Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, I watched one of my MOST anticipated movies of the year, and one that literally just came out in theaters, and I had to WAIT almost two weeks to actually see it. It’s a movie that we covered last year, and now it’s time for the sequel. Join me, my friends, as we venture back into the world of the paranormal, the horrific, and the dead. And, of course, don’t forget to pick up the phone. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
Black Phone 2
Just a little TLDR, just like my Five Nights at Freddy’s review from 2023, I do NOT spoil horror films that came out in theatres recently. Instead, I deviate from the formula, and provide a quick synopsis, with saying what I liked, and what I didn’t. I think both of us also need a break after yesterday’s Scream review.
Black Phone 2, in my opinion, was AMAZING. It had it all, and honestly, I couldn’t be happier with how the movie turned out. As for a little bit of plot, we follow our boy Finney once more, as he deals with paranormal encounters with the undead Grabber. Gwen, his little sister, still has her dreams from the first movie, but they have increased in both frequency and intensity/importance.
Let’s start with the plot, shall we? I think that screentime was distributed really evenly between all of the characters, and the actual story itself was SO well made and shown in a way that called back to the first film without overpowering it. Flashbacks and visions were brilliantly made (especially Gwen’s dreams), and the character arcs of ALL the characters are so good. For example, Finney is a completely different person after what happened to him in 1978.
The movie itself revolves around trauma. Jason Blum (head of Blumhouse, which owns Black Phone), actually told the audience this when me and my friend attended the Blumhouse panel, and got to see the cast of Black Phone 2. They all had different things to say, but trauma of the past is VERY much linked to the events of this film. The exclusive scene that we saw at Comic Con was also in the movie and unchanged, and there were even more scenes that topped even that one for me!
The cinematography is amazing, I mean it is AMAZING, and all of the shock scenes are so well made. Will this movie be a 10/10 for everyone? No. But, it sure was for me, and I believe it is a worthy successor to the original film, and hopefully the ending of the franchise (unless we get a Grabber prequel which I would be fine with, but I really want this movie to be the conclusion of the “Finney” storyline).
I could say how much I loved this film all day, but I won’t, as it’s now up to you guys to formulate your own opinions! And, if I had to guess, I think you guys will really, really enjoy this one. Before you go, my friends, I need to ask you one question… Will you pick up the phone?
