"Black Phone 2" - Review

Four years after defeating serial killer "The Grabber" (Ethan Hawke), his only known survivor Finney (Mason Thames) is struggling to keep his life together, self-medicating with marijuana and engaging in reckless violence to avoid the trauma. His gifted younger sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) receives visions of horror at a youth camp, and needs to confront it. Finney accompanies her there, alongside their friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora), and the pair are forced to confront the past head on...

(Photo credit: Bloody Disgusting. Hell yeah, they're still going! Good job!)
I appreciate Scott Derrickson (writer and director of "Hellraiser: Inferno") and Todd in the Shadows patron C Robert Cargill as filmmakers, despite not being big on "auteur theory" as film is a collaborative medium, as the pair often make genuinely unusual and interesting movies when they work together, blending things and taking a few swings. We never needed a sequel to "The Black Phone", but it made all of the money, so here we are. This one kind of works, I like it. Rather than focusing on the very marketable, obvious spooky mask-sporting killer (an excellent Ethan Hawke), the sequel decided to turn its lense to that story's more interesting element of psychics, and make that a story about how we deal with trauma, how we dwell upon it and the lingering effects it has on the psyche and the community. They have fun with the psychic stuff, and some solid imagery throughout to compliment it (I appreciated the scratchy Super 8 films of the dreams and premonitions, looking like a snuff film and reminiscent of earlier work "Sinister" in many ways), which blends with the backdrop of snow and blizzards and the 1981 aesthetic to create a moody little piece. It's never truly terrifying (or "Sinister" if you will... I will not apologise) and the jump scares early on seem perfunctory and actually a tad annoying, but when doing its own thing (here a riff on "Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" with sprinklings of "Akira"! Fuck yes) and preferring to be thoughtful and interesting rather than spooky, it works. Its look at these characters and how they react to the news, spedning time in their heads.
The score is fucking phenomenal, worth the admission alone.
And it's lovely seeing Arianna Rivas in something non-"Working Man" this year, you go girl.
I like it. It's an unecessary film transformed into an intriguing one. It loses steam when Demian Bechir begins explaining the plan, but recovers at the end with ice-skate battles and psychic children detonating phoneboxes.

"The Black Phone" Review

The year is 1978, and a small community in Denver is living under a shadow. Children keep going missing, and others whisper of a figure known only as "The Grabber" spiriting them away to certain death. Finn (Mason Thames) is a bright and bullied boy, who fears this killer almost as much as he fears living with his abusive father (Jeremy Davies); and when he becomes the latest victim of "The Grabber", it falls to his sister Gwenn (Madeleine McGraw) to hunt for him, thanks to cryptic clues in her dreams. Finn must contend with The Grabber (Ethan Hawke), and whatever his plans for the boy may be, and all seems lost, until the phone in his cell starts ringing...

This movie was good.
Scott Derrickson has a good eye for horror, and makes them well. The central concept is strong, written as it is by Stephen King's clone, and unique. I love how the first 20/30 minutes of the movie are just Finn, Gwenn and their lives, as they live in the shadow of a great evil. It's excellent build up, and lays the foundations very well, establishing our characters, strengths and future plot points. When the plot kicks in, and The Grabber arrives, it's been worth the build up. The mask is trerrifying, and Hawke is always excellent. He seems to relish the part, and it is genuinely disconcerting to see him in this role. It's more concerning seeing him shirtless.
The film comes alive with him on screen, but wisely manages not to overuse him.
Thames and McGraw are excellent finds, and can carry the movie on their shoulders.
The film suffers from some of Derrickson's excesses, however, namely in the really awful jumpscares. He'll be using this concept incredibly well, weaving an interesting story, creating a brooding atmosphere, great editing (the use of Super 8 films as dreams is not only 100% a Scott Derrickson thing, but kind of inspired), when BOOM! There'll be an annoying loud orchestral score akin to somebody kicking a piano down the stairs of a violin shop, as if he thinks we're bored by this.
Thankfully these are not all over the place, like in a January horror movie, but they are frequent enough to get annoying.
The film has a good premise, oozes atmosphere, and doesn't have a lot of good things to say about the police (the ending shots are great), and its climax is very well-earned. James Ransone threatens to steal the show as a coke-fiend in a shirt made of numbers. I love him so much, he is a gift.