Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Demián Bichir, Ethan Hawke
Rating: (R16)
★★+
REVIEWED BY THOMAS GREEN
Scott Derrickson takes a risk in veering Black Phone 2 (Rialto, Reading) away from its survival thriller/slasher-lite roots, opting for a greater emphasis on developing its supernatural horror elements. However, this ambitious left turn ultimately offers diminishing returns, despite some intermittent chills.
Taking place four years after teenaged Finney Blake’s (Mason Thames) traumatic kidnapping by the masked Grabber (Ethan Hawke), Black Phone 2 centres on Finney’s little sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw). Now a teenager herself, Gwen is cursed to witness the fractured memories of the Grabber’s murder victims whenever she falls asleep. These visions lure her and Finney to an old youth camp their mother attended in the 1950s — ground zero for the Grabber’s killing spree, now haunted by his vengeful spirit.
While contemporary horror sequels often ratchet up the production value, chaos and gore, at the cost of playing out like a half-evolved remake of what came before, Black Phone 2 cannot be mistaken for More Black Phone. Chief among the new film’s strengths are brief interludes of grainy Super-8 cinematography that serve as the twisted visual inspiration for Gwen’s surreal dreams, pairing well with the nightmarish soundtrack.
McGraw’s torment as Gwen is palpable, but Derrickson’s screenplay lets down the rest of the talented cast, as the Blake family’s history is retrospectively revised to include the Grabber, in a half-baked attempt to deepen emotional stakes.
Finally, the films’ central gimmick is stretched to hilarious limits, providing an ending that tilts uncomfortably close to cheesy sentimentality.
