Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Written by: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Starring: Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora, Demián Bichir, Ethan Hawke

This year’s latest Halloween offering from Blumhouse means to capitalize on it’s OG big brother, 2022’s excellent The Black Phone, reviewed here on Flixchatter by our very own Laura Schaubschlager. That film’s understated quality, late 70s nostalgia and refusal to buckle down to clichés earned it cult status and was a surprise hit at the box office. With Black Phone 2, director Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill sought to repeat that success by expanding on the first film’s concept and bringing back the original cast to mixed results.

Set in Colorado 1982, Finney (Thames) now an upperclassman in high school, is still dealing with the horrific events of 4 years prior. Mentally wounded and unable to resolve his trauma, he resorts to fighting at school, takes drugs and becomes emotionally closed off. His sister Gwen (McGraw), also older, is still having psychic dreams, but this time it is of their deceased mother. As the dreams grow in intensity, Gwen starts seeing visions of dead children and deduces there may be a connection between her mother, who once worked as a camp counselor, and the murdered children.

Finney is skeptical, but Gwen is undaunted – eventually persuading him and her friend Ernesto (Mora) to travel to Alpine Lake, the camp her mother worked at, under the pretense of working as counselors in training. The night they arrive, a heavy snowstorm overtakes the camp, effectively cancelling all activities and attendees, stranding them. There, Gwen’s dreams intensify. Who are these mutilated children haunting her and what is her mother’s connection to them?

Black Phone 2 starts off well enough with that nice early 80s vibe and fashion, as well as that nostalgic film grain that blanketed over the first movie. The characters we fell in love with are back, older, likable and relatable as ever. The calculated pace moves them along steadily and we are at the edge of our seats. But once our characters reach Alpine Lake Camp in the 2^nd act, Black Phone 2 starts to head down that beaten path of familiarity.

Derrickson and Cargill turn up the notch with more scenes of gore, violence, and more action. But things take a ridiculous turn when The Grabber (Hawke) starts appearing in Gwen’s dreams – and guess what (spoiler warning here):  By existing in the dream state he can inflict physical harm in the real world. Sound familiar? By the film’s 3^rd act, Black Phone 2 devolves into Dream Warriors territory.

Thames and McGraw are still great in their respective roles and it is their characters of Finn and Gwen that keep us watching regardless of the film’s diminished believability. Demián Bichir is a decent addition as the camp supervisor, but Jeremy Davies seems wasted here just like in the first film.

Some nice dream sequences really seemed inspired by Maya Deren’s Meshes in the Afternoon, with its simplicity and minimalism. However, those moments are infrequent and completely absent by the halfway mark as the filmmakers flood the narrative with cookie cutter special effects and boisterous action – effectively stripping Black Phone 2 of the badly needed charm the first film had in spades.

While The Black Phone tip-toed the line between realism and fantasy, Black Phone 2 just goes over the top and in doing so, is way less compelling than its predecessor. Even though Black Phone 2 disappoints, part of me would give Finney and Gwen another chance at a third installment. Let’s hope the filmmakers can right this ship, giving us more with less.

Have you seen BLACK PHONE 2? Well, what do you think?

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