Old Horrors, New Screams

The Black Phone is an original movie released in theaters June 24, 2022, directed by Scott Derrickson, starring Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, Mason Thames as Finney Blake, and Madeleine McGraw as Gwen Blake.

It surrounds the story of The Grabber who goes around in his black van, kidnapping kids with the help of his ominous black balloons. He then takes them to his basement and traps them there. One day The Grabber kidnaps Finney Blake, who spends weeks stuck in The Grabber’s basement with only his rocket ship, a toilet, a mattress, and an out of order black phone. The phone starts mysteriously ringing and Finney answers. He talks to The Grabbers previous victims who help him manage to escape without many physical injuries. However, he is scarred mentally,The Grabber and the black phone will never stop ringing, haunting, and taunting him. Which shows how the past is always there and you can’t escape it.

In the sequel also directed by Derrikson and released in theaters October 17th 2025, where The Grabber, Hawke, continues to haunt Finney (Finn) Blake, Thames, and Gwen Blake, McGraw. The Grabber calls Finn from phones that are out of order, to which he only answers with “I’m sorry I cannot help you.” Gwen has a dream that convinces her to investigate a summer camp in the mountains, Alpine Lake Camp, where Gwen and Finney continue to be haunted by dreams and calls. The Grabber tells Finn he’s back, and the nightmare only gets worse – until, with the help of  the camp director, Armando, played by Demián Bichir, Mustang played by Arianna Rivas, and Finn and Gwen’s father, Terrence Blake, played by Jeremy Davies, work together to take down The Grabber once and for all. 

This movie was a very frightening watch. There was a lot of gore, violence, and many jumpscares. It is most definitely not for the faint of heart. Although there was a lot of violence there were also heartwarming moments, and others filled with suspense. The part that I liked the most about the movie was that they had the same actors and actresses to play the same people they played in the first movie. The father was still played by Davies, The Grabber, Hawke Finn, Thames, and Gwen, McGraw. Miguel Mora also  returns to the cast playing his original character, Robin’s younger brother, Ernesto.

The acting in the movie was done very well, the screams during the violence, the gore, and jumpscares were very terrifying, the look of pure fear on their faces added to the horror of the movie. The crying during the sad parts was a little mediocre, but it wasn’t bad. The Computer-generated Imagery (CGI) and makeup for the characters who were dead or injured was really well done and gory. It was very believable and horrifying to see those characters, that’s for sure! Although they did an amazing job, the crying of a few of the actors and actresses was not great. It didn’t even feel like they were really crying, it was almost funny in a way. Other than that the performances were peak, the gore was awesome, and the acting was pretty good. 

Derrickson has also directed the first Black Phone, the Gorge, V/H/S/85, Doctor Strange, and a few others. He definitely put time and effort into making this a good sequel to the first movie. It connected to the events of the first movie and the events made sense, unlike how there are some sequels that disconnect from the first movie. Other sequels are bad because they want to go off on a whim and make a whole new story without using the same characters and not following the original story. That’s what makes Black Phone 2 such a good sequel. It follows the story and it keeps the same characters from the first movie. I noticed however, that it expanded on what happened to Finn and Gwen’s mother and The Graber’s past. The theme of ghosts and the supernatural does stay with Finn and Gwen in the next movie. The Grabber, being a ghost, haunts them into the next four years of their lives, leading into the second movie.

There are many stars in this movie, the ones that stuck out to me the most for their amazing performances were Bichir, who played Armando, and Hawke, who played The Grabber.

Bichir really stuck out to me because he is a great actor who added to the eerie atmosphere of the movie, as he made sure the viewers were hooked on what was going to happen next. Especially when we find out he had been looking for the dead kids – Chase B. Robinson, Spike, Shepherd Munroe, Cal, and Simon Webster, Felix – for a really long time. His acting skills built the suspense and he was especially good at acting hopeless and horrified when he was almost killed in the ice by The Grabber. He is a very important character to the story, so his acting was something that really helped drive the plot forward.

