Title – Black Phone 2 (2025)

Director – Scott Derrickson (Sinister)

Cast – Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Demián Bichir, Ethan Hawke

Plot – Years after their initial run-in with notorious serial killer The Grabber (Hawke), siblings Finn (Thames) and Gwen (McGraw) are drawn to a remote winter camp known as Alpine Lake where they must come face to face with old and fresh horrors.  

“Dead is just a word”

Review by Eddie on 22/10/2025

I’m sure no one out there is confusing 2021’s The Black Phone with a cinematic masterpiece but there was a gritty charm to Scott Derrickson’s Joe Hill adaptation that struck a chord with many, making way for this sequel to find its way into the world these four years later.

Very much a case of existing purely to find a way to milk more $$ from the brand name, Derrickson and his main cast return for more Sinister inspired action (from the score through to the grainy film footage found throughout) with Black Phone 2, an aesthetically pleasing experience that narratively is an empty vessel and as a pure horror experience offers very little in the way of frights or scares.

Following once more the exploits of Mason Thames Finn and Madeleine McGraw as his sister Gwen, as the two siblings battle with their supernatural curses/gifts while battling Ethan Hawke’s bloodthirsty killer The Grabber (here making his appearance as a very Freddy Kruger like nightmarish presence), Black Phone 2 has an atmospheric setting courtesy of the fictional Alpine Lake but the story threads holding everything together are loose at best, making this near two hour experience more of an arduous one than a thrilling/enjoyable one.

Early on there appears to be some potential, witnessing Gwen come face to face with a group of missing boys while battling The Grabber in her subconscious shows potential but after 30 – 40 minutes Derrickson gets stuck repeating himself and any chance the film had of crafting spine chilling thrills gets thrown well and truly out the window with an overblown and laughable finale that will have audiences left bemused rather than rattled.

It’s a shame a better reason for Black Phone 2 to exist wasn’t conjured up as all the main cast appear game to get stuck into it once more with Thames and McGraw more than capable young actors and Oscar nominees Hawke and Demián Bichir proven performers who here appear to be having a lot of fun getting to play in this winter horrorland but no one could’ve worked enough magic to save Derrickson’s misguided sequel from the doldrums it walks itself into.

Appearing to be a rare financial and critical hit for Blumhouse after a forgettable 12 months, enough people appear to be supportive of this newest Black Phone experience with hopes if another addition comes our way it finds a more memorable and gripping premise to justify its existence.

Final Say –

Failing to deliver much in the ways of scares or surprises while often repeating itself along its journey, Black Phone 2 is full of mood and atmosphere but not much in the way of anything else substantial, making this a new Grabber tale that fails too ever properly grip you in its actions.

2 devil’s lettuces out of 5