Black Phone 2 Director Scott Derrickson on Turning The Grabber Into a New-Age Freddy Krueger

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Black Phone 2 is coming soon, and it significantly expands the story from the first film. The villain, The Grabber (played by Ethan Hawke), is now a dangerous supernatural being who hunts victims in their dreams-think of a modern take on Freddy Krueger. The eagerly awaited sequel premiered at Fantastic Fest 2025, and early reactions suggest it’s even more impressive than the original.

Black Phone 2 director Scott Derrickson (known for his interest in killers who appear in dreams) told Russ Milheim of TopMob on the movie’s red carpet at Fantastic Fest that The Grabber’s transformation into a different version of Freddy Krueger “was somewhat intentional” and that the idea “evolved” over time.

As a film fan, I think it’s important to point out that The Grabber and Freddy Krueger are actually quite different. Director Derrickson explained that “The Grabber is a highly intelligent, articulate conversationalist,” which is really unsettling. He added that “dialogue is part of his stalking” and “torture process.” That’s a key distinction because those clever, quick one-liners Freddy Krueger is known for? Those are totally his own thing – The Grabber doesn’t operate like that at all.

We had the chance to interview several gifted individuals on the red carpet at Fantastic Fest 2025, including Scott Derrickson (Director, Writer, Producer), C. Robert Cargill (Writer, Producer), Miguel Mora (Ernesto), and Anna Lore (Hope).

The movie features Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw, both delivering truly impressive acting. Black Phone 2 is scheduled to hit cinemas on October 10.

Turning Ethan Hawke’s The Grabber Into a New-Age Freddy Krueger

The Grabber Is No Longer a Normal Serial Killer

  • TopMob: “I’m such a big fan of how this film escalates the concept from that first one. Can you just talk about why you chose to escalate it the way you did, and basically turn The Grabber into a new age Freddy Krueger?”

Scott Derrickson: Yeah, that happening was partly on purpose. The idea developed over time. But, you know, when you make a sequel to a scary movie, you can’t just repeat the same story and show the audience a slightly updated version of what they already saw.

Most of us have experienced disappointing sequels – they often feel incomplete. However, straying too much from the original story isn’t a good solution either. Therefore, our aim was to expand on the story significantly, but without making it unbelievable or absurd.

C. Robert Cargill: When you create a sequel to a horror movie, the goal is always to make it more intense. Like in “Scream 2,” they established certain guidelines. You need more deaths, more gore, and more frightening moments. So you always aim to create something that surpasses the original…

Look, everyone kept pushing for a sequel, but I told them, absolutely not until we landed on a truly amazing concept. Honestly, if we didn’t have something *really* special, I wasn’t going to do a second movie. It’s just that simple. I’m a big believer that you shouldn’t just make a sequel for the sake of it – it needs to be a great story, or it’s not worth doing. I stand by that. Seriously, a bad sequel can ruin everything!

About a week after I mentioned that, Joe Hill called me with what he thought was a brilliant idea. When he explained it, I wasn’t just excited – I immediately knew I wanted to make this movie. But then I started thinking about how we could make it truly special and explore the most compelling aspects of the story…

… I’m a big fan of ‘Dream Warriors’, and I really enjoy the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ movies, but we weren’t going to compromise our own creative boundaries to make this happen. That allowed us to explore the story in ways you typically can’t with films, because we established guidelines that actually gave us more creative freedom than we had with the first movie. We were really enthusiastic about that, and we wanted to make something truly special… Ethan was fantastic as The Grabber. We started thinking, how can we elevate him and create a more terrifying, supernatural version of the character? And that’s exactly what we’ve done here.

Miguel Mora: That’s pretty much what I was thinking of when I initially read the screenplay. It’s great that Freddy Krueger was a massive success in the ’80s and remains a hugely recognizable horror villain. So, it’s exciting to see The Grabber potentially following that path and becoming an iconic figure as well.

