Black Phone 2 is that scary

Three years ago, The Black Phone taught us fear with a ringing telephone. “The Snatcher” (Ethan Hawke) kidnapped neighborhood students and locked them in a basement where their death was only a matter of time. The masked kidnapper chose 13-year-old Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) as his latest victim. But the boy didn’t even think about allowing himself to be murdered without resistance.

With the help of ghostly telephone calls from previous abductees, Finney (Spoilers for part 1) finally defeat and kill his captor. But anyone who thought that was the end of the story will be proven wrong by the sequel, The Black Phone 2. Scott Derrickson pipes up with one thrilling, atmospheric horror sequel back, which is definitely worth a trip to the cinema.

Horror sequel Black Phone 2: From the suburbs to summer camp

The events of the first part took place four years ago. Finney, now 17, is still traumatized by his kidnapping in 1982. When someone in the schoolyard questions his status as a serial killer killer, he lashes out. He only has one saying for public phones that ring: “I can’t help you.”

Meanwhile, Finney’s little sister Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) is plagued by new visions. Horribly mauled boys scratch messages from below into a thick sheet of ice. The teenager follows the trail to the Alpine Lake summer camp, where the siblings’ mother once worked as a carer before she took her own life. But at holiday camp, Gwen, Finney and Gwen’s friend Ernesto (Miguel Mora) find themselves snowed in and soon discover that they are not alone. Because apparently the grabber still has his bloody fingers involved from the afterlife.

Watch the trailer for Black Phone 2 here:

The Black Phone 2 – Trailer (Deutsch) HD

Where in a worse horror film, the killer’s return from the dead would seem like a sellout to achieve a $161 million hit (according to Box Office ) continue at all costs, Black Phone 2 pounces

convincingly self-confident into his new story. Instead of resting on the laurels of horror in suburban basements, the sequel evolves with its snowy change of location. Luckily, it also has something new to say about the adorable characters who began in a short story by Stephen King’s son Joe Hill.

Goosebumps in the snowstorm: Black Phone 2 throws strong characters into an increasingly supernatural horror film

The fact that the entire main cast appears again in Black Phone 2 is not a given in the horror film world, where sequels often only have the title in common with their predecessors. But the return of the cast helps enormously, after they were perfect for getting excited about in Part 1. Mason Thames (now a dragon tamer) as Finney was an acting revelation as a young actor, and the even younger Gwen actress Madeleine McGraw was a cursing force of nature. The two remain that way warm beating heart of the icy horror filmalthough the sequel cleverly shifts the secret main role to the sister and her visions.

Instead of denying, like Stranger Things, that the young stars have gotten older, Sinister director Scott Derrickson uses the time that has passed and highlights his scary coming-of-age story psychologically taken to a new level. Surviving the kidnapping may provide a happy ending in the first film, but in real life the affected children are scarred by it for the rest of their lives.

So Finney is allowed to smoke a cigarette and nibble on his terrible experiences and doubt whether his father (Jeremy Davies) has really given up alcohol, while he could easily end up on the wrong path himself. The fact that young actor Miguel Mora played Finn’s deceased friend Robin in Part 1 and now returns as his brother Ernesto (hardly visible behind the glasses) also turns out to be a strong casting decision.

Demián Bichir as the camp caretaker, supervisor Mustang (Arianna Rivas) and a Bible-based couple (Graham Abbey and Maev Beaty) round out the cast fantastic cast away. When a visibly charred Ethan Hawke finally appears on the scene, you want to tear off his mask again. However, no longer to unmask him as a killer, but to find out what disfigurement lies beneath… and why.

Having the Snatcher act as an ice-skating ghost killer sounds so ridiculous that it shouldn’t work… but that’s exactly what it does, thanks to the first-class tension and atmosphere of the horror sequel. The proportion of the supernatural increases from ghostly telephone calls and visions (as in part 1) to intermediate realms and flying bodies.

Atmospheric, brutal and convoluted: Black Phone 2 doesn’t hold back

Luckily, Black Phone 2 takes its time at the beginning to find its way back into the story. In this way, the intensity of the film gradually increases to an almost unbearable level. To the familiar 70s/80s look of washed out images, the sequel now adds grainy camera footage with a crackling soundtrack in Gwen’s visions visually captivatingwhile red heating wires illuminate snow-covered wooden huts. In particular, the transitions from one reality to another are a feast for the eyes and at the same time formally help to maintain an overview.

At some point Gwen has visions of her deceased mother, who in turn traces her own visions of the future. That’s what the sequel does significantly more complex as the first telephony contract. But it’s worth thinking about because Black Phone 2 really has something to say.

Part 1 was not squeamish with his violencewhen students were beaten bloody and children were murdered. Part 2 significantly increases the brutality in keeping with its aged characters. Camp Alpine Lake doesn’t have to hide from Jason Voorhees’ bloody Crystal Lake holiday camp when children’s heads are split open and corpses are dismembered. Nevertheless, the remote snow setting, references to old photos, children with supernatural abilities and flowing streams of blood are more suggestive on Shining as a role modelwhere more than the effect lurks behind the horror.

This is how Black Phone 2 achieves the great feat strong sequel to an excellent horror predecessor to deliver. The horror may turn his dial with a new number, but with the emotional characters, the suspense that makes you bite your nails, and the eerily beautiful images, we get a successful follow-up that no one should turn away.

Black Phone 2 opens in German cinemas on October 23, 2025.