Several years after the events of the original black phone movie, Finny and his sister Gwen are still haunted by the past. Finn is angry and aggressive with the people around him, and Gwen consistently receives terrifying visions when dreaming. As Gwen’s nightmares lead her to a Christian youth camp her mother used to work at, Finn is forced to tag along while they look around for spooky clues like in scooby doo. Due to a snowstorm, Finn, Gwen, and Gwen’s totally not boyfriend Ernesto find themselves trapped in the campgrounds, and things quickly turn sour as the paranormal activity ramps up. Is the grabber really gone? And why were they led to this campsite? For answers to these questions and more, go watch the film or continue this review.

I find Black Phone 2 to be a much more memorable film than Black Phone 1. The frozen mountain scene gives the film a feeling of isolation and hopelessness. Because the Grabber died in the first movie, Black Phone 2 is able to dive deeper into the supernatural side of the story, which I believe works a lot better for the franchise. The Grabber’s already devilish look is taken to an even darker level, given that he is now basically a literal demon. Much of the tension in the movie comes from the dreams that Gwen has. The mood of the scene dramatically shifts every time she falls asleep. I think these scenes are well done, and while it might be blasphemous to say, it reminded me a lot of The Nightmare on Elm Street movies. However, the movie really suffers from some pretty surface-level dialogue that ends up being incredibly cringy at times. In my opinion, it is not necessary for the protagonist of the movie to say a vulgar, witty quip in every scene. An actual line in this movie is, “fuck you with a dinosaur dick”. Said in a pretty tense and serious scene, by the way. It doesn’t feel true to life, and neither do many of the characters. Highlights of the cast were Demián Bichir as Armando, the owner of the camp, as well as Mason Thames as Finney Blake, who gives a powerfully emotional monologue towards the end. I had some fun watching this movie, but it isn’t something I would rush to the theater to see.
Score 6/10