The terrifying first "Black Phone" movie , based on a short story by Joe Hill , made a rising star out of Mason Thames and established Ethan Hawke as an unlikely but undeniably compelling horror villain, complete with his own iconic mask . Its success made it more or less inevitable that a sequel would be generated, even if there wasn't an obvious angle for a follow-up. "Black Phone 2" largely justifies its own existence, though it's a bit of a mixed bag. It's incredibly well crafted, even as it wears its influences on its sleeve, and it does a solid job of expanding its lore outward while developing its legacy characters (two essential tasks of any burgeoning horror franchise). But it also has some of the most hackneyed dialogue we've ever heard, causing "Black Phone 2" to vacillate betwe

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