Prepare yourself: "Black Phone 2" isn't just a horror movie; it's a descent into a meticulously crafted nightmare that will leave serious film nerds absolutely thrilled. Forget jump scares; this sequel is about texture, atmosphere, and the unsettling beauty of trauma. But here's where it gets controversial: it's pushing the boundaries of horror filmmaking with a dedication to practical effects that are becoming increasingly rare.
Picking up where the chilling original left off, "Black Phone 2" isn't content to simply rehash old scares. According to early trailers (https://www.slashfilm.com/1959001/black-phone-2-trailer-scariest-horror-movie-ever-sinister/) , director Scott Derrickson and writer C. Robert Cargill are diving headfirst into the twisted mythology of The Grabber, expanding the universe and raising the stakes in ways you might not expect. We're talking deeper exploration of past horrors, a chilling glimpse into unsolved mysteries, and a supernatural element that dwarfs anything we saw before.
Narratively, the film throws a curveball: The Grabber, even in death, continues to haunt and terrorize Finney and Gwen Blake. Imagine the psychological impact of that! To heighten the unsettling atmosphere, the filmmakers bathe the snow-covered landscapes in an eerie, almost clinical light, using deep blues and muted tones to create a sense of desolate beauty that's as captivating as it is disturbing.
And this is the part most people miss: the film masterfully blends the crisp, modern visuals of Camp Alpine Lake with the raw, visceral feel of Super 8 film to depict Gwen's terrifying dream realm. The contrast is jarring, unsettling, and utterly brilliant. The way the film seamlessly transitions between contemporary clarity and vintage grit, with the Super 8 sequences bleeding into the narrative like corrupted memories, is pure cinematic genius.
Think of it this way: Pär M. Ekberg's cinematography isn't just capturing images; it's infecting the film itself, evoking a similar feeling to Derrickson and Cargill's infamous home movies in "Sinister" (https://www.slashfilm.com/1048276/sinister-at-10-an-oral-history-of-the-scariest-movie-ever-made/). Remember the sheer dread that movie instilled? That's the level we're talking about.
There's a perverse beauty in how Derrickson and his team translate trauma into texture. The freezing cold of the real world is drained of color, while the feverish hauntings of the dream realm pulse with a nightmarish life. The Hell that comes to Earth in "Black Phone 2" (https://www.slashfilm.com/1974280/black-phone-2-review/) feels disturbingly real because the texture of the Super 8 elicits a deeply visceral reaction.
But here's the kicker: it was all done practically.
Unlike many modern filmmakers who rely on digital trickery to mimic the Super 8 aesthetic, Derrickson and Cargill went old-school. As Cargill, who is surprisingly active on social media, revealed on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/crobertcargill.bsky.social/post/3m3eevwbgbs2i), "No digital trickery in this. All the sequences that look like film, are." They actually used Super 8 film for the silent scenes and Super 16 for scenes with dialogue, later cutting the Super 16 footage in half to achieve that authentic 8mm look. This meant framing the Super 16 shots with only half the image visible and then expanding it to maximize the graininess – a testament to their commitment to classic, practical filmmaking.
Derrickson elaborated on this dedication at the Fantastic Fest Q&A, emphasizing that "Everything you see up there is real film. There's nothing up there that's digital photography made to look like film." He explained that the team was "very dedicated" to ensuring the film-shot scenes were the best they could be. "I just feel like it's beautiful — it's not just a love for film, it's a love specifically for the recklessness of Super 8," Derrickson stated. "You get aberrations. You get weird things that happen, weird flares." These imperfections, far from being flaws, actually enhance the supernatural atmosphere of "Black Phone 2," drawing the audience deeper into the horrors perpetrated by The Grabber.
While digital effects can come close, there's just no substitute for the real thing. I spoke with Maggie Levin, the second unit director of "Black Phone 2," who explained that "the Super 16 wasn't always for sound, it was also to allow for more dynamic lensing." The team used identical film stock for both types of cameras, framing the 16mm footage for a centered 8mm extraction.
The challenges of shooting with Super 8 and Super 16 were significant. The cameras were prone to locking up in the cold weather. Levin recounted one particularly frigid night where the temperature dropped to 6 degrees, causing the camera to freeze and struggle to maintain a consistent speed. Ironically, this malfunction only added to the film's unsettling quality.
Despite the difficulties, the creative team remained steadfast in their pursuit of the perfect dreamscape. Derrickson explained, "It feels dreamlike to me, and I've always felt that Super 8 feels transgressive." He added, "I've always said if you just found Super 8 films in your grandmother's closet and a projector and put them on, it'd make you feel weird, because there's something about the medium, so the idea of letting the language of the dream world be entirely captured by Super 8 was technically very challenging and very difficult to do, but it was really worth it, I think."
Here's a thought: Is this dedication to practical effects a necessary element for truly terrifying horror, or can digital techniques achieve the same level of dread? Do you think the use of Super 8 elevates "Black Phone 2" above other horror films, or is it simply a stylistic choice? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
"Black Phone 2" is now playing in theaters everywhere. Go see it and decide for yourself if the nightmare is worth the price of admission.
