Candyman

Candyman
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Kategori : 1992 Candyman Horror review Tony Todd Virginia Madsen Stream thousands of movies and TV shows free INCINEMAX

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  If I said his name five times in a mirror and he brought me gummy worms, I wouldn't think twice about summoning him.

Candyman – 4 out of 5

I’ve never actually seen Candyman.  When it came out in 1992, a lot of my peers saw it and talked about how scary it was but, for some reason, I never took the leap and checked it out.  It sorta ended up passing me by and, as the years passed, I never took the time to watch it.  With the release of Nia DaCosta’s remake coming out shortly (and looking freakin’ terrifying, if you ask me), I decided it was time to finally right my wrongs and watch this one…and I really enjoyed it!

"Let me get this straight...we just sing 'The Candy Man' and he'll appear?"

Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is out researching urban legends when she comes across the myth of the Candyman (Tony Todd).  It is said that when a person speaks his name five times, he appears and kills them with a hook he has in place of his right hand.  During her investigation, she discovers that the legend is alive and well in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago.  Helen decides to put the legend to the test and speaks the spirit’s name in her bathroom mirror five times.  After initially nothing happening, Helen suddenly finds herself stalked by Candyman and, since she has disparaged his legend, he will use her to help him make people fear him again.  Now Helen is overcome by terror as the Candyman kills those around her and destroys her very sanity.

"Why won't people believe me that a hook-hand supernatural monster
that is summoned through mirrors is terrorizing me?"

When this film came out, Bloody Mary was fairly dominant in the realm of my school peer group.  I have a very vivid memory of a bunch of us trying it in a school bathroom.  The end result was only a nightmare one night when I slept, but this Bloody Mary thing might have created a subconscious reason to why I never sat down with Candyman—both are, after all, demons that are conjured by saying their names in mirrors.  Regardless, it is a very memorable and striking horror film that, even as a man who just turned 40, had me almost daring myself to go into my bathroom and say his name five time.  I didn’t though.  I’m an atheist and don’t believe in the supernatural but I’m not taking that chance. 

"Bee my victim...ha ha--OW, shit, they are stinging me!"

"Are you saying something?  I can't hear you."

Often when you watch horror films, you find yourself commenting on the seemingly stupidity of the main characters and the choices they make while in a state of panic and self-preservation but Candyman has a different, more methodical approach and, due to this, seeing Helen make what feels like a foolish mistake of challenging the legend (despite the residents of Cabrini-Green literally telling her this is a dumb move) doesn’t feel like your typical type of horror film idiocy trope.  Helen isn’t under duress at the time.  She isn’t being chased by a masked man with a machete nor are demons infiltrating the house and running amok.  Sure, she runs into some issues being a privileged white woman arriving in a working class community of people of color, but she has no good reason to tempt fate and try to summon Candyman.  The film takes the horror trope of dooming your main character through ignorant decision making to a different level and that really made the film instantly engaging.  She wasn’t a horny teenager going to the abandoned summer camp to skinny dip, she wasn’t doing this for thrills.  Her motivations were spurred on by a combination of hubris and privilege middle-class lifestyle because deep down she knows that she is right and Candyman doesn’t exist and an almost contempt for those below her financially (those poor people are just making it up).  The film is very subtle but is offering up some very interesting commentary about class and race and that is only in the setup to the overall horror of the film.

The look of a white woman who doesn't take the concerns of people
of color seriously and thinks she knows better.

Now, would I argue that Candyman is scary…not really.  The film is undoubtingly creepy, but I was never really scared.  It has its occasionally cheesy jump scare and they honestly felt too telegraph for them to be effective with me, but the underlining creepy quality definitely made this film unsettling enough to be memorable.  Essentially, Helen is in a position of having her psyche slowly destroyed as Candyman is practically gaslighting her to make her doubt her reality and her sanity.  A lot of horror and thriller films will do the “I’m not crazy” trope and they are done to varying degrees of success.  In all honesty, I would have liked to see a little more of Helen’s decent into madness as Candyman torments her but, as it stands, it still is quite effective as he puts her in situations where he does some slayin’ and she gets the blame.  It also doesn’t hurt that you have Tony Todd as the Candyman, and his voice just oozes menace.  In fact, I would have loved to have seen Todd have even more lines because ever single word he utters made the character even more unsettling and threatening.

Tony Todd could make the menu at a Cheesecake Factory
sound ominous and menacing.

From a performance standpoint, this movie delivers.  I just mentioned how Tony Todd is creepy as all hell as Candyman and I’ll add to it that just his very presence in a scene—the way he stands and moves—just ups the intimidation factor.  Virginia Madsen does a great job of playing the person that is both fascinated but also slightly condescending about the entire urban legend.  She never comes off rude or like she is punching down with the people who believe and fear the Candyman but there is this underlying aura about her that gives the impress that, deep down, she is looking down her nose at these folks for believing this despite the fact she is also very interested in the myth.  Additionally, her transition from this person to someone losing their grip as they discover the myth is real and is now out to get her is captivating.  Sometimes she does lay it on kinda thick but, for the most part, she is doing a tremendous job.  Finally, the supporting players that make up friends and loved ones in Helen’s life and the residents of Cabrini-Green who live in fear of this monster are all doing a fantastic job of making the reality of this movie exists in feel authentic and lived-in.

Looks like her Vaudeville act isn't going so well.

So, I dragged my feet on seeing Candyman but, in my defense, there is a lot of movies in existence and I am bound to miss several hundred along the way.  That being said, I made up for my mistake and checked it out and really enjoyed it!  I like the story, I like the psychological horror of it all, and Tony Todd is so menacing.  Now, as I type this, the remake isn’t out yet, so that gives me time to check out the sequels.  2021 is the year of Candyman for good ole Rev. Ron.