Candyman (Review)

Never worked out why the bees were supposed to be scary…

Time seems to have gone past Candyman… but I remember when it was released in Australia in early 90s it was pretty far out stuff.

A tall skinny black guy with a gruff voice gutting people with his hook hand was shocking back then – now we have the various tortures of Saw and Hostel.

A pretty (being generous) blonde woman as the target of the baddie wasn’t too prevalent (yeah-yeah Halloween!) – now it seems once you’re a woman rated higher than an “8” you’re practically assigned your own psychopathic serial killer

The woman in this case is Sharon Stone-lite (ironically not where weight is concerned) Helen (Virginia Madsen), Tony Todd plays the titular Sugary Psycho that menaces her and her study-buddy Bernadette, among many others.

Legend has it… that the Candyman was the son of a slave who died badly after being tortured… bees and other nastiness were involved after he had the temerity to nail the slave-owner’s daughter. To summon the undead Candyman is simple, gaze into a mirror and repeat his name 5 times and he will appear instantly to… well gut you like a fish if the movie is right,  (why you would want this I’m not sure).

The specifics of this seem to change a little depending on circumstances:

–        In one scene two people split the Candyman duties, splitting the 5 repeats between them… he appears anyway. This would lead me to believe that every time you say Candyman to a mirror is a little like Russian roulette – as 4 other people could have said it once each elsewhere.

–        Further to this if you try to be clever and say it 4 times before chickening out depending on the count he could appear at any point in your sequence.

–        In some scenes Candy appears instantaneously, in others he seems to take a raincheck and pops up later. I guess there are either many people calling on him or the man is just busy doing other things… Which could mean this is a chore to old Sweetums, and being summoned is like a doorbell; “AGAIN, I just finished killing two teens in Miami! Won’t you guys give me 5 minutes to clean my hook? ”

“Sorry I’m late, my big fur coat was at the cleaners!”

Speculation and wonderment aside the mythology has become folklore in the local area where Helen and Bernadette are writing a paper on *DRUM ROLL Please!* Urban legends.

This takes them to Cabrini Green, an urban ghetto area where word has it Candyman resides, after some faked contacts Helen writes off the legend as a fake.

Not so fast Helen…

As people near and dear to Helen start dropping like flies in various bloody dismembered puddles, leaving her on the scene the investigators assume she had something to do with things and question her. Each subsequent step seems to implicate even more, and as she protests her innocence still more Candyman contacts and twists ensure she remains a suspect, and the police and her husband start to wonder if she might just be 110% nuts.

There is some good simple music in Candyman which lends a bit of class to proceedings, including an effective piano loop that is instantly familiar when you hear it, some gore that may have been extreme in the 90s but hardly raises an eyebrow today, and it is always interesting to watch a “period piece” where almost everyone smokes and telephones still have cords.

This year Natalie Portman put in a gonzo performance as the crizzazy Nena in Black Swan and was lauded for it. But really all she did was pretend to see things, scratch non-existent itches, yell a little and let CGI do most of the rest. As Helen Virginia Madsen gets her gear off a few times, fast-tracks a descent into insanity, emerges from several scenes covered in blood and bits of people, loses her hair and at times acts like a grade A looney. I see both Black Swan and Candyman as equally ludicrous yet one is being seen as somewhat visionary while Candyman was written off as just another slasher film.I guarantee in 10 years no-one will be studying Black Swan as a classic of the modern era…Candyman is certainly no classic but here I am nigh 20 years later and it is still at least enjoyable.

Final Rating – 7 / 10. 20 year old Candy is probably not going to be as tasty as when it was new, but it still has a little flavour and is at least satisfying.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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1 Response to Candyman (Review)

  1. Kanesha says:

    I love this movie its funny and entertaining to me and its funny and so ramantic

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