I am a super fan of horror movies and The Black Phone franchise gets a little more love than most, because it stars one of my favorite actors, Ethan Hawke, as the bad guy, which is role I’ve never seen him play before, and he totally nails it! Also, both films take place in Denver, Colorado, so that’s fairly close to home.
*WARNING!*
Before we even begin, I must overstate the obvious: there were be several spoilers for both The Black Phone and Black Phone 2, so if you haven’t seen either, tread lightly. That being said, before we get to any spoilers in the sequel, I will warn you again.
Now let’s get into things.
The first “The Black Phone” film closes with a very satisfying ending, which leaves the antagonist (or more aptly, the villain), dead. In case you’ve forgotten, or haven’t the seen the original, the bad guy was colloquially referred to as “The Grabber”.
So who is the bad guy in the second film?
If you haven’t seen the trailer, take two minutes out of your day and check it out below. Seeing it will do it much better justice than me trying to explain it in detail.
So The Grabber has returned from the grave (hell?), and is terrorizing the Blake children (that are now teens), again… this time on a mountain campground just outside Denver, during a snowstorm. That is a complete synopsis of the plot.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
There are some call backs to the original film and also, in my opinion, some small plot holes are covered in the sequel. Without giving away too much (spoilers for the second film start here, by the way), but there is an interesting tie in to The Grabber and the Blake children’s mother, who was already did before the start of the first film from an apparent suicide.
I enjoyed the movie, specifically trying to figure out the who-done-it aspects. Yes, there are obviously supernatural aspects as well. It’s a good flick and a solid sequel. There are even a few really good jump scares too. That being said, Black Phone 2 has the smallest body count for a bonafide horror flick and that’s compared to every other film in the entire genre… EVER!
That’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but I guess I’m more accustomed to horror films not having happy endings, or at least not this happy. I still rate the film 7 out of 10, but a few more onscreen deaths would’ve given it a higher rating.
Regardless, I think both films are worth watching, and probably a few times, just to make sure you catch everything.
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Gallery Credit: DJ Nyke