Hawke added to the creepiness of the movie. The amount of effort he put into playing The Grabber was clear as his laugh that sent chills down my spine. His voice was creepy and definitely sounded just like what you would expect from someone as terrifying as The Grabber. How he kept kids in his basement haunting them, killing them, how he tortured them and laughed, how he wanted them to be bad. His performance was amazing, he played his part perfectly, and you could tell just how much effort he put into this character. It seemed like he was having fun while he was acting, that this was his passion, and that he wanted to make sure that he played his part perfectly.

I decided to review The Black Phone 2 because it is a sequel to an amazing, very well done movie. There are sequels to some movies that just don’t turn out as good as the first, or are worse than the first. But this movie was definitely just as good as the first one. 

This movie was a good ending to the first movie and helped provide a little more background on the family and The Grabber.  I think that the acting was mediocre, the crying of the actors could have been a little better but you can’t really control emotions so it wasn’t something that made the movie worse. Although the movie itself was good, the money they earned, or lost, may not be. After the first movie, the sequel may not make as much money as the first. Black Phone 2 did just come out so these numbers may change over the next few weeks.

Black Phone 2 had a $30 million budget, according to koimoi.com. The movie earned $80.4 million as of late October. Black Phone 2 did not lose any money during the production of the movie, they earned money shortly after it was put out in early October. The first Black Phone movie had a worldwide earning total of $161.4 million, which is 50.2% more than the second film. However, the domestic opening of  the first movie earned $23.6 million, which is 15.7% less than the second movie. 

The Black Phone 2 was more expensive to make than the first film. Black Phone 1 had a budget of $18 million, while the second movie had a budget larger than $30 million. Tickets to watch the first Black Phone movie in 2022 were less expensive to watch than the second one which came out in 2025, due to  inflation and other components

The difference between the budget of the first Black Phone  movie and the sequel was increased by $12 million. The earnings of the first Black Phone movie and the sequel was about $81 million less. The first Black Phone movie made $81 million more than the sequel, according to boxofficemojo.com and variety.com.

I think that this movie would get a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars. Although it started a little slow, it slowly got more and more action packed. There was a lot more gore than the first one, which is not bad it was just a lot. The performances of the actors and actresses when they are having serious moments help make the atmosphere scary or serious, and they help make the mood of the film match the events going on in the movie.

The ringing of the phone, the laughter of The Grabber, and the hauntings from the past, this movie was a very good sequel and, adding a beautifully bittersweet ending, bound to make any viewer cry. I think that readers should come see the Black Phone sequel, it is very good and I would recommend it if you have watched the first Black Phone movie. The ending of the second movie was definitely worth the wait for the sweet ending and conclusion to the kids suffering after The Grabber, who has finally been taken care of and won’t bother anyone else. I think that making this sequel was a really good idea and the ending helped close the story, leaving us with not many questions, unlike the ending of the last movie.

Mad scientists, crazy monsters, love, death, fire, and frightening scares, yet again Guillermo del Toro has remade a classic, but this time it’s –Frankenstein. This movie was released in theaters October 17, 2025 and told the story in a very good and interesting take. The original Frankenstein book written by Mary Shelley in 1816 has been adapted dozens of times, from the classic 1931 version directed by James Whale to this 2025 adaptation. Crazy scientists, human remains, grave robbers, and abandonment – are all components of Shelley’s Frankenstein. The book is about a mad scientist by the name of Victor Frankenstein, who uses human body parts – which he steals from graves – to create a new species. Victor is an ambitious scientist who wants glory for creating life and importantly, however, he wants to uncover the secret of life and death.

In the 1931 movie Frankenstein, directed by Whale, it stars Colin Clive as Henry Frankenstein–also known as Victor Frankenstein in the novel–Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster, and Mae Clarke as Elizabeth. Henry decides to make the monster because of his mad scientist-ey obsession with conquering death and creating life. So he uses dead body parts to make life and make the monster come ALIVE!

Which leads us into del Toro’s Frankenstein. It starts in a book-like manner, with a prelude. The beginning shows sailors trapped in ice, where Captain Anderson, played by Lars Mikkelsen, meets a dying Victor Frankenstein, played by Oscar Issac, who tells his story. Victor’s mother dies when he was young, after giving birth to his brother, William Frankenstein, played by Felix Krammerer. After Victor’s father dies he becomes obsessed with bringing the dead back to life, to uncover the secrets of life and death. With the help of Elizabeth Lavenza’s, played by Mia Goth, uncle, Henrich Harlaner, played by Christopher Waltz, he creates his monster, played by Jacob Elordi, in the middle of a storm. As the bond between Victor and his monster grows stronger, so does the monster. He decides it’s too dangerous and sets his laboratory on fire where his monster is kept, hoping the monster is dead. 

