Summary
- Black Phone 2 to set in high school, delving into character growth & psychological depth.
- Teen horror genre explored with themes of complex family dynamics, killer outsmarting.
- Setting sequel in future enhances suspense, maintains scare factor for main characters.
I’m excited about upcoming entries in big horror franchises like Scream and Scary Movie, but I’m also intrigued by The Black Phone 2. Now that the horror sequel is done filming, it’s a great time to mull over what made the first movie so solid and how The Grabber could return in The Black Phone 2.
Co-writer and director Scott Derrickson gave a recent interview and said The Black Phone 2 will take place when the main characters Gwen (Madeleine McGraw) and Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) are high schoolers. This makes me even more interested in seeing the next part of their story, especially since they were such smart and precocious kids.
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The Black Phone 2 Director Scott Derrickson Said The Horror Sequel Has A High School Setting
In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Scott Derrickson talked about The Black Phone 2 and said:
“I realized that if I made a big movie after Black Phone — which is The Gorge — by the time I finished it, all those kids would be in high school. So what I really wanted to do, and what I did, was I shot a high school coming-of-age movie in the same way that the first one was a middle school coming-of-age movie.”
I love this idea and think it’s the perfect way to continue the dark and moving story of The Black Phone. There’s no doubt that Ethan Hawke did an excellent job portraying The Grabber, who is a truly despicable villain. However, I think the child actor performances in The Black Phone are the best part of the original movie. I think it makes sense to lean into those talented cast members and meet them where they are instead of pretending that they’re as young as they were when they filmed the first movie. Focusing on teenage characters will make The Black Phone 2 feel as grim and realistic as the first film.
I also feel that teen slashers are some of the strongest entries in the subgenre. When an adult character figures out how to outsmart a killer, it’s still interesting. But when a teenager does, it’s more exciting and impressive since they’re so young.
I appreciate cheesy teen horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer and look forward to the legacy sequel that is in the works. But I also want a smart teen horror movie that examines complex family dynamics and other topics, and that’s what The Black Phone 2 is going to do. In the first movie, the movie’s siblings had to deal with their abusive and alcoholic father while trying to find The Grabber. Now that some time has passed and their father has vowed to change, I’m sure the characters will be wrestling with their disturbing past. After all, their father should of course never acted that way in the first place, and that can’t be forgiven so easily.
I also think that setting The Black Phone 2 a few years in the future will make The Grabber scarier. I think it makes sense that, after Finney is safe at the end of The Black Phone, he and Gwen get to live regular lives for a while. It seems like, once they’re teenagers, they encounter The Grabber once again, which proves they can’t truly escape this mysterious and terrifying figure.
What Are Some Great Horror Movies About Teenage Characters?
Some of the best slasher villains are in teen horror movies, including Ghostface in the original Scream from 1996, and many of these films have some hilarious lines. The Black Phone 2 will join some compelling horror movies focused on adolescent characters: Final Destination, The Craft, Unfriended, and Ma.
These movies stand out from each other because while they share the main premise of high school students facing killers or supernatural forces, they have their own unique approach to the subgenre. Final Destination, which was released in 2000, tells a gripping story about Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) who has a vision of a plane crash killing him and his classmates. So begins the popular franchise about Death, the ultimate villain who makes sure that when characters cheat their fate, they’re going to die at some point in the movie. The Craft is a dark tale about teenage friends who explore witchcraft and get what they wished for only to learn that it’s a nightmare.
What Are Some Teenage Horror Movies Released In The 2020s?
- Freaky (2020)
- The Craft: Legacy (2020)
- Run (2020)
- There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)
- Fear Street: Part One and Fear Street: Part Two (2021)
- My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022)
- Time Cut (2024)
Unfriended might be the most unique of all. The entire movie takes place on a computer screen as a group of friends are targeted by the ghost of the girl they bullied. Unfriended has a creepy ending and a lot in common with Ma, which stars Octavia Spencer as a lonely woman who befriends some teenagers in her small town. In both cases, the characters are lonely and trying to fit in, and the movies are as fun as they are thought-provoking.
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