Scott Derickson's horror film in 2021 "Black Phone" was a huge surprise: adaptation of the 2004 story of the same name from OEO Hill that hit Big with general audiences and for good reason. The film was frightening and fun, with a huge heart, big laughter, an incredible villain mask. It shows the highest performances by Ethan Hawk as a frightening kidnapper, Mason Thames as his last victim of kidnapping, Jenny Blake and Madeleine McGrav as Feni's sister, Gwen. It was a film with a clear and definitive end, to leave its mark and finish it with an exclamation mark instead of an ellipse.

The sequel made sense, of course, from a commercial point of view. Not only did the "black phone" not only hit the box officeBut Ethan Hawk's kidnapper had such a presence and a strong iconography that felt like the next big bad paddle, destined to be excessive in many sequels. Well, four years have passed, but we finally got a sequel-one with a story good enough to convince everyone involved to return for more.

"Black phone 2" is a fantastic sequel. It is a movie that is not happy to do the same, only bigger, but in fact explores new roads and adds the experience of the first film in surprising ways that make the comprehensive story as a whole. This was a great year for horror and we need to add "black phone 2" to that conversation.

From getting, "Black Phone 2" signals to the audience that it will not be a simple repetition of the plot of the first film. Director Scott Derikson and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill delivering a film that is so different that it stands out on its own, at the same time serving as improving its predecessor in almost every way.

He begins with a change in the protagonist in McGrav's Gwen, the most ridiculous character in the first film. After all the traumatic difficult temptation with the kidnapper, her brother went quieter and more resolved, choosing to bury his trauma and his feelings deeply and stiffened with weeds to ignore what had happened to him. Meanwhile, Gwen's visions have worsened only in the years of the first film. She considers her ability curse and she turned her into a social party at school. However, she cannot completely ignore what seems to be a call for the help of dead children appearing in visions-visions for a snowy Christian camp attended by her mother when she was young.

Determined to reach the source of her visions and find the link between them and her mother, Gwen decided to go to Camp Alpin Lake to investigate. Jenny goes with Gwen to protect her because her visions cause her to sleep. Accompanied by Ernesto (Miguel Mora), Robin's brother, one of Grabber's victims before taking Fine.

The focus of the dreams will obviously attract many comparisons with the series "Nightmare on Elm Street" and for good reason. There are clear similarities and knots with that franchise, especially The phenomenal "nightmare on Elm 3 Street: Warriors of Dreams": Nightmares bleed in the real world, dreamers have some power over their dreams and there is a change that brings the fight to the villain. Plus, Ethan Hawk channels Robert Englund by essentially turning the kidnap into Freddie Krueger - full of scarring on his face and abilities that allow it to influence both real and dream world.

Whenever we get a dream sequence in "Black Phone 2", it is presented through a noticeably grainy footage, almost as if she shot on the movie "Super 8", reminiscent of "Derikson and Cargill" in 2012 "Sinister" (also starred). Visual off. The sound design is forcing the dialogue to clarify that this is a vibrant dream - the one that feels realistic, with many real consequences after the abductor returns and will continue the attack - but still a lot of sleep.

Not satisfied with just a franchise, "Black Phone 2" also pays tribute to other glue icons in the 1980s. There is a very clear knot on "Friday the 13th" with the setting up of the camp and the killer carrying the killer hunting teenagers. This is a Generlier, at times with the first image of the first, with a terrible picture of brutally killed children, including the one with the head cut in half that is the burner of the first film.

The most impressive feat "Black Phone 2" is withdrawing is to find a way to return a coherent grab and actually adds the character. We get a story of a child's back-story stories that meets the character deepening, not just Answering questions that no one has asked.

Similar to the first film, there is a great sense of humor in "Black Phone 2", especially when it comes to Gwen's unusual remarks on the author's figures (the Christian Youth Camp makes some funny shocking confrontations between Gwen and some many non -Christian Christians). But it is Ernesto of Miguel that it has to get some of the biggest laughter and serves as a fantastic supplement to the cast. Also, by expanding the volume to be about a few missing dead children, and even the mother of Gwen and Feni, the film becomes quite emotional in time, with tears of tenderness between darkness and horror.

Does "Black Phone 2" signal the beginning of a larger franchise? No. Does it end in a way that opens more? Not really. Does it make me want to see 5 more of these, so we can get to the "black phone: new phone" and the kidnapper to go after Ethan Hawk to play himself? Absolutely.

/Movie rating: 9 out of 10.

"Black Phone 2" will appear in cinemas from October 17, 2025.