I know I watched, but don't quite remember the original "Candyman" from 1992. Mostly, it remains in my head as a few potent images, along with Tony Todd's sonorous voice. Going back to the film now, I realize that what faded from my memory - and what gives the film so much power - is its context. "Candyman" is set in the notorious, poverty-stricken Chicago housing development of Cabrini Green, and its monster, Candyman, the lone African-American slasher icon of his era, is the product of all the psychic pain and racial injustice that the place represented.
Thirty years later, Cabrini Green has been gentrified and we have a new "Candyman" movie. The lead characters, an artist named Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, gallery director Brianna (Teyonah Parris), live in Chicago and are part of the local art scene. Anthony, who has been in a creative rut, learns about the urban legend of Candyman - and eventually the events of the original film. It turns out that the 2021 "Candyman" is a direct sequel, one that is not only keen to explore the undercurrents of racial tension that informed the original film, but to update it. Gentrification is brought up constantly, but the film also tackles cultural appropriation, African-American identity, and generational trauma.
It makes a big difference that the leads in the new "Candyman" are African-American, because their journey in discovering Candyman stands in for uncovering their own history and puncturing the comfortable middle-class black mindset that they enjoy at the beginning of the film. There are some interesting moments where you can feel the black creators of the film - which include Nia Da Costa and Jordan Peele - examining their own privilege and their own potential complicity as successful African-American artists engaging with this material. There are some not-so-subtle punches aimed at the art world, at real estate developers, and at anyone - black or white - who profits from gentrification.
Is it scary, though? While the new "Candyman" follows all the rules of a typical slasher, and there's lots of blood, I think it's more of a slow burn psychological thriller and body horror picture than anything else. Aside from two major sequences, the bulk of the violence is either offscreen or happens at a distance. We see the Candyman, now played by Michael Hargrove, fairly early on. His kills are brutal and wonderfully executed, but not especially frightening. The slow deterioration of Anthony McCoy and the occasional appearance of racially motivated violence are more genuinely upsetting to watch.
However, it is an absolutely gorgeous film, filled with Grand Guignol horror imagery, beautifully orchestrated by director Nia DaCosta. When people tell stories about the Candyman legend in the film, the accompanying visuals are shadow puppet animation sequences. There are mirror shots everywhere, both of literal mirrors and reversed images - even the opening credits! Candyman himself, when we finally see him in his full glory, has never looked better or worse. Likewise, Chicago is a major part of "Candyman," and Da Costa takes pains to showcase both its shiny new growth and its neglected slums.
I think the new "Candyman" is a decent enough horror film, and a decent enough piece of social commentary, but it's far from great. The writing, which has a lot of interesting, promising concepts, never fully fleshes out the characters and the plotting is very messy. There are ellipses all over the place, unexplained motivations, and pieces that don't seem to fit together quite right. The actors are talented and are able to patch many of the gaps, but only up to a point. The ending is worth the slow buildup, but then it's over far too quickly. It's a film that is frequently trying to do too much.
But, especially in this day and age, better too much than too little. I appreciate the new "Candyman" for a lot of things - for giving its talents a chance to do some interesting work, even if it's flawed work, for bringing attention back to a forgotten franchise, and for a final shot that made me unexpectedly very happy. It might not make you scream, but the new "Candyman" will surely leave a lasting impression.
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