Horror sequel rings loud, but not always clear

Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 brings back not just its masked villain but also the 1980s horror vibe, with its creaky charm, moral undertones, and icy terror.

- Troy Ribeiro

The story begins four years after Finney Blake's escape from the Grabber, showing that death, like the phone, still has a dial tone. A snow-blanketed Christian camp sets an atmospheric stage, but Derrickson’s focus on mood often chokes the plot. Lost between Catholic symbols, childhood trauma, and dream logic, the film forgets to scare. It aims for depth, but the connection often falters.

Still, there’s a perverse joy in seeing Derrickson play with horror’s visual grammar: the Super-8 hallucinations, the echo of A Nightmare on Elm Street, the spectral phone booth framed against white desolation. This is a horror film that prioritizes ghosts, guilt, and grainy film stock over coherent plotting. Yet, for all its erratic narrative choices, the film never feels lazy; it feels haunted by ambition.

Actors’ performance