Candyman (1992)

Hook and honey: pain and pleasure coalesce

By: JWBM

This film was a dark and intense force when it was released in the early '90s. There are certainly dated attributes of the time going on here, though what separates it from your typical horror of a few years earlier in the '80s, is it's not doing them on purpose, or putting them in your face either. It's not a fun movie, or one you walk away with an invigorating feeling like others that were pure surface entertainment. Like some of Clive Barker's other stories turned films—such as the primal and evil-drenched "Hellraiser"—it's at the complete end of the spectrum of being sinister, violent, sadistic, and engrossing for all the wrong reasons of what we should be watching at the cinema. It's guaranteed you're going to see something that's going to challenge your senses for better or worse—that's for sure.

This is a simple tale of an urban legend. A go-for-glory graduate student: Helen—attempting to make a splash with her thesis—picks a local Chicago tale to stir up the past with a man with hook for a hand and a fondness for bees and murder. She finds herself in a housing project called Cabrini-Green that's outwardly stricken by neglect and inwardly full of graffiti, drugs, and broken dreams. Soon she gets more than she bargained for when she looks to be the prime suspect when a few people's insides end up as a crimson interior paint job gone wrong. Is it her blind and obsessive ambition to get her work to the masses, or the work of some other supernatural horror? The story is both tight and loose in that it can be calculated, and then in the next breath blurry and just out of grasp. In one instance, you'll feel the moment by moment, and then in the next feel a jarring disconnect to this nightmare of an experience. I feel this works for how ambiguous the plot is regarding this establishment that either uses an urban legend as a reasoning for their troubles and woes, or it's the real deal and it's as terrifying as it seems in both regards.

The setting in Chicago is as much a character as anyone else in the story. There are frequent aerial shots to show the bustling traffic and momentum, accompanied with Phillip Glass' organ, choir, and piano-centric score to give an ominous and haunting reminder as to what's to come. It's unlike any other horror music that's out there: both harmonious and hypnotic; minimalistic yet personable; it's everything this film needed to create this heavy-handed ambiance that you can't shake even after the credits. The film has this strange dreamlike atmosphere throughout: a surreal feeling where the air is lighter, shadows and sounds extend past their usual scientific scope, and the dreary possibilities are endless; like looking into a mirror of a mirror of a mirror that's each showing further happenings and events that are interconnected and just as weird and threatening as the next.

This has a heavy, oppressive tone, though it's also mixed with some every day realism. The difference between this and other urban legends is it acts more out in the open compared to your typical mysterious ghost-like figure in the shadows. It's capable of creating an apprehensive presence with one of the characters alone to the dark like any good horror tale, but also be equally unsettling with people around in broad light. It slowly creeps, no doubt, but it also pops out in a glorious feat of blood and gore to show you it's alive and ready for distasteful action. It's the contrast of being in an everyday setting such as a waiting room, or walking to a store, then suddenly finding yourself swimming against the current of a blood filled tidal wave that came crashing down in a place you once found comfortable and non-eventful. What you won't find here is compromise for any of your typical safety barriers.

Tony Todd—as the Candyman himself—pulls off one of the most memorable villains of the '90s with a display that breathes all that is dark and supernatural. His character has a graceful way of dishing out some of the worst pain and torment imaginable, while also being this strangely gravitating force sent from the deep realms of a bleak abyss that you can't wait till he emerges again. His voice has an unmistakable cadence to it that seems to surround you from all sides and pull you in like a predator that enjoys the hunt with a pleasurable chuckle and a smooth grin.

What's great about this film is when it goes for something you can count on it to have a slow build to get under your skin, then suddenly take it even further to make one jump out of their skin and flee with vulnerable terror. There's no higher meaning or purpose here, except cool and intriguing ideas refined to an expert degree. And, well, of course, to scare the living crap out of you. It has an unshakable, foreboding atmosphere that lingers with you after. You know it's not real, but the filmmakers made you think otherwise. That's real magic right there.

Rating: 8.5/10

Director: Bernard Rose (Paperhouse, Chicago Joe and the Showgirl)
Actors: Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link