phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2021

Candyman



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 31min
Country: USA, Canada, Australia
Language: English
Genre Tags: Horror, Thriller
Plot Summary: A sequel to the horror film Candyman (1992) that returns to the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Candyman for the Black Lives Matter movement. In the original, Candyman is used as a boogeyman and tool of oppression to keep the projects in place. Years later, in the newly gentrified neighborhood, he becomes a symbol of black trauma and the results of summoning him depends on your intention. Are you a sleazy art dealer trying to mine black trauma to sell paintings? Some jackass white teens thinking it’s a joke? Or are you a victim of police brutality? Just say his name. Also, the cinematography is amazing. Gorgeous colors, skillful framing, and playful use of mirrored surfaces.


Outside Reviews:

Odie Henderson
3.5 out of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Jordan Peele has become the master of balancing the hard truths of being Black and brown in this country with a devilish predilection for goosing the audience the way good horror movies do. You can almost imagine that it was his idea to begin the film with Sammy Davis, Jr.’s cover of “The Candy Man” playing over backwards versions of the Universal and MGM logos. DaCosta’s visual style is a willing accomplice, as is the absolutely disgusting sound mix. She stages the kill scenes with a mix of pitch-black humor, misdirection, and clever framing, fully acknowledging that what you don’t see—or think you saw—can be a lot worse than what you did see. One well-staged murder scene takes place in a very wide shot as the camera pulls away, giving us the view of someone escaping just as the carnage occurs. Toss in some profoundly gross body horror plus a satisfying ending that nicely closes out its thesis statement, and we have the makings of a fun, thought-provoking time at the movies.


Anya Stanley
Grade: B - A new Candyman reconsiders the bogeyman

The reflective mood flip-flops with requisite carnage, and while the true nature of Candyman has changed, horror fans who come for blood will get it by the bucket. The jokes are applied with intent and purpose; the funniest smash-cut gag of 2021 comes after a Black character asks who would be foolish enough to do the Candyman prompt for fun, just before a white girl traipses down a hallway to her doom. It’s a throwaway goof until DaCosta sees the concept through to interesting places in the film’s final act. One of the pros of bringing diverse experiences and perspectives behind the lens is that it yields culturally unique takes on common themes. Where Bernard Rose spoke on white anxieties and the image of the scary Black man in 1992, DaCosta expands the conversation, relocating the horror from one man to the many structures that foment brutality upon the Black populace.