David O'ConnellCANDYMAN: Sweets to the Sweet!
June 25th 2008 04:32
Bernard Rose’s classic Candyman is one of my favourite horror films of all time, retaining such a strong sense of nostalgic association that I can easily overlook its few flaws. It’s become something of a cult favourite since its release back in 1992 and watching it today I can gratefully report that it still stands the test of time even if the framework around which the narrative hangs does seem a little thin.
Based on Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Forbidden’, it tells the story of Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), a Chicago grad student, who along with her friend Bernadette (Kasi Lemmons), is researching urban legends and folklore for their combined thesis. Her interviews yield the scary tale of a serial killer, the Candyman, who can supposedly be summoned by looking into a mirror and repeating his name five times over. With a hook buried in the stump of one arm he slices his hapless victims from groin to gullet. His legend is rampant around the poverty stricken housing projects of Cabrini-Green where a recent death is credited to him.
Helen delves deeper into Candyman lore by visiting the now abandoned apartment where the most recent victim lived and meets a neighbour, single mother Anne-Marie (Vanessa A. Williams), and an 11 year old boy Jake (DeJuan Guy) who shows her the toilet block where Candyman is said to reside. It turns out to be a vicious gang leader brandishing a hook and despite being beaten up Helen is still determined, a few weeks later, to pursue the mythos of this urban terror to the end with the salvaged photographs that Bernadette brings her.
This continued interest in Candyman, however, only raises the ire of the legend himself - memorably played by Tony Todd - and it's then that the fun really begins as he materializes for the first time and starts turning Helen’s life into a living nightmare. After their first encounter she wakes up saturated with blood and is accused of murdering Anne-Marie’s baby but it’s Candyman who has possession of the child, only wishing for Helen to “be my victim” in exchange for the boy’s safe return. It begins a struggle to the death as Helen’s life unravels, with her sanity threatened, and her marriage to cheating lecturer Trevor (Xander Berkeley) on shaky ground as well.
Rose’s direction is superb with a scattering of perfectly executed scary, jump-out-of-your-seat moments. His adaptation of Barker’s brilliant story is further aided by the gothic restraint of Philip Glass’s typically evocative minimalist score, built around organ, strings, and choir, with a music box-like main theme that sticks inside your head.
This was the role that made a true star out of Virginia Madsen and, though there are a couple of slightly suspect performances around her, she shines here and gives the film a believable, totally credible heroine who we have no trouble emotionally investing in. Kasi Lemmons, who has gone on to be known more as a director, is good support also. And then there is Tony Todd of course, the striking black actor with the distinctive deep voice, who’ll forever be associated with Candyman amongst horror film devotees, with a legend as enduring as that of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
The original story on which Candyman is based, ‘The Forbidden’ is from Clive Barker’s 5th Books of Blood collection and it’s his creative genius which set this project in motion (he also served as executive producer on the film). His contributions to the field of horror are legendary, as director of Hellraiser and Nightbreed, but more significantly through his Books of Blood, which I first read in my 20’s and was blown away by – they contain the most overwhelming proof of the darkest, most primal, twisted creative genius ever seen in horror fiction. Shocking, mesmerizing and unforgettable, they should be a staple on the shelf of anyone even remotely interested in the field.
Candyman, his vivid beginnings detailed by an authority on urban legends in the film, forever lives on through this classic contribution to horror. It’s tense, scary and audacious with many classic moments you’ll want to relive. Just don’t watch it alone………………….and don’t watch the sequels!!!!!
Based on Clive Barker’s short story ‘The Forbidden’, it tells the story of Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), a Chicago grad student, who along with her friend Bernadette (Kasi Lemmons), is researching urban legends and folklore for their combined thesis. Her interviews yield the scary tale of a serial killer, the Candyman, who can supposedly be summoned by looking into a mirror and repeating his name five times over. With a hook buried in the stump of one arm he slices his hapless victims from groin to gullet. His legend is rampant around the poverty stricken housing projects of Cabrini-Green where a recent death is credited to him.
Helen delves deeper into Candyman lore by visiting the now abandoned apartment where the most recent victim lived and meets a neighbour, single mother Anne-Marie (Vanessa A. Williams), and an 11 year old boy Jake (DeJuan Guy) who shows her the toilet block where Candyman is said to reside. It turns out to be a vicious gang leader brandishing a hook and despite being beaten up Helen is still determined, a few weeks later, to pursue the mythos of this urban terror to the end with the salvaged photographs that Bernadette brings her.
This continued interest in Candyman, however, only raises the ire of the legend himself - memorably played by Tony Todd - and it's then that the fun really begins as he materializes for the first time and starts turning Helen’s life into a living nightmare. After their first encounter she wakes up saturated with blood and is accused of murdering Anne-Marie’s baby but it’s Candyman who has possession of the child, only wishing for Helen to “be my victim” in exchange for the boy’s safe return. It begins a struggle to the death as Helen’s life unravels, with her sanity threatened, and her marriage to cheating lecturer Trevor (Xander Berkeley) on shaky ground as well.
Helen is hypnotised by Candyman
Rose’s direction is superb with a scattering of perfectly executed scary, jump-out-of-your-seat moments. His adaptation of Barker’s brilliant story is further aided by the gothic restraint of Philip Glass’s typically evocative minimalist score, built around organ, strings, and choir, with a music box-like main theme that sticks inside your head.
This was the role that made a true star out of Virginia Madsen and, though there are a couple of slightly suspect performances around her, she shines here and gives the film a believable, totally credible heroine who we have no trouble emotionally investing in. Kasi Lemmons, who has gone on to be known more as a director, is good support also. And then there is Tony Todd of course, the striking black actor with the distinctive deep voice, who’ll forever be associated with Candyman amongst horror film devotees, with a legend as enduring as that of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.
The original story on which Candyman is based, ‘The Forbidden’ is from Clive Barker’s 5th Books of Blood collection and it’s his creative genius which set this project in motion (he also served as executive producer on the film). His contributions to the field of horror are legendary, as director of Hellraiser and Nightbreed, but more significantly through his Books of Blood, which I first read in my 20’s and was blown away by – they contain the most overwhelming proof of the darkest, most primal, twisted creative genius ever seen in horror fiction. Shocking, mesmerizing and unforgettable, they should be a staple on the shelf of anyone even remotely interested in the field.
Candyman, his vivid beginnings detailed by an authority on urban legends in the film, forever lives on through this classic contribution to horror. It’s tense, scary and audacious with many classic moments you’ll want to relive. Just don’t watch it alone………………….and don’t watch the sequels!!!!!
Candyman revealed!
| 103 |
| Vote |
