Movie Review – The Black Phone 2

This film follows Finney and Gwen as the struggle with life after the Grabber’s death. Gwen starts having dreams about a youth camp at a lake and finds out their deceased mother used to work there. She convinces Finney and her friend Ernesto to get jobs as counselors so they can investigate. They arrive during a blizzard and are stranded there as Gwen’s dreams become more dangerous for her. What happen in those dreams happens to her in the real world. They find out that the Grabber worked at the camp and it is where he first started his killing spree. They must find the bodies before the Grabber kills Gwen in her dreams.

When I found out they were making a sequel to a film where the killer already died, I didn’t know what to think about it. I love the first film. Ethan Hawke and Madeleine McGraw are so great in it. The short story by Joe Hill doesn’t even cover anything after Finney escapes the Grabber so what could they possibly come up with? I tried to keep an open mind and trust that Scott Derrickson knew what he was doing. I wasn’t disappointed.

For the dream sequences, Derrickson shot on Super 8 film. Juxtaposed with the crispness of the digital for real world scenes, the graininess gives the dream sequences an otherworldly feeling. This is especially true during the final act when Gwen is dreaming and fighting with the Grabber on the ice covered lake while Finney and his friends try to find the bodies of his first victims hidden at the bottom of the lake. Its a fun scene to watch unfold.

Character wise, Gwen finds a newfound fondness for her mother. Gwen though her mother believed the dreams and being able to see dead people was a curse so Gwen viewed her powers the same way. By the end of the film, Gwen feels very differently and is a more positive place with her mother and herself. Finney manages to come to terms with his PTSD from his previous experiences with the Grabber. Their father also keeps away from alcohol which has allowed him to have better, less violent relationships with his children. And the owners of the youth camp are able to put their own demons to rest about the camp’s past in regards to the three missing kids that were the Grabber’s first victims.

I loved what they did with the Grabber’s look for this film. Since the film takes place during winter, the Grabber is frost bitten. He says hell is cold and he likes it, but his reality is altered because those three unfound bodies tether him to the real world. Until the bodies are put to rest, he will continue to have access. Gwen’s powers allow him to play with her mind in her dreams much in the way that Freddy Krueger did in A Nightmare on Elm Street. I find the Grabber’s antics to be scarier for he does not technically need Gwen to stay in whatever purgatory his lingers in. He just enjoys playing with her mind and he can draw Finney to him in the process. Each time he removes part of his mask, part of his face comes off with it giving his appearance a sinister look.

This was a surprisingly fun sequel. It is completely different from the original while still holding on to the integrity of what came before it. Scott Derrickson’s directing at its finest.

4 out of 5 stars.