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DVD Candyman (Special Edition)
Based on a story by Clive Barker and skillfully written and directed by Bernard Rose, Candyman rises above most horror films by eerily suggesting that some urban legends--in this case a particularly frightening one--have a spooky basis in reality. The legend of the Candyman is a potent one around the high-rise tenements of Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing complex, where the residents speak of a dark, ominous figure who appears when his victims say his name five times in front of a mirror, then mercilessly slashes them to death. Upon learning that the Candyman is rumored to live in one of the vacant tenements, a University of Illinois researcher (Virginia Madsen) investigates a recent murder at Cabrini-Green. She learns that the Candyman (played by Tony Todd) is both unreal and chillingly real--a supernatural force of evil empowered by those who believe in his legend. He is a killer made flesh by the belief of others, and the young researcher's investigation is a threat to his existence. What happens next? We wouldn't dare spoil the chills, but rest assured that writer-director Rose has tapped into a wellspring of urban angst and fear, and Candyman serves up its gruesome frights with a refreshing dose of intelligence. --Jeff Shannon
Certainly not like this! Too much weight was on the slicing end and not enough on the true chills.
Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd are excellent, as always. The story has potential, but they missed the mark somewhere. The scenes where The Candyman is haunting Madsen's character are very good, but short-lived. More attention should have been paid to these scenes and less to the blood and gore.
Much better gore-fests are out there with better developed stories.... I recommend... ANY of them.
Outstanding modern horror classic
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.
CANDYMAN
You don't have to believe, just beware.
Helen Lyle and her friend Bernadette are graduate students writing a thesis on urban legends, when their research takes them to Chicago's run down Cabrini Green housing project, things start getting strange as Helen quickly grows obsessed with the legend of Candyman, a brutal killer who appears when you say "Candyman" 5 times while looking in a mirror.
Helen just can't let the legend go and recites "Candyman" five times in a mirror. Not long after, strange events start happening, like Helen waking up in pools of blood next to brutally mutilated corpses. Of course she has no recollection of what happened and the police, her scumbag adulterous husband; basically everyone thinks that Helen is a deranged psychopath killer.
Very well done, suspenseful, really gory,and Tony Todd nails the part of Candyman making him one of the more creepy slashers out there. The back-story behind the Candyman and how he came to be is really original as well.
I highly recommend adding this one to your collection. It will not disappoint.
A stylish though inferior sequel to its classic predecessor, Bill Condon's Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh deepens our knowledge of what made the murdered Daniel Robitaille turn into the monster that haunts dreams and mirrors. But some of it is still pretty routine: schoolteacher Annie takes a long time to connect her family's plantation-owning past and her own artistic talent with the legend, and is far too ready to say the Candyman's name five times in a mirror to debunk her pupils' fears.
The setting: New Orleans at Carnival time with a disc jockey whimsically reminding us that Carnival is the last farewell to pleasure before the rigors of Lent. Tony Todd, who returns as the Candyman, gives a quiet dignity and sadness to the monstrous specter with a hook for a hand. His... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Kelly Rowan Director(s): Bill Condon DVD Release Date: Released the 28 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Clive Barker did a good job on the original Candyman. It was truly a cut above most horror movies. The second movie was medicore at best in my opinion but this one was just horrendous. There is no suspense at all in this movie and the acting is deplorable. Donna D'Errico is soft on the eyes but too bad she talks. Lets hope this is the last sequel. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Turi Meyer DVD Release Date: Released the 21 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Having made his reputation as one of the most prolific and gifted horror writers of his generation (prompting Stephen King to call him "the future of horror"), Clive Barker made a natural transition to movies with this audacious directorial debut from 1987. Not only did Barker serve up a chilling tale of devilish originality, he also introduced new icons of horror that since have become as popular among genre connoisseurs as Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman. Foremost among these frightful visions is the sadomasochistic demon affectionately named Pinhead (so named because his pale, bald head is a geometric pincushion and a symbol of eternal pain). Pinhead is the leader of the Cenobites, agents of evil who appear only when someone successfully "solves" the exotic puzzle box called the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Andrew Robinson - Clare Higgins Director(s): Clive Barker DVD Release Date: Released the 26 September 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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What a combo! Tobe Hooper, the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, teamed up with family-oriented producer Steven Spielberg to make Poltergeist. The film is about a haunted suburban tract home in a development very much like the Arizona one in which Spielberg was raised. (Because it came out the same summer as Spielberg's E.T., it was tempting to see both movies as representing Spielberg's ambivalent feelings about childhood in suburbia. One was a fantasy, the other a nightmare.) Spielberg also cowrote the screenplay, which taps into primal, childlike fears of monsters under the bed, monsters in the closet, sinister clown faces, and all manner of things that go bump in the night. At first, some of the odd happenings in the house are kind of funny and amusing,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): JoBeth Williams - Heather O'Rourke Director(s): Tobe Hooper DVD Release Date: Released the 18 April 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Having read the book all the way back in 1985 and then seeing the movie years later at the theater, it was a pleasue to get it on DVD and experience it again. One of the most gruesome, dreary and downright horrific Stephen King boks ever (I Loved It!) the movie rus very close. Small cameo by Steve-O as a preacher reading at a funeral. Very Hitchcockian! The acting tries you at times, but Fred Gwynne is a great Jud Crandall. Dark and scary and definitely not one that you would share with your kids anytime soon.
