Candyman (1992) (Movie) Review
Candyman is something of a loose adaptation of Clive Barker’s “The Forbidden”. It’s about Helen investigating the relation of the myth of Candyman and a series of murder for her thesis. Out of this came several sequels, including one this year.
Because there are spoilers later on, and in case you just wanted to check the drawing, I’m putting it up here this time.
What I found interesting about Candyman is how we learn about a string of murders that are being tied with a myth, the protagonist investigates crime scenes and interviews people about the crimes and their beliefs. But as it develops we come to wonder whether we can rely on her as a narrator — while she isn’t literally a narrator, we see most scenes the same way she does (though not through her eyes and point of view), and as we question her sanity we also question what was there and what wasn’t.
While I’m not a film critic, I find that it was shot nicely, and there are some goosebumps worthy scenes. I have no complaints about the sound effects, or music, it all seemed to fit nicely. And the actors acted in a believable way.
A series of murders have been happening in Cabrini-Green Homes, a housing complex mainly populated by low-income African Americans, where years of neglect, crime and vandalism, have turned it into a decadent building. Helen Lyle, the protagonist and student graduate, is investigating a string of murders, the more she investigates, the more cases she finds, and the people she gets to talk about them believe it’s the work of Candyman.
Now, who is Candyman? He is an African American who got lynched in the 19th century due to his interracial relationship, the legend says that he got his hand cut and replaced with a hook, and then he got smeared in honey to be stung to death by bees — which is why he is called Candyman.
As Helen progresses in her investigation, she finds out a point of entry to the victims’ residences, as in Cabrini-Greens the apartments are connected to a neighbor through the bathroom, this entrance is concealed by cabinets, so you normally wouldn’t be aware of its existence. But when the protagonist begins unraveling the mystery and demystifying Candyman as a result, murders begin to happen around the protagonist, making you wonder if you’re seeing things from her perspective, and if she has become an unreliable “narrator”.
Now, while one could say I’ve already spoiled part of the movie, what comes next really are SPOILERS. So bear that in Mind before continuing.
While the way it was presented it was overall effective at making us doubt whether Candyman existed, or if, after being hit in the head with a hook by the man who was using the legend for his crimes, she had become the “Candyman” herself without being aware of it… There is a scene that breaks with that line of reasoning before it’s definitely revealed that he exists, where he gives his (presumably) honey covered finger so that the kidnapped baby stops crying.
While it’s understandable that she fled considering she was already being thought of as crazy, and charged with murder. It would have interesting to see what would have happened if she hadn’t left Dr. Burke’s office and blamed Candyman, after all, no normal human being should be able to accomplish what Candyman did, much less a slim woman who spent a month sedated. That and her blood splatters wouldn’t match to someone in the killer’s position.
And, I consider that the ending goes against the characterization of the protagonist, and I’d like to take her word about her being incapable of murdering someone. Specially after she sacrificed herself in order to save the toddler. I am not sure what the intention was, if it was to have a sequel hook setup, in case they didn’t go with another Candyman movie — which they did — or something else.
While one normally expects the protagonist to live until the end, or close to it, due to some sort of plot armor, and while it might feel that way here when assuming the Candyman exists… When you take into account that her actions made his legend weaken, and that he could use her in order to refuel his legend by their immolation, it makes sense that she wasn’t killed. Despite a few annoyances, I found it a compelling horror movie, and not just a slasher thanks to the psychologic elements at play.
So, did you watch this movie or the version from 2021? What did you think?. Or would you rather try and guess the next topic:
