To continue with 2025’s Spooky Trilogy of Reviews from The Legionnaire, I bring you another sequel released in 2025. This is a more recent film (i.e. released during the month of October) and a legit horror film that follows up on 2022’s The Black Phone, which is simply titled, Black Phone 2.

In contrast to other sequels that I watch out of my weird obligation to their ilk, I was legitimately looking forward to watching Black Phone 2. I’ve covered both the Doctor Strange (2016) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Sinister (2012), and The Black Phone for The Legionnaire, and for those who don’t know, those are by the same director, Scott Derrickson. Now I’m covering another movie from his filmography. He did make another picture recently called The Gorge, which I did see but didn’t review, but is available in case you want to read that one. With that being said, was Black Phone 2 a decent horror flick, let alone a solid follow up to the 2022 entry? As usual, let’s find out.  

Set four years after the events of The Black Phone, Black Phone 2 follows the aftermath of the two siblings, Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen Blake (Madeleine McGraw), who are still haunted by their previous trauma. Finney spends his days getting into fights with anyone who questions the kidnapping he endured and regularly smokes. Meanwhile, Gwen starts having dreams involving her sleepwalking and awakening where she left off in some of them. Her recent dreams involve a Christian youth camp located in the Colorado mountains where three boys were murdered during a snow storm in 1957. Another dream involves getting a call (from the same phone Finney used from the first film) from a woman named Hope (Anne Lore), who happens to be Finney and Gwen’s mother. Hope was at the camp when the boys were murdered, and Gwen thinks her late mother is reaching out for help from beyond. Trying to search for answers, Gwen plans on going to the camp with Finney and her friend, Ernesto (Miguel Mora), to try and solve this mystery and hopefully get rid of the nightmares and sleepwalking. Luckily, they are able to get hired as councilors in training and from there, they head towards the camp. When they get there, a heavy blizzard traps them. They are helped by camp supervisor, Armando (Demian Bichir), along with his niece Mustang (Arianna Rivas), who get them accommodated. Soon, Gwen is having the dreams again and she starts looking for more about the whereabout of the three victims that were killed. Meanwhile, a dead payphone starts ringing during the second night and Finney eventually answers it. On the other, is the Grabber (Ethan Hawke); his kidnapper who he killed during the events of the first film. The Grabber blames Finney for accidentally killing his own brother (James Ransome), and he now wants revenge by taking the lives of the one Finney cares about most: his sister Gwen.

Something I didn’t mention earlier is that there is a sequel to Scott Derrickson’s 2012 film Sinister, simply titled Sinister, which was released in 2015. There’s a reason why I haven’t reviewed the second of these for The Legionnaire (yet) because, simply put . . . it’s bad. Fortunately, Scott Derrickson didn’t direct it, but only cowrote it with his writing partner, C. Robert Cargill. Another fortunate thing about it is that, unlike Sinister 2, Black Phone 2 is a better follow up than Sinister, so much so that I’ve been debating on which is the better film: The Black Phone or Black Phone 2?

If I had to really think about it, however, The Black Phone and Black Phone 2 are almost equal as both have elements that counteract the other. For example, what I loved about The Black Phone is how Gwen talks to God as she thinks her visions are a Divine gift. In Black Phone 2, however, there’s only scene, which is told through voiceover, where she is praying to God, but it feels like an afterthought. Sure, there are some religious overtones here and there, whether it’s through imagery or someone mentioning their beliefs. Nonetheless, it felt underwhelming compared to the first film, though one thing this sequel has over its predecessor, is the horror.

While The Black Phone did have a good amount of horror elements, Black Phone 2 ups the ante by evolving the Grabber into more of a threat by becoming a ghost. That, and the dream sequences, which felt like watching Super 8 (2011), had my skin crawling. It also reminded me of Sinister, which is still one of the scariest horror movies that I have seen. While The Black Phone was scary because you feared for a kid being kidnaped and rooting for his escape, the narrative in Black Phone 2 is much creepier as the imagery, music, and cinematography stand out.

If there’s any criticism Black Phone 2, it is that some elements of the film are not original. In fact, one could argue that it feels like a rip-off of another famous horror film franchise: A Nightmare on Elm Street. This is mostly due to the Grabber taking revenge on the characters in the film doing so via dreams. If you’re not familiar with the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it’s pretty much a slasher film involving a child killer who terrorizes teens in their dreams. While I haven’t been 100% caught up with all the films in that set, the idea of a killer going after his victims in their dreams feels like an iconic horror trope. Having that same element present in Black Phone 2 isn’t subtle. I wasn’t bothered by it too much as I don’t have strong feeling towards A Nightmare on Elm Street, but it could’ve been presented in a cleverer way.

While the religious overtones feel like it took a step back compared to its predecessor, Black Phone 2 is still is an enjoyable movie as it as it commits to the supernatural elements. After thinking about it, however, I consider The Black Phone to be the better film due to how committed they are to the religious elements and the importance of prayer. That being said, I should be grateful that Black Phone 2 was at least decent given how rare a good horror sequel can be. I love Sinister and make an effort to watch it almost every October, whereas I only saw the sequel once in theaters. If you did watch The Black Phone and enjoyed it, I do highly recommend watching the follow up, though be prepared to not get the same number of religious overtones but greater thrills. While looking up more information about Black Phone 2, I read that the director was interested in making a third film, which I’m on board with. Still if a good horror sequel is already, what are the chances of a third being at least slightly watchable? Only time will tell.