Candyman
There are a lot of things wrong with growing up. It is now frowned upon to pretend to be an imaginary character, you are scoffed if you chose to play with toys and it is now deemed inappropriate to fall asleep half way through the day. Actually, I still do all those things.
What I am trying to say is that growing up changes a lot of things. One of those things is that the movies you found scary when you were a kid no longer have that charm. In fact, you now laugh at your younger self who found Batman Returns traumatizing (anyone else, anyone?)
But it takes a great movie, a truly outstanding piece of horror film, to still crawl its hook softly down your neck.
That film, for me is Candyman.
Made in 1992 and set in Chicago is the exploration of an urban legend previously told in Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden.” It focuses on Helen Lyle, a graduate studying the truth behind urban legends for her thesis. Her main subject is Candyman, a hooked figure who butchers anyone who says his name five times in the mirror. Of course, Lyle doesn’t believe and with her friend Bernadette, she tries out the game. It isn’t until a trip to the notorious Cabrini Green housing project that the true nature of the story comes to light. And Helen is plunged further into the folklore that is stalking her life.
It is one of those horror movies that combines truly different elements of the genre to give a breathless haunting finale piece. With gore and atmosphere, director and writer Bernard Rose translate what would be a difficult adaptation into this outstanding piece. The rawness of the movie is one that will sink deep into your nightmares and pull the hairs up on your skin. Rose lets imagery and the fear of uncertainty become this brutal dagger of fright. Balancing some jumpy moments with a more shadowy in-depth plot; alongside Philip Glass’ score, it towers with chilling seduction and dark enchantment.
And all this is embodied in our villainous actor Tony Todd. Todd, now more known for the voice of death in the Final Destination series is truly a scary man. Not only his stature as the titular character a frightening paranormal monster, but Todd oozes this Lecter-esque intelligence and charisma. Appearing to Helen halfway through the movie, he leads her down the bloody rabbit hole and ravages all he knows and loves. Todd is captivatingly disturbing here as his voice, in this bellowing beckoning tone, asks Helen to “be his victim.” You can hear him as you sleep…
That is the true fright here and the film plays with a more poetic psychiatry here. One minute, young see the blood and brutal attacks, the next you don’t, only hear the slicing in the background. That is masterful, how awful is his slayings off camera? Rose has mastered a movie that takes a children’s story, the one you tell to your friends at sleepovers, and translates that to adult horror. With a social commentary also pulsating through, Candyman is a vastly clever and menacing movie.
TTFN
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