It’s hard to compare it directly to someone like Freddy Krueger, because it’s really something different, but it’s definitely stuck with me and it’s incredibly haunting. It’s scary in a way that feels unique. I have to say, the director and writer, Cargill and Scott Derrickson, did an amazing job crafting this story and this really memorable villain. I’m so excited for everyone to finally see it!

  • TopMob: “When it comes to The Grabber, obviously, that comparison to Freddy Krueger is a quick one to make. But what do you think are the key differences between those two figures?”

Scott Derrickson: The most significant thing is that The Grabber is a very smart and well-spoken person. He enjoys talking – it’s his method. And conversation is how he stalks his victims. It’s an integral part of how he torments them. So, if the role only required short, clever lines, similar to Freddy Krueger, I don’t think Ethan Hawke would have taken it.

Miguel Mora: I believe the connection between The Grabber and the people he terrorizes feels much more personal. Freddy Krueger is different in that regard. With The Grabber, it’s all about revenge – getting even for the events in ‘Black Phone 2.’ So, in essence, they’re quite distinct characters, each driven by different motivations.

Anna Lore: Watching this character, I really got the sense that he’s completely different – his motivations are just on another level. It all stems from a deeply personal vendetta, which immediately sets him apart. And the rules of this world feel a little skewed, but what *really* got to me was the unsettling idea that the events unfolding in this dream could actually happen in reality. That’s genuinely scary, and it stayed with me long after the credits rolled. Definitely a chilling aspect.

How Black Phone 2 Utilizes a Harsh New Location

The Snowy Winter Camps In Colorado Take Center Stage.

  • TopMob: “I want to also talk about the environments in these movies. They’re so important to the story. The first one kind of has that soul sucking basement that you spend so much time in, and this one turns its attention to the cold, harsh environment. How does that change of scenery kind of affect what you wanted to do with this film?”

As a big fan, it’s really cool to hear Scott Derrickson talk about how he started with the scenery when developing the story. He grew up in North Denver, and it sounds like the first movie was all about capturing that specific time and place – 1978 North Denver, when he was 12. He also mentioned that his experiences as a teenager at winter camps in Colorado were really fascinating, and that those 80s camps were a really interesting setting for the story.

It’s a classic 80s campy horror film with a murderer on the loose. Given that ‘The Shining‘ is a winter movie set in the Rocky Mountains from 1980, I thought this concept would let our film join a strong and well-respected history of horror movies.

C. Robert Cargill: Scott’s initial idea was to create a film based on his own upbringing… Much of the first act of the first movie draws from Scott’s personal life. I contributed a few experiences from my teenage years as well, but we really wanted the story to be grounded in reality…

He used to go to winter camp every year, and growing up in Colorado meant snow was a major part of his life. My family is originally from upstate New York, so I’m also very familiar with snow, even though I’ve lived in Texas for a long time. That’s why he suggested we make a movie about snow…

We then started thinking about what impressive scenes we could create and how to best utilize them. We also explored what frightening elements we could incorporate. Not many films are made with snowy settings. We were determined to make it authentic, so we filmed on location in Canada during the winter. I really appreciate that decision. I’ve noticed some people commenting that a particular shot looks artificial, but it was actually real snow. That’s right, we didn’t use any fake snow.

We needed to do some visual effects work for a few scenes, but the snow you see is completely real – we were incredibly cold while filming! One day it dropped to negative four degrees. The weather actually forced us to stop shooting temporarily, but it was worth it because the final result looks fantastic. Seeing it on the big screen, it’s just a grand and beautiful sight. I’m really happy I got to make a film featuring snow.

The entire red carpet interviews can be seen below:

At Fantastic Fest 2025, another horror film, The Strangers: Chapter 2, was shown. The film’s lead actress, Madelaine Petsch, had assured fans that this installment wouldn’t negatively impact the reputation of the movie’s central antagonists.

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2025-09-29 21:39