Review Tuesday: the CANDYMAN series

 

CANDYMAN

1992

A researcher of urban myths accidentally summons the Candyman.

A fiend of mine has been telling me that this is her absolute FAVORITE horror franchise. For whatever reason, I hadn't gotten around to it until this year. 

 

Candyman was set in modern day Chicago and Helen (Virginia Madsen) is researching urban myths in the community. She, unwittingly, unleashed a world of pain and horror upon herself and her friend and loved ones. The pace is good. The action is good. The cast is excellent. The horror and gore are exceptional! Indeed, I can see why this is a favorite in the realm of horror and how Tony Todd as THE CANDYMAN had become a legend in the genre. 

 

If you have missed out on this, like I had, I would highly recommend taking the time to see it.  

AMAZON

 

CANDYMAN 2:

FAREWELL TO THE FLESH

1995

The Candyman returns in New Orleans to visit the descendants of those responsible for his undying misery. 

The story of the Candyman is that he was an artist hired by a wealthy family to paint a portrait of their daughter. While working on it, the artist and subject fell in love and had an affair. The problem was that the girl was from a well-to-do Southern family and the artist was a former slave. So, upon discovering that the daughter was ruined, they chased down the artist, hacked off his right hand, and fed him to the bees.

 

This movie takes place in New Orleans where the original violence took place. That was part of the (small) problem I had with the original film. If this took place in the South, why was Candyman wreaking vengeance people ANYWHERE? Was he a ghost that would be transported anywhere just by saying his name multiple time while looking into a mirror? But that's neither here nor there...

 

In this film, a descendant of that original family finds out their dirty little secret, however, after unleashing the fury of CANDYMAN on the rest of the family. In some ways, I didn't understand the entire dynamic. He seemed to be trying to seduce his own great-great-granddaughter Annie (played by Kelly Rowan) and killed her entire family... but they were, also, the descendants and family of The Candyman himself! This particular detail rolled around in my mind quite a bit and distracted me from the story, and horror of this second installment int he Candyman franchise.

 

The move WAS very well made and polished. The cast was excellent. Fantastic special effects. Despite the problems I had with the story, I thoroughly enjoyed it, nonetheless.

AMAZON  

 

CANDYMAN 3:

DAY OF THE DEAD

1999

Annie's daughter accidentally summons The Candyman.

All good things must come to an end. In this third installment of the CANDYMAN series, it appears that a standard horror film studio / direct took hold. 

 

This is more like your common horror film. You have Donna D'Errico playing Caroline, the daughter of Annie. So, you have the big breasted Playboy Playmate as the star. She's spends a lot of time bouncing around and screaming. This movie has a lot more tits and ass than the previous two put together. The story was weak. The character development was poor, they were mostly unlikable. Generally, the movie was dull and cliche. 

 

Even with a plethora of good looking women in this film, I found this third installment terribly disappointing...

AMAZON 

 

 

CANDYMAN

2021

The story of CANDYMAN is updated for the current generation. 

The addition to the franchise no one wanted nor asked for, the  CANDYMAN reboot came out during the COVID quarantine of 2021. Written, in part, by Jordan Peele, the story of Candyman is no longer about urban myths and all about racism.

 

Generationally, a new man suffers social injustice and becomes the new Candyman. This film is about artist Anthony McCoy (played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his descent, ultimately becoming his generation's Candyman. 

 

The story was dull, and ridiculously slow-moving. You just wait form something, ANYTHING, to happen. When things do happen, it's usually done at distance sots and you can't see anything. You are mostly confused trying to follow this mess until the end when they finally unveil that systemic racism is what creates the CANDYMAN and Anthony morphs into Tony Todd, the quintessential Candyman. That was the only cool scene in the entire movie, honestly. 

 

I wouldn't bother with this uninspired woke bullshit ruining of a classic horror franchise. But if you must, you can find it on:

AMAZON 

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