BLACK PHONE 2: Another Call From The Grabber

BLACK PHONE 2 (Blu-ray)

2025 / 114 min

Universal

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

2021’s The Black Phone didn’t really leave the door open for a sequel, but when has that ever stopped anybody, especially in the horror genre? When your film becomes a sleeper hit, of course you wanna keep the ball rolling. Naturally, director/co-writer Scott Derrickson finds a way, and if you haven’t yet seen the first film, I suggest you stop reading now to avoid spoilers.

At the end of The Black Phone, notorious child murderer The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) was killed by his latest abductee, Finney (Mason Thames), who had considerable help from the ghosts of previous victims, as well as his clairvoyant kid sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). The sequel takes place four years later. Finney is an angry teenager still tormented by his experience, while Gwen is having dreams of child murders that occurred at Alpine Lake Camp decades earlier, where their mother was a counselor. These dead kids were the first victims of Wild Bill, who’d someday achieve infamy as The Grabber.

The Grabber may be dead, but he’s still plenty pissed, and one hell of a Chatty Cathy this time around. Black Phone 2 brings him back as sort of a revenge-fueled Freddy Krueger, hell bent on making Finn suffer by torturing and killing Gwen. The siblings end up at the same camp, figuring that destroying The Grabber for good requires finding the bodies of his first three victims (though I’m not sure how they come to that conclusion). Helping them out are Ernesto (Miguel Mora), the brother of one of The Grabber’s victims who’s sweet on Gwen, Alpine Lake supervisor Armando (Damian Bichir), and a couple of religious zealots whose main narrative purpose appears to be showing how awful Fundamental Christians can be (admittedly, seeing them repeatedly put in their place is pretty satisfying).

"Other people need to use the phone too, you know."

While resurrecting a killer as a supernatural entity has been done a gajillion times before, Derrickson at least deserves a scratch behind the ears for not simply cranking out the same movie over again. Additionally, Black Phone 2 has its share of creepy, atmospheric moments (setting the story at an isolated camp during a winter storm is a nice touch), as well as dedicated performances by its cast. But overall, the movie is merely watchable without ever creating the dread of the first film, despite some disturbing sequences. Visually, The Grabber has been given a gruesome upgrade, but he also talks too much this time around, which tends to defuse some of his menace, as does seeing him skating around on a frozen lake like a demented hockey goon.

And after two movies, I’m still not sure why an actor like Ethan Hawke would bother with such a role. He does a fine job, but even more so than the first film, he’s buried behind a mask and prosthetics, and none of The Grabber’s dialogue really requires an actor of his caliber. Like Jason Voorhees, the character could’ve been played by anybody. Still, for a sequel to a film that arguably didn’t need one, Black Phone 2 is well-directed and just engaging enough to justify its existence.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Dialed In: The Cast of Black Phone 2 has the cast discussing their characters and praise their co-stars (though Ethan Hawke is noticeably absent); A Story Carved in Ice; Frozen in Time is about the shooting locations and setting..

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director/co-writer Scott Derrickson.

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