Black Phone 2 (2025)

To be fair, there were a lot of distractions in the theater when I went to see Black Phone 2. Perhaps that's why I had difficulty losing myself in the movie, but I don't think that alone is enough to explain why I didn't like it as much as the first one. I'll go out on a limb and say, I think The Black Phone is a victim of its own success. The first movie was an unassuming, quality horror movie about a kid trying to escape a serial killer. I feel like this movie is trying too hard to turn "The Black Phone" into a phenomenon. Not every good horror movie needs to be a franchise.

Let me be a little more specific. There were supernatural elements in the first movie, but they played a supporting role, and ultimately served the narrative. In the sequel, they've been pushed to the forefront, jettisoning any remaining tether to reality. As if demoted to the level of franchise mascot, Ethan Hawke - whose subtle creepiness contributed much to the unsettling feeling of the last movie - isn't given much to do here besides go on a murderous rampage, threatening to kill people in their dreams and from beyond the grave - while doing it in ice skates, like a wannabe Canadian Freddie Krueger. And though the setting (while stunning in its frozen beauty) seems to give nods to Friday The 13th and even John Carpenter's The Thing, the movie isn't strong enough to raise these details from the bin of derivativeness to the level of homage.

Even on a superficial level, this movie doesn't have the charm of setting and tone and style that the first one had. The kids are older now, with the focus switched to the sister and her psychic dream powers. The actress did a fantastic job in the last movie. I hate to be vain, but they've given her a ridiculous haircut, and it's like she's a completely different person (I actually had to double check the cast list to confirm that it was the same actress). Maybe it's because they now look like adults (despite still being treated as "minor children" by the camp staff) and it's not quite so charming, but the vaguely inappropriate banter between siblings that felt so effortlessly humorous in the last movie, now feels forced and over the top (I kid you not, the phrase "dinosaur dick" appears in the dialogue at one point). And to top it all off, the movie even lowered itself to include a jump scare or two, as if forgetting what made the first movie so effective. More likely, it's pandering to a different audience. A less sophisticated audience, to my disappointment.

The Black Phone (2021)

I can't keep up with all the new horror movies coming out these days - I just don't watch 'em like I used to. But I had a spontaneous opportunity to take a couple teenagers to see Black Phone 2, and so I wanted to watch the first movie first. My patience for the all-too common low effort formula of cheap jump scares punctuated by an audio crescendo (yawn) has seriously flat-lined. Life's too short to waste time watching those kinds of movies. But that's why I loved The Black Phone so much. This is how you do horror - mystery, tension, characters you care about, just the right amount of straight-faced humor, with a creepy premise that touches on some flavor of unsettling horror (pick your poison), in a movie where the bottom line isn't getting girls to jump into their dates' arms while spilling popcorn all over the floor. The pacing was excellent. The soundtrack was excellent. I loved the commitment to the 1970s setting. The characters were interesting. The kids were great. Ethan Hawke was fantastic as the antagonist. Figuring out what was going on with the black phone, and then watching to find out if the protagonist would find a way to escape made the movie enjoyable, without any need for cheap theatrics. It pays when creators take the horror genre seriously, and not treat it as schlock designed to turn a quick buck. I applaud the filmmakers who made The Black Phone, and I look forward to seeing the sequel.