Black Phone 2 review: A chilling killer’s return
‘Black Phone 2’ is a rare sequel that matches the original’s creepiness, while also reimagining an iconic horror technique.
Finney’s (Mason Thames) PTSD is obvious, even if no one is willing to address it. He self-medicates with marijuana, while Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) tries to make sure he doesn’t fall off the deep end. The problem is he still gets phantom phone calls and she still has clairvoyant dreams. When both become worse, they decide to go to the source: a winter camp in the mountains called Alpine Lake. Snowed in by a blizzard, they’re forced to again face The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), who’s re-emerged from an icy hell. In death, he may have finally found a way to get what he always wanted from Finney.
It would be wrong to assume Freddy Krueger has a monopoly on dream killing. The Grabber earns his spot by tormenting Finney and Gwen in familiar — but also unique — ways. The film is part sequel, part origin story as they must unravel the past to make sense of the present. Thames and McGraw grew with their characters, creating an intimate continuity with their fictional personalities. Audiences are immediately reminded of the connection they made four years ago with two scared kids and empathize with their despair over having to go through it again. It’s rare for a sequel to match its predecessor, but director Scott Derrickson and his co-writing team return to create a film that’s equally creepy, while also successfully reimagining a classic horror technique.
Read the full review of Black Phone 2 at thatshelf.com.
