Candyman
Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele, I am begging you not to ruin the legacy of my favorite horror movie ever.
I have to confess something. This isn’t easy for me after everything I have written on here and on Twitter over the last year. If there is one thing I have tried to emphasize over anything else, it is that I am always here for original stories. Of the 32 movies I have directly written about, 31 have been original films, with the only exception being about how bad Space Jam: A New Legacy was. That is why it is with a heavy heart that I must admit that I am actually excited for the Candyman sequel.
I know it is a hot take, but I would argue that Candyman is a top three horror movie of all time. I think I love it so much because it is far removed from your typical slasher movie that seemingly dominated the era. It doesn’t make sense because I know Candyman came out over a decade after Halloween and Friday the 13th, but I still group them in my mind for some reason. The latter two are still great movies and undoubtedly more influential than Candyman, but they lack the substance, storytelling, and originality of Candyman.
Candyman follows Helen, a graduate student who is completing her thesis on urban legends and folklore. She hears the story of Candyman, the ghost of Daniel Robitaille. Robitaille, the son of a slave, was an artist who commissioned portraits of wealthy white families. A lynch mob murdered Robitaille after he impregnated a white woman. They killed him by cutting off his right hand and covering him in honey, and he was stung to death by bees, but not before his spirit transferred into a mirror. He appears if you say his name five times in a mirror.
I need to take a quick moment to say that it is scientifically impossible not to say Candyman five times in a mirror after watching this movie. Helen goes to Cabrini-Green, a real-life housing project not far from her university in Chicago. She eventually comes across Candyman, and the film transitions into more of a slasher as Helen is framed for multiple murders that Candyman seemingly commits. In the end *spoiler for a nearly 30-year-old movie* Helen dies after saving baby Anthony from the Candyman. The film ends with Trevor, Helen’s cheating ex-husband, says her name in the mirror five times out of despair, and Helen shows up and murders him.
The original short story by Clive Barker took place in Liverpool and looked at the class divide in the city, but director Bernard Rose changed it to Chicago to examine the race and class divide in the inner-city United States. It takes about 40 minutes for this to feel like a horror movie. It starts out and feels like a drama about the divide between Helen and her wealthy colleagues and the people who live in the nearby Cabrini-Green. It is only a couple miles of actual distance, but it might as well be a completely different planet. We’ll get more into the sequel in a bit, but this story really could’ve been told in nearly every major city in this country. The idea that Seattle is some sort of “ultra-progressive” utopia doesn’t hold up when you ask a random person in North Seattle or Bellevue (or the mayor’s office) to spend Some time in South Seattle. They’ll tell you building housing for the unhoused is essential, just as long as it isn’t in their neighborhood.
It is possible that this would have been a fantastic movie regardless of everything else because the story is so strong, but it just so happens that everything else is excellent as well. Virginia Madsen showcased one of the best leading women in a horror movie in the last 30 years. There’s one shot in particular that sticks out for some reason.
Madsen looks borderline hypnotized in this scene with the dream-like hue around her, and it turns out that’s not a giant reach. She was actually hypnotized on-set by a professional hypnotist in the scenes that she confronted the Candyman to avoid the cliche of excessive screaming. I am still holding out hope that Madsen will have an uncredited small cameo in the upcoming sequel, but it seems very unlikely at this point. She was the best part of the original, and it is a bummer she won’t be in the sequel. However, I was thrilled to learn that Tony Todd, the original Candyman, will reprise his role in the upcoming film. Vanessa Williams will also reprise her role nearly 30 years later.
The score of the original by Phillip Glass was also excellent, and the trailer hinted at something similar for this movie. Beyond all the parts of the actual movie, it legit might be my favorite movie poster of all time.
As I mentioned, I am almost always against sequels or reboots, especially when they happen nearly 30 years after the original. It would be much better if the original film was more accessible instead of cycling through five different streaming services at any given time. It would also be great if we put more of an emphasis on preserving and appreciating older movies. I groaned when I saw the Scenes Of A Marriage reboot trailer that is due out 48 years after Ingmar Bergman’s masterpiece. Imagine the stories we would get if Hollywood didn’t constantly rely on retelling old movies because it is a safe financial move. So, a part of me holds onto that while approaching the Candyman reboot, but the pieces are still there for this to be a good movie.
It seems like a very interesting decision to have Nia DaCosta direct this. Prior to the announcement in 2018, the only things on her resume were Night and Day, a 13 minute short, and Little Woods, a modern western starring Tessa Thompson and Lily James. Little Woods was a good movie, but it seemed a few steps removed from being handed the keys for a sequel to one of the most iconic horror movies of the 90s. Next up, DaCosta is directing The Marvels. If you are getting vibes of Chloé Zhao’s career trajectory, you are not alone. I do have faith in DaCosta alone, but thankfully she’ll have an outstanding supporting staff as well. One of her co-writers and producer, Jordan Peele, helmed two of the biggest horror hits of the last five years in Get Out and Us. I am curious how much his horror style will come out as he’s not directing, but based on the trailers; it is seemingly a safe bet that it will have a similar vibe.
The cast is equally as strong. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is coming off an Emmy win (and an Oscar snub) over the last two years. I can think of few actors I would rather have lead this film. They almost got one of those few actors when it was reported that Lakeith Stanfield was in talks for the part, but Abdul-Mateen II is the perfect consolation prize. He is one of the most versatile actors working right now, and based on the trailers, he brings the right energy to the part. The addition of Colman Domingo is guaranteed to make your movie or show at least 10% better than it would have been without him.
It’ll be fascinating to see what this movie actually is. The original film only had four deaths in total, and in the first two, we only see their aftermath. We seemingly get that many in the first 45 seconds of the trailer for the new one. On the surface, it appears to be way more of a horror movie than the original and way more graphic. Based on the police lights and, you know, literally, everything else in this country, and the little bit I know about Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele, this is going to be a “political” movie, which every movie ever made is to some degree. There’s a line from Colman Domingo where he says, “Candyman ain’t a “he.” Candyman is the whole damn hive.” which could be cool if they explore it in an interesting way that they seemingly tip their hand at going. They dropped an ad last week where someone called it “timely and urgent,” so you can glean what you want from that. Both of those words are usually red flags and thrown around way too easily, in my opinion. All that being said, I still have faith in both of these talented filmmakers to tell a story in a somewhat subtle way and for them to make a very good movie, even if it ultimately falls short of the original.