Candyman (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Candyman (Special Edition)
Movie Review: He is the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom!
Summary: 5 Stars
Directed by Bernard Rose, based on a Clive Barker's short story called "The Forbidden", "Candyman" is unlike what I've seen before. It's a mixture of psychological and downplayed bloodfest that manages to make you think and scream at the same time. It's a thinking man's horror movie, if you will.
Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a graduate research student, undergoing an assignment on urban legends, particularly of Candyman, a titular mythic figure with a hook on his bloody stump of a right hand that haunts a ramshackle Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago. After interviewing dozens of people and going through a grave assault by a gang, Lyle stubbornly still doesn't believe in Candyman. As oppose to taking the gravity of the people's beliefs seriously, to Lyle, Candyman is still nothing but an urban legend created to frighten the kids to go back to sleep and keep away trespassers from the notorious Cabrini-Green residential area. All is just a thesis until the day Candyman appears to her, haunting her first with his enigmatic, gravel sounding voice and later, murdering the people around her. As a result, Helen is arrested and is committed to a mental institution even though she doesn't really commit the murders (or does she?!?) simply because like all police in every horror movie, they don't believe in monsters and supernatural killers, let alone in urban legends.
A side story involves Helen Lyle's husband who abandons her halfway through for his sanity but mostly for a young ditzy girl from his University class he teaches in. Sounds like a pulpy soap operaish technique to make us sympathize with the heroine but man, could it work even more genuinely. Helen's plight at the end is just as sincerely heartbreaking and painful as any other non-horror tragic movies out there, offering a tranquility in poignancy: a quality very rare in this type of genre. This is where the movie really works because, unlike its sequels and clones and other mundane, generic slasher variety, it's refreshing to have someone who we can care and root for. Even without this aforementioned quality, the subplot still has to exist, because in the context of the film, it shows that Lyle's normal life is never the same again once Candyman's wrath is unleashed upon her.
The intelligence of the script is just as strong as its ambiguity. Mainly, the psychological aspect of it plays around the notion of one's individualism going over the sea of insanity and hallucinations. Does Candyman really exists? Is so, is Helen the reincarnation of Candyman's lost love? If he's just a myth; nothing more, nothing less, how one can define Helen? Innocent or have finally given up to her craziness of her urban legend obsessions? A few questions out of a lot that are left unanswered and to be pondered to the audiences thinking brain. It can also be seen as a satire of shallow mass consumption, formulating ideas through the analogy of the ever-increasing popularity of urban legends in this kind of protocol: people believing in Candyman: safe and alive; Helen not believing in Candyman: crazy and a scapegoat.
Only "The Blair Witch Project", "Scream" and "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" in the late 90's come close to this level of sophistication of setting up the mystery and ambiguity to be analyzed that "Candyman" laid out.
Of course, it also satisfies the gorehounds of all of us. Scenes of bloodshed and gore-letting are few and between, but once they come, they come unleashing a violent and unrestrained look at the torture done to the victim. Some scenes are nauseating, disturbing and just plain nasty.
The actors are great, particularly the underrated Virginia Madsen (Michael Madsen's sister), who exhibits great vulnerability through her occasional tough and determined strong-willed individual. Tony Todd is very effective and enigmatic as Candyman himself. He holds our attention even if we want to look away. Terrifying voice too!
"Candyman" also introduced me to the minimalist maestro himself, Philip Glass. Before "Candyman", I didn't know such a talented musical composer exist until the music during its opening credits bombarded me with its simple and repeating vocalized concerto. It sounded bizarre, something I've never heard of before, and harsh to the ears; but I believed that somehow because of those qualities, it was beautiful and powerful on its own twisted way, like a deformed but equally lovable version of Beethoven.
"Candyman" is a psychological mind game that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, refusing us to have the answers whether the things that happened are actual fact. To disservice the movie, it is a kid's version of "Mulholland Drive" and "Memento" with a dash of "Friday the 13th" as it does falters along the way, especially at the end, where it turned into a full-on, generic, slasher mode, dampening the powerfully moving scene of Helen Lyle's funeral at the gravesite, where I feel that the movie should have ended.
