Scott Derrickson’s Black Phone 2 will pick up several years after the events of the original smash-hit movie, and early reviews indicate it will be the latest entry in an ongoing trend for Hollywood horror sequels. Starring Ethan Hawke and Mason Thames, reprising their roles from the original, Black Phone 2 sees the now-ᴅᴇᴀᴅ serial killer known as the Grabber ascend to a new level of supernatural menace.

The Black Phone was adapted by Derrickson and his long-time screenwriting collaborator C. Robert Cargill from a short story by author Joe Hill. The team of Derrickson, Cargill, and Hawke were able to replicate the success of the celebrated 2012 supernatural horror movie Sinister, as The Black Phone grossed over $161 million on a budget of just $16-$18 million.

Black Phone 2 made its official debut at Fantastic Fest 2025, meaning there is some commentary already logged from critics who have seen the movie. Early reviews have been very good, and it currently sits just two points (79%) behind the original movie’s Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Score (81%). While it’s possible scores drop as more people see Black Phone 2, as of now it looks poised to continue a significant trend in horror.

Horror Sequels Have Been Excellent In The Last Few Years

Hollywood is in the midst of a new golden age of horror, with legitimate Oscar-worthy movies setting a new gold standard in what the horror genre can actually be. Original horror movies like The Substance, Weapons, and Sinners have all grabbed the moviegoing public’s attention, and the appreciation for original horror appears to be higher than ever with so many talented filmmakers behind the wheel.

However, sequels to existing properties are being received just as well. While horror sequels used to be subpar imitations or continuations of the original, they’ve evolved into highly-anticipated movie events of their own. If early reviews are to be believed, then Black Phone 2 is the latest in a long line of really high-quality sequels, many of which become wildly profitable once they hit theaters.

Within the last few years, we’ve seen sequels from some of the most iconic horror franchises yield the highest critical review scores of the entire franchise. Saw X, for example, made John “Jigsaw” Kramer the protagonist and earned the highest Tomatometer score of the franchise by a whopping 31-point margin (81% to Saw‘s 50%).

Just in 2025, Final Destination: Bloodlines and 28 Years Later set new franchise records for Tomatometer score, while The Conjuring: Last Rites earned a franchise-record $521 million at the box office. After Smile exploded onto the horror scene in 2022, Smile 2 earned even better review scores from critics and audiences, while earning back five times its budget.

In some cases, horror sequels have acted as a more fleshed-out version of the original’s concept. The biggest example of the last few years is the Terrifier franchise, which began with the ultra-low budget Terrifier in 2016. After it developed into a cult classic, creator Damien Leone moved forward with the incredibly successful Terrifier 2, and finally the critical darling and box office juggernaut Terrifier 3.

While neither the Tomatometer score nor a movie’s box office haul are the defining measures of a movie’s success, one point is very clear: horror sequels are better than they’ve ever been before.

Sequel Profits Now Justify The Commitment

Audiences have begun to show out in force at the box office too, with five horror movies already grossing $100M+ in 2025 alone. Of those five, three are sequels: The Conjuring: Last Rites, Final Destination: Bloodlines, and 28 Years Later. Studios that put the resources and effort into sequels are starting to see real returns.

The nature of the horror genre, and by extension the horror audience, is such that the key to establishing a good franchise is really making an impression with an original. Once you have an established brand name, the modern built-in horror audience will often show up for sequels regardless of their quality. However, if the last few years have proved anything, it’s that higher quality yields higher profits.

The Strangers new trilogy is an interesting example of the sequel phenomenon. The Strangers is a cult classic in the home invasion horror subgenre, and as a result the 2018 sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, grossed $32 million against a $5 million budget despite middling reviews.

Six years later, the first chapter in the new reboot trilogy surpᴀssed its predecessor at the box office despite terrible reviews. Neither its relatively new stars nor outstanding word of mouth drove people to theaters, proving that the attachment of The Strangers brand name did the heavy lifting.

Black Phone 2 has all the ingredients for a home run modern horror sequel, most importantly the brand name. Horror audiences already loved The Black Phone, so with all the same elements coming back, we can safely expect the sequel to continue the trend of high-quality horror sequels in Hollywood’s new golden age of horror.