“Black Phone” 2, again directed and co-written by Scott Derrickson, improves upon its predecessor in remarkable ways. It’s interesting that it does this using many of the same actors—Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeline McGraw—as well as a concept that borrows from other horror films. I noted mostly “A Nightmare on Elm Street” in concept and “It Follows” in atmosphere. But somewhere along the way, Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill—pulling from a short story written by Joe Hill—create a slow-paced, atmospheric horror film that feels on par with the decade it inhabits (the ‘80s). It also corrects the biggest oversight from “The Black Phone:” the Grabber (Ethan Hawke) is actually scary this time.
Finn (Thames) is a solid asset in this film, now 17-years-old and a protector of his sister, Gwen (McGraw). As the film starts, he’s pummeling a classmate in the schoolyard for insulting him as a psycho for his dealings with the Grabber from the last film. For those that might not remember, he killed the serial killer in that movie, aided in his escape by the voices of the Grabber’s previous victims calling him from the titular ‘black phone’ in the killer’s basement. There’s a palpable amount of trauma that Finn carries. He thinks he can fight and smoke his way out of it, developing a penchant for marijuana. His sister is in her teens now, kind of awkward but likable, and draws the eye of an equally odd boy, Ernesto (Miguel Mora). Like her deceased mom, Gwen has distributing dreams that allow her to pull visions from past and future dimensions. Yet Derrickson finds ways to film these sequences in ways that make it feel more grounded and less sci-fi than they might have in lesser hands.
Slow and Atmospheric this Time
“Black Phone 2” is not in a hurry to where it’s going, which is its strongest asset. The first half mostly deals with disturbing dreams Gwen is having, several of which bring her to the den of evil that was the Grabber’s lair. In a fit of reversal, Finn wanders in an leads her from there, when it should really be someone helping him move past his trauma. That does happen, of course, but later in the film. The early parts are devoted to Finn’s defense mechanisms, Gwen’s uncomfortable dreams, and a sense of eeriness that the Grabber is still hurting everyone even though he’s dead and gone.
What drives the film’s plot is a recurrent dream Gwen has whereby her mother—in her youth—calls her on the black phone (or in her dreams)—from a Christian youth camp in the Colorado wilderness. Her and Finn will eventually head out there to “work,” while she really just intends to see why her mother is beckoning her there. And all the while Finn keeps answering a black phone outside the campsite. He hears at first young children crying for help to be “freed.” Another voice also calls—the Grabber—and it’s clear he wants to continue torturing Finn from wherever he rests by going after his sister through her visions.
McGraw and Thames Make a Good Team
While here the film ran the risk of becoming very Freddy Kruger-esque, in Derrickson, Thames, and McGraw’s hands it becomes something else. Firstly, while the film takes place in the 1980s, this is not like the teen debauchery films that lined that time period. Gwen, Finn, and Ernesto are real people and feel that way. Ernesto has feelings for Gwen, and the way the romance is handled feels real and awkward (like actual teens) as they feel each other and navigate their feelings. And Finn’s overprotection of her while dealing with his own trauma is also believable. Yet it’s here Finn finds the first strands of hope while talking to the camp’s owner, a genial man named Mando (Demián Bichir). He has a past of his own, but helps Finn see that he can move past the trauma that happened to him. My favorite line in the film is when Mando tells Finn, “you were strong enough to kill that man and escape before… and you’re strong enough to let it go and move past it.”
“Black Phone 2” is also heightened by its cinematography, this time done by Pär M. Ekberg, which is grainy, blurry, and disorienting in the right moments to make it feel almost like a home video or a bad dream. We’re often not sure which. The music by composer Atticus Derrickson is also spot-on, adding an eeriness to the film that feels very “Stranger Things” or “It Follows” in its treatment. The winter cabins and never-ending snow storms add an isolate feel to it, while its dark color scheme contrasted with these curly, red-coiled cabin heaters make it feel otherworldly.
Hawke is Undeniably Evil this Go-a-Round
Of course in the second half this film will become about the Grabber and his battle with Gwen and Finn—but to talk specifics is to do the film a disservice. Some parts are common fare for films like this (especially one scene intended as an homage to “A Nightmare on Elm Street”). However, later parts become very uncomfortable and threatening, especially comments by the Grabber (through dreams and the black phone) that depict what hell is really like. Ethan Hawke is absolutely monstrous here—from his vocalizations to his appearance—and you get the impression of a truly undying evil—a feeling I never had watching the first film. As he attaches to Gwen, secrets he unveils are soul-crushing and harrowing. The way Hawke and McGraw play off each other is also a thing to behold.
“Black Phone 2” isn’t perfect. There are some irritating characters added (namely a sanctimonious camp leader and her husband), while some others don’t get the fleshing out they deserve. The film’s climax is original though, as is the way the group gleans it might be possible to defeat the Grabber for good. And by including Finn and Gwen’s father (reprised by Jeremy Davies, an alcoholic who is now sober) Derrickson and Cargill make lasting points about overcoming demons and being present for your life. And, defying convention, when the black phone rings one final time as the film draws to a close, it’s not to set up a clichéd sequel, but to offer sweet, moving closure. Amidst horror films that usually concern themselves only with gore and desperation, “Black Phone 2” is a solid offering that kind of makes me wish they’d find a believable way to make a part 3.
