Story and tone

On October 16, the horror film Black Phone 2 was released – a sequel to the 2022 film adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story Black Phone. Several years have passed since the frightened boy Finny Blake managed to defeat the child killer Kidnapper, and his sister Gwen, thanks to her psychic abilities inherited from her mother, found her brother.

They have grown up, and their father has stopped drinking and treating his children like cattle. However, the young man has still not been able to overcome the deep trauma caused by his encounter with the maniac, and it has turned into uncontrollable aggression – now Finny is ready to beat up his peers at the first opportunity.

Visual imagination

Over time, the visions become increasingly sinister and disturbingly realistic, pushing him to plan a trip there to finally uncover what truly happened. Pay phones continue to ring incessantly whenever Finney is nearby, as if someone – or something – is desperately trying to reach him from the other side. The calls feel ominous, echoing fragments of the past and warning of something still unresolved.

Under the pretext of working as intern counselors, the teenagers travel to a remote summer camp hidden deep in the woods. What begins as a seemingly ordinary trip soon turns into a nightmare. At the camp, something ancient and terrifying awaits them – a monster that no longer belongs to the world of the living, but feels as if it has crawled straight out of hell itself.

Themes

In the sequel, renowned horror director Scott Derrickson and screenwriter K. Robert Cargill take a slightly different approach to the story. Instead of meticulously recreating the authentic atmosphere of quiet horror and psychological tension characteristic of Stephen King’s works, the filmmakers openly draw inspiration from much more straightforward and recognizable classic slasher films.

The events now unfold in the early 1980s, the golden age of the slasher genre, when horror films were dominated by masked killers, summer camps, and groups of teenagers facing unimaginable danger. This shift in tone gives the film a more nostalgic and stylistically familiar feel, echoing the spirit of the cult films of that era. The plot relies more heavily on suspense, tension, and traditional horror clichés, capturing the raw energy and simplicity that made early slasher films so memorable.

Voice performances

In addition, Derrickson does not shy away from using his own tricks. The sinister dreams with gruesome bloody massacres are stylistically and thematically reminiscent of the insane 8mm documentary footage from Sinister (2012), probably the director’s best film, also starring Ethan Hawke.

Music and sound

There is no doubt that the experienced director has mastered the horror genre; Black Phone 2 looks great on both an audio and visual level. The rare jump scares work well. The immortal classic by Pink Floyd is music to the ears. Each new appearance of the masked monster makes the heart beat faster.

Final verdict

The Black Phone is definitely a solid product. It’s not without its flaws, of course—if the writers had cut the running time down to the standard hour and a half and removed a few boring dialogues, the film would have benefited greatly. But overall, we have a worthwhile mainstream horror film, and if Freddy Krueger does turn over in his grave, it will clearly be with a satisfied smile on his burnt face.