Samuel LoveBlumhouse’s The Black Phone, based on the short story by Joe Hill (son of horror maestro Stephen King), was a huge success at the box office back in 2022, grossing over $160mil against its minimal budget of approx $16-18mil. Fronted by a harrowing performance by Ethan Hawke as the disturbingly named child killer the Grabber, the chilling tale saw young boy Finney (Mason Thames) kidnapped and held hostage in the killer’s basement. When a disconnected phone began ringing, Finney soon discovered that he could hear the voices of the murderer’s previous victims. Ultimately, with the help of these previous victims and the mysterious dreams of his sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), Finney was able to be rescued following a violent showdown with the masked killer.
“You of all people know that dead is just a word.”
Black Phone 2 (seemingly having dropped the ‘the’ because it’s cool) picks up four years later, with Finney deeply traumatised by his time with the Grabber and Gwen still experiencing vivid, violent dreams, now showing her terrifying visions of three boys being hunted at a remote winter camp. With her brother Finney by her side, she sets out to uncover the truth – only to face the vengeful Grabber, who has seemingly grown more powerful and sadistic in death.
In mixing up the setting and expanding the lore of the film’s universe and characters, Black Phone 2 is one of the better horror sequels of recent years. The Black Phone felt, simply put, very obvious that it was based on a short story – indeed, it felt like a bloated short film that struggled to justify its length. This sequel builds on the lore of the previous film and briefly expands the backstory of the Grabber without humanising him or explaining what made him evil, while also putting our characters in a bigger and more interesting setting. And because this is a contemporary horror film, of course a large part of the film is built around the effects of trauma that comes from encountering evil.
The icy winter camp is a wonderful setting, harking back to camp-based horrors of the 1980s and the cold isolation of The Thing. Stranded at the camp with their friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora), camp supervisor Armando (Demián Bichir), Armando’s niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas), and two camp employees (Graham Abbey and Maev Beaty), the film’s small cast allows us time to feel that isolation. But much like the first film, Black Phone 2 belongs to Ethan Hawke – even if he is far more sparingly used here, his disturbing presence is felt throughout. A great deal of that presence is shared with the nightmarish mask, which could easily go down as one of the best designed in horror history.
The film looks fantastic, particularly in Gwen’s harrowing dream sequences that have the appearance of scratched, crackly 8mm film. This imagery looks disturbing and appropriately nightmarish – I wish I dreamt in 8mm. Much like its use in the previous film and director Scott Derrickson’s Sinister, the format is just inherently unsettling and works perfectly with the look and feel of the Grabber.
Black Phone 2 is perhaps a little long – clocking in at just under two hours – but compelling enough to generally fly by, thanks to its effective scares, haunting mystery and brilliant performances across the board. Building on, and indeed improving on the first film, this is the must-see horror this Halloween season.
BLACK PHONE 2 is in cinemas now
