The Black Phone 2 just entered theaters this past weekend. The Black Phone short story does not have a sequel. This concerned me. I find generally that movies based on books do not need to be expanded upon. *cough, Jurassic Park.* The source material is all you need. So I headed to The Black Phone 2 this weekend with nothing but fear and nonexistent expectations. Or maybe I’m just cynical. Probably both.
But… It was actually great. The atmosphere was incredibly well done. I loved the old-timey layer on the dream sequences. It served a purpose and added to the spooky feel. The underlying trauma from the first movie is palpable throughout and gives us so much more motivation to root for the main characters. We don’t want to see them lose. Also, Ethan Hawke is creepy as hell and plays the character perfectly. I fully recommend. This is the creepy October movie of the year.
And I had to explain to my teen how rotary phones worked. Nothing is scarier than obsolescence.
But now, let’s take a trip back to 2022, look at The Black Phone (1) and see how it compares to the short story.
Joe Hill’s award-winning story collection, featuring “The Black Phone,” soon to be a major motion picture from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions
Imogene is young, beautiful . . . and dead, waiting in the Rosebud Theater one afternoon in 1945. . . .
Francis was human once, but now he's an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .
John is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children, and an antique telephone, long since disconnected, rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .
Nolan knows but can never tell what really happened in the summer of '77, when his idiot savant younger brother built a vast cardboard fort with secret doors leading into other worlds. . . .
The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. . . .
The first collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill, 20th Century Ghosts is an inventive and chilling compendium that established this award-winning, critically acclaimed author as “a major player in 21st-century fantastic fiction” (Washington Post).
The Black Phone is a short story in Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts. It’s very short. I think it was like 30 pages. And unusually, instead of taking a story and tossing half of the interesting parts on the floor to make the movie fit in the 2ish-hour time slot, The Black Phone adds a lot to the source material. It fleshes out the bones of the short story to create a more fulfilling viewing experience. And does it well. Who made this…Scott Derrickson is the producer. He did Sinister too. He knows how to set the scene.
The overall story is the same. Finney sees a man struggling to put something into the back of his truck. When he tries to help, the man forces him into the back of the van and kidnaps him, trapping him in a basement with an out-of-service phone on the wall. Interestingly, in the movie, the Grabber says he is a part-time magician, and in the book, he is a part-time clown. (Gacy vibes anyone?) Give the popularity of the IT franchise, it is easy to see why that change was made. Especially since Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. In case you didn’t know and have never seen Joe’s face. Because the resemblance is uncanny.
The Grabber and Finney can both hear the phone ring, and the ghosts of previous Grabber victims are the ones calling. They are tormenting the Grabber, as they should, but with Finney they give him ideas to help him escape. The idea of endlessly prank calling your murderer is amazing. These are ghost trolls. Sure, I’d probably be nice to not be murdered or stuck in some in-between plane, but they are making the best of it.
The movie had a few additions. First, there are more Grabber victims. And Finney gets many more calls. Second, Finney’s sister is cursed/blessed with a psychic ability that helps her find Finney. In the book, she searches for him and finds clues but without the benefit of a supernatural sense. Instead of getting his entire plan from one victim as he does in the book, he gets parts of his plan from each of them. Using every one of the previous kid’s efforts to best the Grabber.
I liked the ending of the movie better, tbh. The way each previous victim’s escape efforts were combined to get Finney free was my favorite part of the first movie. Each kid had a part of the plan, but Finney finally got it all, and watching it play out on screen was interesting. The family dynamic got much more play in the movie (dead mom though, in the book she is alive), especially the bond between the siblings. It is all hinted at in the short story but never realized.
If you’re looking for something spooky. Something that might actually give you chills a few times, The Black Phone/The Black Phone 2 are both great choices. Ethan Hawke is scary. Like crawling under the chair, making the hairs stand up on end scary. It really works. My movie buddy even covered her eyes a few times. And isn’t that what we all want from our horror movies?
Looking for something a little bit spooky and a little bit hilarious? Check out Tucker and Dale vs. Evil!
Donna is an author and engineer with 15 years of IT experience and a lifetime love of literature and cinema, especially horror. She has written a paranormal Holiday novel, What Creatures Are Stirring. She holds and Electrical Engineering Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Western Governor’s University. Donna is passionate about reading and the importance of access to books. She loves writing about her favorite books and movies and sharing it with her readers.
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