Runtime: 99 minutes
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Starring: Virginia Madsen,
Tony Todd, Xander Berkley, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams
From: Tristar/PolyGram
I would have viewed this during the Halloween season... had it
been readily available at the time. I mean sure it could be found in the
nether regions of the Internet but such places are full of spyware and
other malicious program-at least I understand that to be the case... as I
was able to rent it last night and discuss this in 2019. As a new movie
is coming out next year which is a “spiritual sequel” and has the
involvement of Jordan Peele, this seemed like a good time for a
review anyhow.
Virginia Madsen discovered that saying “Candyman” into the mirror five times was a grave mistake, even if she is a graduate student at the University of Illinois-Chicago and her thesis is on the urban legend & its impact on the Cabrini-Green housing project; that has mostly been demolished now but at the time it was where many poor black people lived and unfortunately, it was so riddled with neglect and gang crime, it looked like something from a third world country, as shown in the movie. Turns out, the legend is actually true and things become REAL bad for Old Virginia.
The first half of the movie definitely takes its time setting up the story and presenting how deplorable conditions are in Cabrini-Green & its effect on those innocent people who are just trying to raise an infant. It's never boring, even with there are obvious fake jump scares present to ensure no one becomes bored. The second half, things pick up-as the movie takes a left turn-there are some gruesome scenes and everyone gets to see the powers of the guy known in his life as Daniel Robitaille. Among a cast that is fine overall (especially Madsen), Tony Todd stood out the most as Candyman, being both hypnotically charming and utterly terrifying, usually in the same scene.
The movie touches upon subjects like racial prejudice and white privilege, ensuring it was never boring. Then again, I never found the story dull and even if I had, I would have been entranced by the hypnotic score from Philip Glass; that was a nice get on the movie's part. No surprise this became a cult hit and its reputation only will rise with next year's big theatrical release of the sequel.
Virginia Madsen discovered that saying “Candyman” into the mirror five times was a grave mistake, even if she is a graduate student at the University of Illinois-Chicago and her thesis is on the urban legend & its impact on the Cabrini-Green housing project; that has mostly been demolished now but at the time it was where many poor black people lived and unfortunately, it was so riddled with neglect and gang crime, it looked like something from a third world country, as shown in the movie. Turns out, the legend is actually true and things become REAL bad for Old Virginia.
The first half of the movie definitely takes its time setting up the story and presenting how deplorable conditions are in Cabrini-Green & its effect on those innocent people who are just trying to raise an infant. It's never boring, even with there are obvious fake jump scares present to ensure no one becomes bored. The second half, things pick up-as the movie takes a left turn-there are some gruesome scenes and everyone gets to see the powers of the guy known in his life as Daniel Robitaille. Among a cast that is fine overall (especially Madsen), Tony Todd stood out the most as Candyman, being both hypnotically charming and utterly terrifying, usually in the same scene.
The movie touches upon subjects like racial prejudice and white privilege, ensuring it was never boring. Then again, I never found the story dull and even if I had, I would have been entranced by the hypnotic score from Philip Glass; that was a nice get on the movie's part. No surprise this became a cult hit and its reputation only will rise with next year's big theatrical release of the sequel.
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