Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), a university student working on a paper about urban myths, investigates the legend of the Candyman. Both a romantic and a horrifying figure, when human, the Candyman (Tony Todd) was brutally murdered due to his race. If you say his name five times, he will appear.
Quick Review: Candyman is poetry meeting Slasher and both are caught off guard. It is an atmospheric art film, with hooks rending flesh and pools of blood. Everything is several steps above the normal level of a Slasher (except humor, which is completely lacking—this work takes itself very seriously), particularly the acting. Madsen creates a completely believable heroine, a bit naive and weak at the beginning, trapped but stronger at the end. Todd is a standout, with his deep, fluid voice and commanding, somewhat lost expressions. When he extols the virtues of painful death, it is almost believable. The complex screenplay, based on a Clive Barker story, left me with plenty to think about and more to feel, particularly about race relations in modern culture. If you’re not interested in thinking, Candyman will still entertain with plenty of gore and scares. It didn’t frighten me (only three films have), but I’m not entirely comfortable reciting “Candyman,” five times.