The Black Phone was one of the most pleasant surprises of 2022. An original horror story with some genuine chills. It was a big hit, and, with the bad guy, Ethan Hawke’s The Grabber killed at the end, I was expecting a prequel. Instead, we have a sequel with Hawke’s character returning. Also coming back are director Scott Derrickson and stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw and Jeremy Davies.
It is set in 1982, four years after the events of the first film. Finney Blake (Thames) is trying to deal with the trauma from his kidnapping by, and killing of, the Grabber. Meanwhile, his sister Gwen (McGraw) starts having terrifying visions of mutilated children and nightmares with a phone ringing.
This sequel lacks the originality of the first film, and it leans into Nightmare on Elm Street as much as the original. It also feels a tad overlong and features a little too much exposition. However, it has a great location of a snowed-in youth camp and it looks fantastic, especially cinematographer Par M. Ekberg’s grainy dream sequences. Once again, McGraw takes the acting honours, delivering some scathing obscenities with relish.
Ultimately, this feels like a series of good scenes amidst a jumble of ideas rather than a coherent whole, but it does provide some uncomfortable moments.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10