We then lead into the monster’s survival after the fire that Victor started. It finds a cabin seeking refuge, where a blind man, David Bradley, and his family lives. The monster creates a bond with the blind man until he is mauled by wolves and dies. Overcome by memories of his past with Elizabeth, he goes to confront Victor. In a fit of rage, Victor and the monster get into a fight, which pauses when Elizabeth sees the monster, her bond coming back. Victor tries to shoot the monster but ends up shooting Elizabeth, sending both Victor and his monster mad. In the end Victor dies on the ship with Captain Anderson, and the monster forgives him, wrapping up the story in a bittersweet way, bound to make any viewer cry.

I think that the acting in this movie was absolutely amazing. I think the acting was amazing because Victor had the perfect emotions when he was sad, when he was crazy, and when he had made his monster. The monster was terrifyingly perfect as well, he really added to the errieness of the creature and how he was scared like a lost child in the beginning, to a real monster in the end. The emotions were carried through the screen and out to the viewers, the surprise, the sadness, the suspense, all made the emotions from the movie to here. 

There are many stars in this movie, the ones that stood out to me the most for their performances were Issac for his role playing Victor Frankenstein, and Elordi for his role playing the monster. Issac stood out to me because he was very emotional with his acting. He added to the suspense of the movie and his emotions cast through the screen to our hearts, his sadness, his madness and his eeriness. He was a very good actor in this movie and I’m glad he was chosen to play the role.

Elordi was very good at playing the monster, showing the development from him being a sad, lost, and lonely child, to him becoming a terrifying monster. His acting developed when the character did, showing how he was lost and sad in the beginning after the fire, becoming mad and terrifying towards the end. His role of him having to learn English, as he hadn’t known any before, was very good. His emotions flowed from the screen to the viewer’s hearts, his madness when he was abandoned, when the Blind Man died, when Elizabeth died. I really felt bad for the monster as he was just another person trying to fit in.

Del Toro has made a remake of Pinocchio, directed Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Book of Life, Mimic and many others. He has won over twenty-five awards.. He is a great director who has made many good movies, which really shows in this movie. The casting, the story, the direction, all of it showed in the movie and made it so much better than it could have been as a remake of a classic movie.

I am reviewing del Toro’s Frankenstein because it is a remake of a very old, very good original book and movie. There are people who may not want to watch it because it is a remake of the original. 

Well I’ll tell you. I think that viewers should watch this movie. The atmosphere was really well built, pulling you into the amazing performances by the actors and actresses. The set was very good and the props and background really helped add to the movie.

There are some fair warnings I have about this movie, there are many jump scares and it is disturbing, with a lot of dead bodies and blood, and a lot of tearing things apart. Although it was disturbing, I believe that it was one of the best movies that del Toro has made. 

New movies, old movies, and the original book, Frankenstein is an amazing original story that carries out themes and characters everyone knows.

There were more than a dozen actors and actresses that played an important role in Frankenstein. It came out 207 years after the book was published and 94 years after the original 1931 Frankenstein film. Del Toro’s Frankenstein was a dream from when he was a young boy. He started the project on February 12, 2024 and the filming period took approximately 120 days with a budget of $120 million according to screenrant.com, Making this the most expensive Frankenstein film ever made.

The film has made approximately $313,641 in the box office according to the-numbers.com.  It Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein has not yet lost any money during the production and showing of the movie. Shelley’s book made many different sums of money over the years, its highest being $1.12 million, which is way more than this adaptation, for now. The 1931 film made over $12 million, which is also a lot more than Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation. Although there is money that was made, these numbers are subject to change over the course of the next few months. 

I think that readers should come see Del Toro’s Frankenstein adaptation, it is amazing and I would recommend knowing the original story before coming to see the movie. Frankenstein’s monster has been at peace without rage, and Victor has passed away, and been forgiven. I give this movie a 5 out of 5 stars.