Spooky Season 2025: Black Phone 2 Review

Black Phone 2 is a sequel to the surprise 2022 Blumhouse horror hit. Four years after escaping and killing The Grabber (Hawke), Finney Blake (Thames) struggles with life after his captivity. When his younger sister Gwen (McGraw) begins receiving calls in her dreams from the black phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp, the siblings become determined to solve the mystery and confront a killer who has grown more powerful in death and more significant to them than either could ever imagine. Despite both critical and audience love for the original, most deemed a sequel unnecessary based on how it ended. However, this sequel is a worthy sequel that effectively takes this franchise in a completely new direction, while holding on to most of what made the first film so great.

Co-writer and director Scott Derrickson, alongside co-writer C. Robert Cargill, should be applauded for doing something completely different this time around, a film that is much more brutal, gorier, and especially scarier sequel than the original. Derrickson, in particular, does a great job at setting the tone, creating an eerie atmosphere and a looming sense of dread that can be felt throughout, becoming more rampant as it goes along. Meanwhile, its snowy winter camp setting adds to that atmosphere, making for a setting that lends very well to horror. Taking its time to get going, it remains engaging every step of the way thanks to its central mystery, and character arcs.

As Finney, Thames continues to prove how he is one of Hollywood’s finest young actors working today, playing a character that has seen plenty of evolution since the events of the original film. That being said, he is pushed to the side this time around, taking a backseat in favor of McGraw’s Gwen. Assuming more of the lead, she is undeniably the standout as she delivers a fantastic performance where more is required of her over the course of the film. To her credit, McGraw absolutely crushes it. The sibling dynamic between McGraw and Thames, as Gwen and Finney, give it a heart which helps to ground the film in the midst of the carnage and scares. Though Hawke may not appear as prominently as many may expect, he completely steals the show, delivering some truly menacing work as The Grabber. His demon design is great, making the character all the creepier, while Hawke, once again, has a blast chewing up the scenery. On the other hand, solid supporting performances from Demián Bichir, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora and Arianna Rivas contribute to the film nicely, each playing significant roles.

Though the film may be lacking in glaring issues, at the same time, it isn’t quite the knockout of a sequel it has been billed as, or is as good as the original. While it can get rather brutal, it arguably could have pushed things even further, especially in how the film takes inspiration from such classic slasher franchises as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th. Similarly, running maybe a tad too long at almost 2-hours, it easily could have been cut shorter if only to tighten up its overall pace, especially at the start.

In the end, Black Phone 2 marks yet another strong horror film released in what has been a strong year for horror (similar to 2022, the year the original film was released), and a sequel that proves its own existence and stands on its own two feet. While this latest entry wraps up its story with a nice little bow, if Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill were to develop a new story and continue the Black Phone franchise somewhere down the road, audience will surely follow them once again for that ride.

still courtesy of Universal Pictures and Blumhouse

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/