Black Phone 2 came out swinging harder than most people expected and honestly it set his up for possible franchise almost trying to take Nightmare on Elm Street place and I would usually notice this but didnt even care about with Gwen and Finn were doing so great, yes there are areas where the movie lacks but the fight scenes were awesome and the chemistry between brothers was on point. When they first announced a sequel I was sitting there thinking okay how the hell are they going to pull this off, The Grabber died in the first movie so what now, are they going to resurrect him and make some weird ghost story that does not make sense, is the Grabber the new Jason?. But Scott Derrickson really knows what he is doing with horror because this thing actually worked way better than I thought, it makes you care about the character without the need to really scare you to death. The whole supernatural angle they went with feels like a mix of Nightmare on Elm Street vibes without being a straight up copy, they made it their own thing and those dream sequences were absolutely insane to watch, shot on grainy looking stuff that gave it this creepy old school feel. Madeleine McGraw as Gwen basically steals the whole damn movie, she loves to run her mouth on everyone else, she is the one dealing with most of the horror stuff this time around, her character goes through so much shit in this movie that by the end I was actually feeling bad for her. Mason Thames returns as Finny and the kid has grown up, not just physically but his whole vibe is different now, he is angrier and more closed off because of what happened in the first movie witch makes total sense when you think about it. The movie picks up four years after the events from the first one and both kids are still dealing with trauma but in very different ways, Finny beats up anyone who even mentions what happened to him and Gwen is having these crazy dreams that feel more intense than anything she experienced before.
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The first 45 minutes drag a bit but its mainly because the movie is setting everything up and reintroducing the characters witch is fine but it feels slow as hell before things actually start happening. You get this whole mystery about dead kids and phone calls and some camp called Alpine Lake that The Grabber used to work at back in the 60s, they use to call him Wild Bill Hickok although he kept saying that was not his name, he was the janitor there witch is such a cliche but whatever it works I guess. Once the mystery kicks in and we start learning more about The Grabber and his past though, that is when the movie gets you locked in and wont even think about taking a break. They do not ruin the character by explaining too much but they give you enough to understand how he came back and some of that backstory actually made me look at the first movie differently witch is always cool when a sequel can do that. The whole idea is that The Grabber killed three boys at this camp way back and their bodys were never found so their souls are trap and that is what gives him power to come back as this supernatural force, its like he is stuck between life and death and can mess with people in their dreams now and in real life, talk about hybrid situation. Ethan Hawke does not get as much screen time this round but when he shows up its effective, his voice work is really creepy and menacing even though you can not always see him on screen witch was an interesting choice.
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The movie realy goes hard with the gore and violence this time, like way harder than the first one with multiple scenes where kids get killed on screen even felt like a slasher at times, they show you the damage and its brutal as hell, one scene involves an axe to the face and another has someone getting dragged across a frozen lake and it looks pain full as shit. Gwen ends up at this Christian camp for a weekend with Finny and this new "boyfriend" named Ernesto who is actually the younger brother of Robin from the first movie witch I did not realize until he and Finn talk about Robin. The camp is closed because of a massive snow storm so they are stuck there with just a few counselors and of course that is when The Grabber starts showing up in the dream world but also messing with people in real life to. They do this thing where he has powers in both the death and the life realm and throws Gwen around a room and everyone can see it happening but they can not see him witch was a cool scene even though it raises some questions about the rules, so they did Krueger but change the rules?! I know many are going to pick up on this one and say hheeellll nah, but I have to admit it was entertaining, besides there is a big generation that dont even know who the F is Freddy Crugger. The Grabber can attack people in real life why does he even need the dream stuff, it felt like the movie was making up rules as it went along sometimes but I was having to much fun to really care that much. The way they shot the dream sequences on that grainy super 8 looking camera was perfect, it gave you a visual cue so you always knew when someone was dreaming versus awake and the music in those scenes was creepy as hell to.
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The final fight happens on this frozen lake where the three dead boys bodys are hidden under the ice and Gwen has to dive into the freezing water to pull them out, all this while she is dreaming, this so their souls can be free witch will take away The Grabbers power. Now here is where I had some issues because Gwen jumps into sub zero water and somehow does not die from hypothermia or drown even though she is under there for like five minutes because yes he is on her dreams and her body outside but if the rules apply when she gets cut by the Grabber during her dreams I mean her body bleeds too then why her body doesnt freeze too? they show her body getting all wet by water like water came out of her so this are some of the inconsistencies I can call on, the movie established that if you get hurt in the dream you get hurt in real life so why does that not apply here. The Grabber shows up wearing ice skates made of frozen blood on his feet and he is skating around the lake trying to kill everyone witch sounds ridiculουs but it actually looked cool as hell. Finny ends up fighting him even though he cant see him and starts bashing his face into the ice until he is just a bloody mess, then the dead boys grab him and drag him down to the bottom of the lake and that is supposed to be the end of him, BUT I notice before going down he grabs his mask, he doesnt leave it behind, what does that means?. The ending clearly explains that Gwen's dreams are her gift and not a curse and gives her some closure about everything that happened, it was a sweet moment and Madeleine McGraw really sold it with her acting even though we never see the mom on screen. I wish they would have killed more people honestly, the body count felt low for how brutal some of the kills were and The Grabber deserved to rack up more victims to really show how dangerous he still is even as a ghost or whatever supernatural thing he became, on the first movie they gave him all that body count but we never got to see anything about it.
Overall this movie worked for me way more than I expected, I know some people are going to hate that opinion but I am just being real here, its entertainment that you cant take too serious unless you are a hard core fan of Nightmare on Elm Street, if they keep making these and come up with smart ways to bring The Grabber back I would not mind seeing more. The first movie was great but it felt like a complete story that did not need a sequel, this one justifies its existence by going bigger and crazier with the supernatural elements. Scott Derrickson clearly loves Nightmare on Elm Street and you can feel that influence all over this movie, some people might say it copy to much from Freddy Krueger but when you have not had a thing from that franchise in so long you cant denied that even if Krueger never existed Black Phone 2 is a cool movie. The relationship between Finny and Gwen is still the heart of the story and watching them work together to stop The Grabber again was satisfying, they both grew as characters and dealt with their trauma in ways that felt earned by the end. I have to admit the setup takes to long and yes some of the logic does not make sense but once this thing gets going its a wild ride that kept me entertained the whole way. I would give Black Phone 2 a solid 8 out of 10, its not perfect but its a hell of a lot better than most horror sequels we get these days and if you liked the first one you should definitely check this out.
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