Candyman series

  • Candyman (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2022) I’m usually the last to call for remakes – especially of horror films – but I was definitely curious about a Candyman remake for a few reasons. The first being that Candyman remains one of the good horror films of the 1980s, using horror to discuss racial issues decades before it was cool to do so, with a couple of strong assets – not the least being Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen – in service of its thrills and themes. The idea of revisiting such charged territory in the 2020s, with black filmmakers able to make good use of the material, was impossible to resist. But even I was more than pleasantly surprised at the remake’s impact. This newest Candyman is a top-to-bottom success, artfully tackling themes in ways that make the film far more about social justice than gory thrills. Writer-director Nia DaCosta (with some assistance from co-writer Jordan Peele) delivers a film that’s rich in visual motifs (Bees! Candy!), social issues, carefully restrained filmmaking technique and expressionist moments. It starts well with Sammy Davis Jr.’s “The Candy Man” song over mirrored studio logos and goes on all the way to an eloquent end-credit sequence using shadow puppetry. One of the most striking elements in the tapestry is that, despite the copious amount of blood and violence, it takes until the very end of the film for a death to be graphically shown on-screen – and even then, it’s in soft focus in the background of the lead character doing something else. The script cleverly integrates the first film as a mythological construct that adds depths to the result, and even picks the best elements of the disappointing sequels (a focus on the art world) as part of its script. There’s a real thrill to see the material being presented with visual flair and horror being used not as an end in itself (despite how effective it is) but as a springboard for larger-scale discussions. Teyonah Parris is quite good in the real protagonist role (after an initial focus on Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, also quite good) – and her character even speaks a little bit of French. In many ways, Candyman is an exceptional film, an exceptional remake, and exceptional horror. It steps in Get Out’s footsteps more assuredly than Us, and even crams storytelling into the fabric of its execution.

  • Candyman: Day of the Dead aka Candyman 3 (1999)

    Candyman: Day of the Dead aka Candyman 3 (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, December 2021) Some series find their footing by the third episode, but most of them merely end up rehashing their own premise, and that’s where Candyman 3 ends up. Moving to Los Angeles (what?) and taking on the art world (double what?), the film otherwise seems content to simply repeat elements from the first film, except without much conviction or wit. It’s apparently taking place in twenty-years-distant 2020, but there’s nothing science-fictional about the low-budget execution. I did like Tony Todd’s presence and Donna D’Errico doesn’t do too badly (even though I preferred Alexia Robinson), but the film itself is dull — the only potentially interesting element about its conclusion being how definitively (and without winking) it seems to shut down the possibility of any follow-up. That’s not much, especially considering how the first film in the series was a semi-amazing blend of social commentary, historical material and rather original boogeyman. But Candyman 3 is simply repeating some of the highlights without committing to it beyond a superficial level. No wonder the series died for a generation after that.

  • Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)

    Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, October 2020) Nearly every single successful horror film of the 1990s spawned a sequel whether it was appropriate or not. The temptation to do a follow-up to Candyman was predictably irresistible: Not only was the film successful, it also fascinated audiences by weaving a complex mixture of social protest, urban decay, black representation and the undeniable presence of Tony Todd as the titular boogeyman. Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh predictably devolves by ramping up the horror elements at the expense of the social commentary. Leaving the concrete apartments of Chicago for New Orleans is a miscalculation even if it lets the filmmakers explore the Candyman legend to its origins. But then again—overexplaining what should have remained mysterious is the hallmark of ongoing horror series. What’s less forgivable is how the thematic concerns of the original are muted to the point of being nearly inconsequential: this film is about the iconography of the series (the hook, the bees, the mirror calling) more than the meaning of those icons. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how Farewell to the Flesh is directed by Bill Condon, who would progress to much brainier fare with his subsequent Gods and Monsters, and then further on to tentpole Hollywood productions. Not much of his talent is on display here, though—the direction is as mechanical as the script’s reliance on carefully spaced murders to qualify as a genre horror sequel. If nothing else, Farewell to the Flesh is another chance to see Tony Todd at work, and it’s not irremediably awful—merely useless.