By Vienna Miller
Staff writer

“Black Phone 2” is an unnecessary sequel to ”Black Phone,” and, while it has its highlights, it’s also filled with lousy thrills and lacks depth when compared to the first. 

“Black Phone” is a huge hit, mustering a fair 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, but with every mainstream success in Hollywood, there must be a sequel. 

Director Scott Derrickson dropped his work in the “Doctor Strange” universe to create “Black Phone” based on Joe Hill’s 2004 short story of the same name. 

Hill is the son of Stephen King, the iconic “King of Horror” novelist who brought the world of “IT,” “Pet Semetary” and “The Shining,” and it was Hill’s idea to develop the sequel to his story. 

Originally, Derrickson and screenwriter Robert Cargill did not anticipate creating a sequel until Hill gave them a short phone call and the perfect idea.

“He (Hill) just said, ‘A phone rings, Finney answers, and it’s The Grabber calling from hell,’” Cargill said in an interview with Bloody Disgusting.

“Black Phone 2” follows Finney, the young boy who murders the Grabber in “Black Phone,” and his sister, Gwen, who’s haunted by dreams of murdered boys belonging to the Alpine Lake Christian camp. 

Gwen and Finney head to the camp to solve the mystery of the boys’ unrest souls and learn more about who The Grabber is.

 “Black Phone 2” is the essential example, much like its Blumhouse Productions predecessors, that sequels are completely unnecessary and a cash grab. 

Blumhouse famously attempts to capitalize on this theory in “Happy Death Day” to “Happy Death Day 2U,” and more recently developing “M3gan 2.0” after “M3gan.” 

 “The bigger the budget, the more strain on the creative and the more sanding down of edges,” Jason Blum said at his own Blumhouse exclusive event, “The Business of Fear.”

While he may be right about a low budget allowing for more experimentation, it does not apply to Blumhouse Productions. 

Every sequel that Blumhouse creates is poorer than the first, and over the last five years, they have produced boring and predictable films that ruin their reputation. 

“Black Phone 2” does not have the grittiness that the first film did, although it would like to be, the execution is cheesy and uninspired. 

The conclusion especially left a feeling of confusion as to why the film needed to be made in the first place, along with disappointment for The Grabber’s lack of depth within poor pacing. 

The film seems to satisfy audiences, as the Rotten Tomatoes score is 74%, with a $27 million opening weekend domestically according to Variety, which is generous after witnessing the movie. 

A “Black Phone” theoretical franchise would have benefited from a prequel instead of a sequel. 

Most of “Black Phone 2” focuses on murders that occurred before the first film, and the runtime is engulfed by flashbacks and dreams Gwen has. 

However, the dream sequences are done well and have a creepy factor, but not in an intense jumpscare way, but in an eerie vibe that is shot with a grainy film effect. 

Even if a prequel to “Black Phone” would likely not have a happy ending, it still would have been a better take on developing The Grabber’s character. 

Establishing who he is and why he murders young boys would make a series conclusion much more satisfying. 

However, that is not exactly what happened in “Black Phone 2.” It isn’t an awful film, but a lazy one, and an attempt to explore similar themes to “Nightmare on Elm Street.” 

The film reopens the question of whether one dies in a dream, would they die in real life?

For being a rated R film, it has little thrills and a lot of gore to mask the uninspired premise and ripoff of a classic. 

Some sequences are illogical and have a lot to do with unexplainable supernatural abilities exhibited by The Grabber and Gwen. 

While Ethan Hawke does a great job reprising his role as The Grabber, it is not enough to save the boring and predictable plot, and certainly can’t save the campy third act. 

The dialogue is by far the weakest aspect of the film, with many of the emotional moments looking ridiculous than they should, and it completely pulls a viewer from what is occurring on screen. 

An interesting thing to note as a viewer is the way The Grabber’s mask changes throughout the film, which allows him to express himself without revealing his identity. 

The actors do a great job, especially Madeline McGraw as Gwen, but the writing becomes progressively worse.

The Grabber should have stayed dead after the first film, and writers seem to be forced into making a sequel work by possibly unknowingly replicating a classic with the same premise. 

“Black Phone 2” is not a bad watch, especially for a horror sequel, but it just didn’t need to happen.