By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill
Universal/Blumhouse
One of the qualities that separates BLACK PHONE 2 from both its predecessor and the general run of horror films was evident when the trailer initially dropped: the wintry setting. A cold, snowy, desolate location is the perfect staging area for screen terror, one that isn’t used quite often enough in the genre, and it proves to be just the right place for young siblings Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) to square off once more against their nemesis, the supposedly deceased Grabber (Ethan Hawke).
BLACK PHONE 2, on which director/co-writer Scott Derrickson and co-scripter C. Robert Cargill reunite with the three leads as well as a couple of supporting players, also stands apart from a lot of scary sequels by not embracing the more-is-better approach. In other words, it isn’t about upping the body count in an attempt to outdo its predecessor’s thrills and chills, but digging deeper into the psyches of its two troubled youths. Set four years after the events of the original, it catches up to Finn and Gwen as teens, still living with the aftermath of their earlier encounters with the Grabber. The formerly bullied Finn is now the one giving a beatdown to a fellow student, since his rep as the guy who took down the serial child killer has led his peers to routinely challenge him, while Gwen is subject to sleepwalking during seriously bad dreams.
The presentation of these nightmares, in which Gwen witnesses the extremely unpleasant deaths of a trio of young boys, continues the Super-8 aesthetic from Derrickson and Cargill’s SINISTER as well as the first BLACK PHONE. The grainy, jumpy visuals still work to put the audience on edge, not to mention that the boys’ fates are squirm-inducingly grisly (SAW franchise veteran Francois Dagenais did the prosthetics honors this time). Meanwhile, Finn has been receiving random calls from the beyond that he doesn’t want to deal with, and having visions of the Grabber, and to his credit, Derrickson makes some of the villain’s appearances quiet and insinuating rather than resorting to a string of jump scares (though BLACK PHONE 2 does ultimately have its share of those as well).
Death not only hasn’t stopped the Grabber, but has freed him to torment his sibling targets in psychological/supernatural ways beyond what he was physically capable of when he was alive. Stopping him a second time will involve traveling to a Christian camp in the wilds of Colorado called Alpine Lake as a blizzard is hitting the area, with Finn and Gwen getting a ride from Ernesto (Miguel Mora), who lost his brother Robin (played by Mora in the previous BLACK PHONE) to the Grabber but is motivated more by his crush on Gwen. The only folks at Alpine Lake once they arrive are supervisor Armando (Demián Bichir), his niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas) and a couple of pious staffers named (ahem) Kenneth and Barbara (Graham Abbey and Maev Beaty), who provide comic relief with their disbelieving/judgmental reactions to Finn and Gwen’s plight.
That gets worse fast as the Grabber moves up from emotionally plaguing the teens to causing them physical harm while they dream of his attacks. In particular, Gwen suffers a lengthy and frightening battering by her invisible assailant that homages Tina’s fate in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET–one of a few callbacks to past slashers on view here. (Hardcore fans will recognize one latecoming setpiece as a tribute to the Canadian cult item CURTAINS.) If this is Derrickson and Cargill’s way of acknowledging that BLACK PHONE 2 represents the Grabber’s coming-out party as a franchise icon, they eschew an attempt to Freddy-ize him with glib wisecracks, even if he’s revealed to have a pretty messed-up face behind his trademark mask. As portrayed with sadistic determination by Hawke, he’s deadly serious and remains a potent menace, whether he’s simply threatening Finn and Gwen or making good on those threats.
As the duo struggle against an evil force bent on literally tearing them apart, Thames and McGraw maintain and build upon the brother-sister bond they established in the prior film, while evoking the painful traumas each is going through. There are some distressing revelations to be faced along the way, and Derrickson and Cargill successfully expand on the previously established mythology in resonant ways. They also give some meaningful moments to Jeremy Davies as Finn and Gwen’s now recovering-alcoholic dad, attempting to atone for his past neglect, and Bichir, who does well with the copious inspirational dialogue he’s given.
It all plays out within a stark, chilly environment that’s very well-realized by cinematographer Pär M. Ekberg (LORDS OF CHAOS) and returning production designer Patti Podesta. Summer camp is by now a time-honored setting for teen-centric horror fare, but setting the action in one during the snowy season is an effective variation on the theme that gives BLACK PHONE 2 its own individual atmosphere. It’s a sequel that very successfully gives the audience more of what they loved about the original while respecting its characters enough to further explore their troubled states of mind.