Nevertheless, one of the best horror films out there; genuinely scary, heavy with atmosphere, laden with good performances, a deafening and dizzening but equally amazing score and a very intelligent script all equals to saying his name five times in the mirror!
Candyman....
Movie Review: Sweets to the sweet.
Summary: 5 Stars
Candyman is one of the finest atmospheric horror films ever made. The film doesn't rely on any teenage bimbos or jocks as most horror films do today and the whole film is shot to perfection around Chicago. You feel like this could actually be happening. This is one of those rare films that you actually do feel a sense of dread the whole time, and to me it is quite possibly one of the best horror films of the 90's. The Candyman character is one of the creepiest villains in horror history. He has an incredible aura of menace surrounding him, and the mystery about him is creative, imaginative and pretty spooky. Tony Todd IMO is perfectly cast in the role, as his brooding voice and intense presence make him the Candyman personified. Even his actions are pretty brutal. When he is unleashed and goes in his spree, it ignites a fire in the film with lots of bloodshed at his hook. He is one of the few types of slasher villains that loves to hack up his victims and produce as much blood as he can during the process. There is a large amount of blood let loose in the film, which isn't until the end, but that is a great way to end the film. No doubt the last twenty minutes are some of the best in horror history, as it's is both thrilling and exciting to see what and how it happens. Even the special effects used are great. The final look of the Candyman is very well done and pretty graphic. Anyway the story was about Helen Lyle, (brilliantly played Virginia Madsen) a teacher at a Chicago college, who hears the urban legend about Candyman (Tony Todd) a local legend in the area, whenever you say his name five times infront of a mirror he appears. She and her friend Bernadette (Kasi Lemmons) begin to search around Chicago's suburbs for clues about the legend, which her husband Trevor (Xander Berkeley) doesn't approve of her doing all by herself. She becomes determined to prove the story of the Candyman being just an urban legend, and the search leads to mere clues instead. Her clues only lead to more questions about the Candyman in the projects on the outskirts of town. Everyone they meet seem to be in fear of the Candyman, and this only intensifies Helen's search. Her search eventually leads her to the belief that the Candyman is a real person haunting the area around her, and she must stop him before he claims the lives of more innocent people. I must admit that when I first watched the film years ago when I was younger it did terrify me but now not so much, the film still has a creepy vibe though and the amazing and truly haunting music done by Philip Glass really helps with the films atmosphere. It's a combination of church organ, classical piano and a choir, probably one of the best musical score I've ever heard. The music of CandyMan will be burned in your head for months after watching this film and as for the film itself, its not exatly going to be an experience you'll forget lightly. The film has some great edge-of-your-seat thrills and some really top notch acting especially from Virginia Madsen who played the vunerable yet tough female lead and Xander Berkeley as the cheating husband. This special edition dvd is also a brilliant release of the classic movie, housing some intriguing extras as well as a brilliant documentary on the film that, unlike alot of documentaries on special edition dvds is actually very interesting. I'd recommend this to any fan of horror and/or cinema in general, its not just a great horror movie, its a top-notch film!.
Movie Review: Outstanding modern horror classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I find it very strange that some people reviewing this film have classified it as a failure, with not enough gore, no "hot" women and not enough Candyman on screen.
First of all, "Candyman" easily blows away all of the Freddie, Jason and Michael Myers trash that filled cinemas in the 80's and 90's. I guess there's a type of movie-goer who likes to hero-worship the villains and gets a kick out of the evil caricatures appearing in all of those films. But "Candyman" is something else altogether. This story involves an inquisitive woman named Helen (Virginia Madsen -superb) who is trying to piece together the reasons behind some strange and frightening events that may or may not have something to do with an urban legend, a run down housing estate, and her own family and background. What Helen gets subjected to during this movie is a heartbreakingly cruel catalogue of horrifc violence that no living person should ever go through.
