‘Black Phone 2’ trailer turns the Grabber into Freddy Krueger

In 2022’s The Black Phone, Ethan Hawke terrified audiences as the masked kidnapper known as “the Grabber.” Now, he’s back to do it all over again in Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2.

Viewers of the first Black Phone know that the film ended with — spoiler alert! — the Grabber’s death. But horror fans should know better by now that no horror antagonist is ever truly dead. Especially not when that antagonist is at the center of a box office hit like The Black Phone.

So how does the Grabber come back in Black Phone 2? Apparently, by emulating another horror icon: Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Freddy Krueger.

Just like dear old Freddy, the Grabber can now attack kids in their dreams. His target is Gwen (Madeleine McGraw), the younger sister of The Black Phone‘s protagonist Finney (Mason Thames). Gwen receives disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at Alpine Lake winter camp, and she enlists Finney to help her investigate. At the camp, they find an unsettling family connection to the Grabber. They also learn their tormentor has grown even stronger in death, resulting in some terrifying ghostly fight scenes in the trailer above. Can Gwen and Finney take down the Grabber once and for all?

The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson returns to helm Black Phone 2. He and C. Robert Cargill co-wrote the screenplay, adapted from the short story by Joe Hill. The film also stars Demián Bichir, Miguel Mora, Jeremy Davies, and Arianna Rivas.

Black Phone 2 hits theaters Oct. 17.