Ethan Hawke’s Grabber is back in the nasty horror sequel Black Phone 2

4 hours ago 3

Black Phone 2
★★★
MA. 114 minutes

Of all the sub-genres bulking up the horror movie market, the most distasteful is the one centring on serial killers – especially those preying on children.

Naturally, this doesn’t stop them from working at the box office. The Black Phone, a low-budget 2022 chiller starring Ethan Hawke as a horrific character rejoicing in the nickname The Grabber proved to be such a profitable surprise that a sequel was inevitable. So we have the same team back with Black Phone 2 which picks up the story four years on.

Mason Thames, Miguel Mora and Madeleine McGraw in Black Phone 2

Finney (Mason Thames), who not only escaped The Grabber but overpowered and killed him on his way out, is now a morose, dope-smoking 17-year-old, his younger sister, Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), is still having psychic nightmares, and the ghosts of The Grabber’s victims are as communicative as ever.

Despite the concept’s inherent nastiness, the film has been well put together. W.C. Cargill’s screenplay for the original was based on a short story by Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, and pulsing beneath the exploitative formula is a credible story about dysfunctional families and adolescent friendships. The director, Scott Derrickson, has set it in a blue-collar suburb of North Denver where he grew up and despite a few conspicuous creaks in the plot’s mechanics, Finney and Gwen’s world seems grounded in reality when events are not veering off into the realms of the supernatural.

The action is propelled by the clues that Gwen is receiving in her dreams. Revolving around the mystery of her mother’s suicide, they suggest that a solution is to be found at a Christian youth camp in the Rocky Mountains where she once worked as a counsellor. Gwen organises a counselling job at the same camp, and her friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora) offers to go with her. Finney is more reluctant. He’s trying to divorce himself from the past but he eventually gives in, convinced that Gwen needs his protection.

The scene is now set for a cold-climate thriller complete with frozen lake, isolated cabins and a blizzard which has conveniently prevented any other campers from making the trip. The three teenagers have only the camp’s owner, Mando (Demian Bichir), his feisty niece, Mustang (Arianna Rivas) and a couple of other staff members – joyless God-botherers – to keep them company.

There is no doubt, however, that Gwen and Finney will soon be hearing from the ghosts of The Grabber and his victims. An eloquent warning sign is the ominous presence of an old-fashioned telephone cubicle standing in the snow.

Derrickson is an expert in the art of calibrating the plot’s suspense levels while allowing his cast the opportunity to flesh out their characters in between shocks. Bichir and Rivas are very likeable as they help the teens to understand what’s going on, and Thames and McGraw settle easily into their old roles. I could have done without the extra jolt of nastiness provided by the sight of the ghosts still wearing the grisly wounds sustained during their final earthly moments, but as happens in so many horror movies, the basic absurdity of the sight cushions the shock.

Black Phone 2 is in cinemas from October 16

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