Candyman (2021)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
Candyman is a horror film, whose 1992 original has gained status and respect over time. That makes this film, with involvement from Jordan Peele, highly anticipated.
Nia DaCosta’s second film is visually stunning and her storytelling abilities are impressive.
Certainly has ambition and could make Yahya Abdul-Mateen II a much bigger star - should this find a significant audience.
NO
Were you to ask me if I thought a Jordan Peele-led screenplay would be Candyman’s weak link, I would have disagreed. And yet…here we are.
Struggles to connect the dots on the topical themes and issues and the slasher film elements that audiences may really be coming to see. The gear-grind between shifts in tone and atmosphere is noticeable.
Spoonfeeds a bit too much along the way and never fully trusts its audience.
OUR REVIEW
A horror film, in part, focused on themes of gentrification and classism within Black communities, Candyman likely flew over most audiences’ heads when it first arrived nearly thirty years ago. Some made mention of the film’s grander themes and ideas, but largely, Candyman was, and is, most remembered for the childhood scare-dare of looking in a mirror and saying “Candyman” five times.
Time has since been kind to Bernard Rose’s 1992 film. Though critics were supportive when the film was released, Candyman only grossed around $25 million in its theatrical run (roughly $50 million by today’s standards). A low-budget film, profits were ultimately made and two badly received sequels followed in 1995 (Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh) and 1999 (Candyman: Day of the Dead). As the decade came to a close, the Candyman was retired into the annals of horror movie lore.
As mentioned, time has since been kind to Candyman. Rose based his film on a short story by British horror writer Clive Barker; 1985’s “The Forbidden” looked at classism and society within London’s urban residential areas. Rose connected with the story that despite impoverished conditions, and a nefarious presence just an invitation away, people band together and support one another, almost in spite of their circumstances.
Rose shifted his story to modern-day Chicago, in the Cabrini Green neighborhood. In the first film, grad student Helen Lyles (played by Virginia Madsen) encounters Tony Todd’s villainous ghoul and learns that the Candyman is the incarnation of a Black slave named Daniel Robitaille. In the early 1900s, Daniel was hired to paint portraits of white people. After falling in love with a white woman and fathering a child with her, a lynch mob found Daniel, severed his right hand, smeared him with honeycomb, had him attacked by deadly bees and then burned in a giant fire. Summoning “Candyman” brings his spirit back to remind people of who he was, how he died, and to take the life of the person who called for his return.
In writer/director Nia DaCosta’s vision of Candyman, a 2021 direct sequel to the 1992 film, ignoring the two previous follow up films, she sees Cabrini Green as a gentrified shadow of what it used to be. Her camera finds personality within the newer angles and architecture of the community. Through mood-shifting lighting and impressive production design and cinematography, DaCosta’s update to Rose’s film looks quite impressive and is also unmistakably hers.
That DaCosta makes Candyman a captivating visual experience is perhaps the film’s most redemptive and richest quality. There are sequences in animated silhouette which are haunting, striking, and unforgettable. DaCosta proves she is a daring filmmaker, one who can frequently surprise from one moment to the next.
The issues with Candyman come with the screenplay. Middling and somewhat underwhelming, this update and quasi-rebranding and reinterpretation of Barker’s source material is missing that untouchable something that makes this entire endeavor something truly special. DaCosta moves brisk, the film scurries along at 91 minutes, dancing on the precipice of evolving into something terrific.
With Jordan Peele involved, and his previous films Get Out and Us gripping, intense, unpredictable thrillers, perhaps expectations are set too high. But Peele and DaCosta’s script, written with first-time screenwriter Win Rosenfeld labors and plunders. Clearly, the trio of writers understand the complexity of the story they are wanting to tell - connecting allegory and meaning to avoid this iteration of Candyman being dismissed as just another slasher film. Sadly, those efforts never fully connect together.
At the core of the film is Anthony Mason (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a painter and visual artist who learns of the Candyman story after dinner one night with his girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Paris), her brother Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his boyfriend Grady (Kyle Kaminsky). Troy tells the story of the original film (giving a pass to those who missed the 1992 flick), as something of a modern-day campfire tale. Anthony is taken by the mystery of the story and uses Candyman’s urban legend as part of a pending art installation.
When a bee sting becomes infected, Anthony slowly descends into madness and obsession over the Candyman, nudged into mental imbalance by a man (Colman Domingo) rattled from a childhood encounter with the vengeful spirit (Tony Todd, reprising his original role).
The film is appropriately bloody, some may say even gory, with Abdul-Mateen’s performance strong. Early on, it is easy to see why this new story was built around his captivating presence and deep, commanding voice.
The exploration of societal issues will likely hit viewers differently. There is certainly a commentary here on oppression, identity, and systemic racism that has created something of a crisis of conscience for residents within the Cabrini Green neighborhood. The resilience of community seems lost in this visit, though the frightening man, with a hook for a hand, has found plenty of opportunities to throw candy with hidden razorblades at people and keep a veritable swarm of bees near him wherever he may appear.
DaCosta will make great films, the talent she brings is seemingly undeniable. There are many singular moments one can point to and make a more-than-fair argument that her Candyman is a tremendous movie. She will next tackle the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2022’s The Marvels, a sequel to Captain Marvel.
With Candyman, the foundation is there. A few too many lulls, a genuine lack of scares, and a stop-and-start momentum causes this structure to begin to crumble, even as we admire the construction.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Paris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Tony Todd, Michael Hargrove, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Rebecca Spence, Kyle Kaminsky, Carl Clemons-Hopkins.
Director: Nia DaCosta
Written by: Jordan Peele, Nia DaCosta, Win Rosenfeld
Based on characters created by Clive Barker
Based on the film “Candyman”, written by Bernard Rose
Adapted from the short story, “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Universal Pictures