27 Days to Halloween- 1992 Candyman

Over the next 100 days, I will present one movie of significances in horror, suspense or thrillers for each year from 1919 to 2018. The next film presented here is the 1992 slasher film "Candyman" starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley and directed by Bernard Rose.

Candyman (1992)

Dir- Bernard Rose

Every culture has its Boogeyman, one who is summoned by a series of repeated words and with their arrival comes a fatal response. It is this urban legend that Clive Barker's story "The Forbidden" would be adapted and finely cast with the talents of Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd. Ms. Madsen is a grad student researching urban legends; she is intrigued by the tales of the Candyman and the legends bring her to the ghettos to find out the truth. To her shock, the Candyman legends are not only real but reveal a hideous dark figure with a hooked hand who rips you apart for summoning him. Logically we find that she is blamed for the grisly murders that seem to follow her. She discovers that the Candyman was an innocent man who was wrongly imprisoned and murdered by a racist mob. The Candyman is portrayed well by Tony Todd whose smooth voice entices his victims, and soon you find yourself sympathizing for this murderous fellow. Excellent scripting, genuine local setting, and high overall production set this movie apart from the hundreds of other exploitation slasher films. Candyman is a triumph of originality in a genre that has very few original ideas. The climax is both shocking and tragic, but the viewer is presented with what has to be the best horror film of the 90's.