Candyman

Candyman (1992)

Ranking: Yes
Extremely Trashy

It's been upwards of two months since I've seen this movie, but I'm going to attempt to review it regardless.

I wasn't terribly keen on watching this flick on the grounds that, so far, I'm not crazy about Clive Barker adaptations (both Nightbreed and Hellraiser sucked as far as I'm concerned. Although both of those movies were written and directed by Clive Barker. This movie was not) and it sounded kind of dumb. However, it's known for being fairly good so I gave it a spin.

The plot involves a woman (Virginia Madsen) writing a paper (possibly her thesis, I can't remember) on urban legends, particularly the legend of the 'Candy Man', this bloke who was horrifically murdered a hundred or so years ago and who will now come back and do all sorts of nasty shit to you with a hook if you say his name in the mirror five times.

Actually, the movie is kind of like Nightmare on Elm Street only way more mature. It keeps the gore under control (which is a difficult task considering the fact that it's about a guy who dismembers people with a hook), it has a more interesting social subtext and the Candy Man (Tony Todd) is way hotter than Freddy.

Yes, he does say some really dumb shit, like "The pain I will show you is exquisite" or whatever, which is sort of to be expected from something by Clive Barker, but at least he knows when not to say anything.

Anyway, the fact of the matter is that most of the time when a slasher movie has a black person in it, it's just to prove that slasher movies aren't exclusively about white people. Once the point has been made, the character can be safely killed off.

This movie doesn't do that.

Overall, the flick is gross and entertaining and, though it's not the scariest thing I've ever seen, you could not fucking pay me to say 'Candyman' five times in the mirror.

END

Written and Directed by: Bernard Rose, based on the story The Forbidden by Clive Barker. Starring: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Vanessa Williams, DeJuan Guy.