Black Phone 2 Review
nightmare on black phone street
Black Phone 2 continues the sordid story of one of author Joe Hill’s creepiest creations – The Grabber, played again by Ethan Hawke. The film opens in the winter of 1982.
Four years after surviving the events of the original movie, Finn (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeline McGraw) are still dealing with their trauma on a daily basis. The siblings are now in high school. Gwen has terrifying vivid nightmares about Alpine Lake, a Christian camp that was the site of a series of murders in the ’50s.
She has visions of her dead mother, who took her own life years earlier. Gwen convinces the skeptical Finn that her dreams are real and that they should journey to the camp. She has attracted a suitor, Ernesto (Miguel Mora), who accompanies the siblings to Alpine Lake.
They meet the folks who run the camp: manager Armando (Demian Bichir), his pretty niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas), and his employees Kenneth (Graham Abbey) and Barbara (Maev Beaty). Mustang seems like a potential love interest for Finn, but this storyline isn’t developed. He seems attracted to her, but he’s too busy protecting Gwen to worry about dating.
Many sequels are more like remakes. They settle for repeating the formula that worked in the original, and they’re rarely as effective as their predecessors. Thankfully, Black Phone 2 doesn’t do that. It’s a whole different animal from the first movie.
Gwen’s dream sequences are similar to the stuff we’ve seen in the classic Nightmare on Elm Street movies. The Grabber has returned for revenge as a supernatural ghostly figure, similar to Freddy Krueger, although The Grabber isn’t quite as quippy with the one liners. There are similar dream rules to the NOES series, such as characters being harmed in real life if they are hurt in their dreams.
However, Black Phone 2 is a typical sequel in the sense that it expands the backstory of the first movie. We learn about The Grabber’s origins and more light is shed on the past family trauma for Finn and Gwen, as well as their connection with The Grabber.
Gwen was my favorite character in the first movie and she remains at the top in this sequel. Her creative swears remind me of Debra Morgan in Dexter. Madeline McGraw is only seventeen, but her performance belies her young age. She’s a teenager playing a teen, but seems wise beyond her years. McGraw still has solid chemistry with Thames, who remains convincing as the protective older brother.
Black Phone 2 is slower paced than most sequels. The first half of the movie drags at times. Most part 2’s are fast paced because the exposition has already been established in the first movie, which enables the sequel to hit the ground running.
I’m glad that the filmmakers made a unique sequel, but the one flaw with that approach is that there’s plenty more setup before the story really gets rolling.
rating
Black Phone 2 is an imaginative sequel with a sibling relationship that remains compelling. It has potential to help establish an extended franchise.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 8
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