"Candyman" is a 1992 horror film directed by Bernard Rose starring Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd.
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All in all, this adaptation of Clive Barker's short story might be(e) fascinating in the beginning and grabbed me, as it explores the lore of urban legends closely and with a genius kind of indirect intensity, but after that, the second half becomes a convoluted, tonally confused mess that doesn't even match the atmosphere the first half has built up, and neither great gore effects, the implemented social commentary on the treatment of the black community, nor the basically chilling mythical creature played by a charismatic Tony Todd sting enough no make up for it.
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Even if I haven't seen it yet, it is undeniable that Clive Barker has written horror movie history with his infernal opus "Hellraiser", and he has become an icon for the fans thenceforth. The expectations towards the adaptation of his short story "The Forbidden" that deals with the myth of urban legends were accordingly high. I have heard from multiple people that they were utterly disappointed by this film and think that is has not aged well at all, others however still stated that it was a genuinely chilling horror classic that shouldn't be missed out. What side I am on? Well, at first I was on the side of those that think it is still a great flick, but the more the film moved on, the more I drifted towards the "What is this film?" faction. What I was frustrated about most is the simple fact that the film is basically divided into two tonally different halves that follow their own direction that, frankly, don't fit each other in the slightest. The first half, the one I favour, deals with protagonist Helen Lyle and how she researches the urban legend of "Candyman", a phantom killer with a hook for a hand. The way it is narrated is what makes it so moody in the first place, because like urban legends are principally told, Helen learns about the legend and how it was created via various recounts of people who tell her gradually more details about the infamous stories, and I think the approach to build up tension by only indirectly giving away details about the wraith is brilliant, because it encourages the viewers to connect the dots for themselves. To a certain degree, I even thought that the film would go into a totally non-graphic direction and would reveal that the ghost is nothing but a device to oppress and scare the people in the neighbourhood or simply and imposter. I knew that I let myself in on a horror/slasher film, but letting the film have the twist that it is nothing but a myth would have made it unexpectedly unpredictable. Well, almost exactly after the great first half, the suspension curve all suddenly drops rapidly and went into a direction I still cannot comprehend completely. The almost documentary approach was dropped entirely and made way for what I can best describe as a chaotic slasher that tries to be more than this but utterly fails to achieve this goal. With reaching this specific turning point, it showed its undeniably gruesome gore effects, but at the same time, forfeited its scariness. Even if the general appearance of Tony Todd as the titular entity is impressive and basically eerie, I think they totally wasted his character. He only appeared in the most stupid ways and when he was in the scene, it was anything but scary. It rather focussed on Helen Lyle, irrefutably decently portrayed by Madsen, and how she had to deal with what Candyman has caused. He only became a means to an end and didn't do any justice to his reputation. Of course, the dumb twist that she is the reincarnation of his beloved kept him from killing her right after she conjured him up, but if he is aware that she is his paramour, why does he play all those unnecessary games with her that do not only made the film extremely lengthy but also achieved the total opposite of what he wanted? Even if it might make sense in some twisted way, the film doesn't do much about humouring the audience. Admittedly, I felt how I was becoming gradually sleepier and a horror film shouldn't cause that in me, it should achieve the total opposite! And to be honest, there was zero chemistry between Todd and Madsen that made me assume that he loves her. Oh, and then there is this utterly nonsensical and ridiculous ending in the bonfire. The seemingly invincible entity that has no obvious weakness dies in the fire. I know that might be his tender spot considering that was the way he ultimately died by when he was still human, but it was idiotic of him to expose himself to this threat if he is aware of that. If there is one good aspect I want to conclusively point out, it has to be the social criticism on the treatment of the black community that is included on many occasions. In the end, though, this film is nothing but a convoluted mess that wanted to be many different things at the same time and sadly ended up being garbage. The beginning was nothing short of promising and gave me the feeling that I was in for something great, something that would not simply follow the dull pattern every single slasher follows, but then it ended up exactly like that, only more confusing. It thinks that it is more than an average horror flick, and that's one of its major disadvantages. You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the urban legend. It might please many people out there, but it is a no from me.