I'm not exaggerating, but I'll confess that my opinion of this film is extremely high. Everything seems to work for me. Right away, the opening credits and music are wonderful, already doom-laden and menacing. The character of Helen is wonderfully believable, and the introduction of the Candyman legend is handled with just enough veracity to make you dread the (inevitable) invocation of something terrible. But the story is clever enough to mix in the danger that Helen finds herself in on the Cabrini Green apartment block estate along with the supernatural element. When she explores the empty sections of this buildng and finds a stinking derelict apartment that has long since gone rotten, the tension is racked sky-high. Even worse is to come when Helen is beaten up by thugs who are seemingly behind the Candyman-related violence being investigated. The truth is sadly far worse. And the violence, when it happens, is shockingly effective. I disagree with people who say the gore is tame in this film. Many scenes are brutally realistic and often come with the added punch of surprise.
I have nothing but praise for actress Virginia Madsen who fills her part with life, making a truly great heroine - plus she's beautiful, but yet in no way exploited for her looks, her only nude scene being in the uncomfortable setting of a police examination, which is particularly heartless. The film cleverly digs out every possible way to make Helen suffer, and the viewer is carried along with her right up to the cracking ending - another shocking moment that fittingly ends a film that is full of similar scenes. If only the legend had been left at this, but the inevitable sequals were trotted out, featuring far too much of Tony Todd as the title character, who was (rightly) kept in the backround in this film - probably helping to make his portrayal so effective.
Similar to Hellraiser (obviously, with the Clive Barker connection), it can be recommended to fans of that movie, but I would rate Candyman as better, as it does not dwell so much on supernatural outlandishness, and instead brings horror very much closer to everyday life. People who want more (more??) gore and topless bimbos should stick to the drive-ins - this is class, and outscares most of it's closest rivals.
Movie Review: Horrifying Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
Not just scary or disturbing, this is one of those films that, like "Castle Freak", truly captures the word 'horror'. Really I think fear (or terror), shock, horror, and that subtler, more-lingering feeling we call 'disturbing' are related but seperate senastions, and while many scary movies mix them in in different amounts, in "Candyman" the emphasis is definately on the Horror (though shock is certainly present too; see the film's last ten minutes - one of the few unexpected finales not ruined by too many people giving it away one day after it hits theaters) (On a slightly digressive note, there are also quite a few movies in the horror section that, despite ranking relatively low in areas of actual horror or fear, still excel massively while maintaining their identities as horror films, drawing on spookiness, thrills, fun, awe, or whatever - "Night Of The Demons" and "Cutting Class" are 2 prime examples)
"Candyman" is about a graduate student (excellently played by Virginia Madsen) doing her doctoral thesis on urban legends, in particular the "Candyman", a mythological figure said to appear when someone says his name in the mirror 5 times and, with his hook hand, split the victim - how does that go? - 'from groin to gullett'. Hoping both to explore the roots of how such legends get started and to debunk the legend herself, Helen (the Madsen character) ends up getting a lot more than she bargained for. It can be a harrowing watch - the nightmare Helen unleashes upon herself, the horrific partial origin of the tragic Candyman and why he does what he does - but it's an excellent movie, with Oscar-worthy performances from Madsen and the always outstanding Tony Todd in the title role, though I suspect Oscar politics and Hollywood prejudices against graphic horror movies may prevent anyone in a movie like this from ever even being considered for a nomination, no matter how good they do.
A tremendous horror movie, though the faint-hearted should approach with a grain of caution.
Movie Review: SAD, BEAUTIFUL AND HYPNOTIZING
Summary: 5 Stars
Actually I felt I was in love with this film as soon as I saw the very beginning - the opening credits against the background of Chicago seen from high above and provided with beautiful music. "Candyman" could have become another teenage urban legend flick with not much of a sense, but Bernard Rose managed to squeeze everything possible from the story making a brilliant, enchanting and spellbinding film out of it. If you're interested mostly in gore and some physical manifestations of horror you won't find it here (you will, but not in quantities you used to). "Candyman" is more of a psychological horror where atmosphere is what's important, where mood is what matters, where you are given some food for thought. I don't have enough words to describe the whole perfection of this gorgeous film, I can only say it's a great achievement of Bernard Rose as a director besides I guess Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen and Xander Berkeley had their best roles played in this feature.
I don't personally think that 90s were fertile regarding the horror genre, but "Candyman" is a true gem which wouldn't be lost among the greatest horror titles of all times.
By the way if you don't want to spoil your impression of the film, better don't watch "Candyman" parts 2 and 3. They ARE the average tenage urban legend flicks.