Sequel picks up the story four years on with ghosts of The Grabber’s victims

Black Phone 2
★★★
M.A. 114 minutes

Of all the subgenres populating the horror movie market, the most unsavory is the one focusing on serial killers, especially those who prey on children.

Naturally, this does not prevent them from working at the box office. Black PhoneA 2022 low-budget thriller starring Ethan Hawke as a terrifying character who revels in the alias The Grabber was such a profitable surprise that a sequel was inevitable. So we have the same team Black Phone 2 picks up the story four years later.

Finney (Mason Thames), who not only escaped Grabber but also tackled him and killed him on the way out, is now a sullen, drug-smoking 17-year-old; her younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) still suffers from psychic nightmares, and the ghosts of Grabber’s victims are as communicative as ever.

Despite the inherent disgust of the concept, the film is well put together. W. C. Cargill’s original screenplay was based on a short story by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, and is a believable story about dysfunctional families and teenage friendships, underlying the exploitative formula. Director Scott Derrickson sets the film in a blue-collar suburb of North Denver where he grew up, and despite a few noticeable creaks in the mechanics of the plot, Finney and Gwen’s world seems grounded in reality when events don’t veer into supernatural realms.

The action progresses with the clues Gwen receives in her dreams. Revolving around the mystery of his mother’s suicide, they suggest a solution be found at the Christian youth camp in the Rocky Mountains where he once worked as a counselor. Gwen lands a counseling job at the same camp, and her friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora) offers to go with her. Finney is more reluctant. He tries to separate himself from the past, but eventually gives in and becomes convinced that Gwen needs his protection.

The stage is now set for a cold-climate thriller, complete with frozen lake, isolated cabins, and a snowstorm that prevents other campers from making the trip. The three teens have only the camp’s owner Mando (Demian Bichir), his feisty nephew Mustang (Arianna Rivas), and a few other staff members (cheerful, annoying people) for company.

But there’s no doubt that Gwen and Finney will soon hear from the ghosts of Grabber and his victims. A telling warning sign is the ominous presence of an old-fashioned telephone booth standing in the snow.