by Madeleine McGraw ("M3GAN"), starts to receive mysterious dreams from an otherworldly presence. She and Finney are guided by their supernatural abilities to a camp where The Grabber first struck.
Together, they must find the remaining bodies of the missing kids on the campus. Little do they realize the spirit of The Grabber is hot on their trail, with a cold dish of vengeance to serve to his unsuspecting prey.
I absolutely loved the original "Black Phone" movie and was skeptical when a sequel was announced because the book didn't have a sequel. After the original author of the story, Joe Hill, approved the script for the second story, my hype started to increase slowly as the months passed. Now we're here, and I have got to say, this movie truly rivals the first in terms of entertainment, but as an original sequel, that's where the movie starts to falter.
Thames is amazing as Finney. As he grows in age, he grows as an actor. The direction they took his character was really intriguing and a great commentary on PTSD.
McGraw is fierce and powerful as Gwen. She has a lot more to do in this movie and acts as the Lorraine Warren of the film. She has two awesome fights with The Grabber, which were both tense and exciting.
Ethan Hawke ("Training Day") is once again fantastic as The Grabber. He is menacing and uses his phantom environment well in terms of scares and intensity. He is here for blood and sparring, no mercy.
Jeremy Davies ("Twister") is also great as the dad, Terrance, and he gets a great arc that connects back to Finney.
Derrickson really knows how to direct a moody horror film. Each movie he does has a specific style, and this frightful feature is no different. I can't wait to watch this film during the winter, as the snowstorm gives a chilling atmosphere and definitely made me wish I had brought a blanket to the theater. There isn't a single bad or slow scene in this movie. Everything flows really nicely, and Derrickson's found footage sequences in the film are captivating and suspenseful.
When it comes to negatives, I think I'm going to have the same opinion as a lot of people, and it's the fact that they basically made The Grabber like another version of Freddy Krueger. He has the same rules as Freddy in terms of how he kills and how he can appear to people. This makes the movie easy to follow, but the similarities to Freddy are borderline copyright infringement. I'm surprised the Wes Craven Estate didn't have a problem with it.
Other than that, there are some plot points that are too convenient and one really annoying side character who worked at the camp. She did nothing for the story and only wasted time.
Overall, this is a great film to see this Halloween. It's a tense ride but not too scary for people who don't like jumpscare horror. Its scares are genuine and skin-crawling. I'd give "Black Phone 2" a 9/10.
Carter Salley is Central Michigan Life's resident film reviewer and co-host of the pop culture podcast "Raving Geeks." He is majoring in media arts.
