After Black Phone, based on a story by Joe Hill, Scott Derrickson returns to visit the characters from the first film in a sequel set in the ice, with many cinematic references. Daniela Catelli's review.

Compared to many directors who make horror, Scott Derrickson has always stood out for its love and knowledge of the genre, as well as for a staging capable of creating anxiety in an adult way, without resorting to easy jump scares or predictable formulas. He went out for three years Black Phoneinspired by a very “Kingian” story of the son of the king of thrills,Joe Hilland we had greatly appreciated it for the crudeness and maturity of a story which, despite having roots in the supernatural, succeeded in giving it a very realistic structure in the dynamics of the characters and in the creation of the figure of a demonic and pedophile serial killer clown (here is the reviewin case you are interested). Today comes a sequel that Derrickson wrote together with his companion C. Robert Cargill but which for obvious reasons is original because it takes the characters created by Hill and gives them an independent development. Even though it is a film of excellent workmanship, where there is no shortage of moments of real anguish, Black Phone 2 it has a less strong impact than the first because it is a sequel that becomes from time to time a prequel and an origin story and makes use - we don't know whether voluntarily or not - of many references to other horror films.

The supernatural, from which everything started, becomes predominant here and with the return of the Raptor who has become a demon, who enters the dreams capable of killing Finn's sister, it is impossible not to think about Nightmare Of Wes Craven and to Freddy Krueger (let's assume it's a tribute). Divided between fire and ice, in a Colorado isolated by snow which not coincidentally recalls the setting of Shining, Black Phone 2 essentially it's a showdown between the characters from the first film (plus Robin's brother, Finn's friend) and the serial killer killed in his material form in the first film. Following a dream of a phone call from their mother to Gwen, coming from a Christian campsite in the mountains 25 years earlier, the three travel to the place where they discover the origin of the Bird of Prey and its first victims. If in the first film, however, the mask was truly disturbing and hid the threat with its immobility and imperturbability, here the demon's apparitions are paradoxically less disturbing. Compared to the first, the religious references are much more evident: basically the theme is the afterlife with the hell/heaven dichotomy and there is also room for a dig at bigoted Christians and sincere believers, which suggests a reference to current America. The ending is clearly positive and consolatory. Overall, we enjoyed the performances of Mason Thames e Madeline McGraw and above all that of the great character actor that he is Demian Bichirthe soundtrack and Derrickson's evocative and experimental direction, but in the end we wonder if this sequel (like many others, after all) was really necessary.