Candyman

Scrolling through these reviews, I saw a couple 5 and 6 stars, but mostly 1 and 2, all complaining about the movie focusing on racism rather than horror, and blaming Jordan Peele (even though this is not his solo film). All I have to say is these people have either never seen the original Candyman or failed to understand it. If you think the original didn't have anything to do with race I think you should watch it again. Nia Dacosta did a great job with this film and tying all the legends together, creating a "spiritual sequel" as planned. Candyman has never been cut and dry horror, and while I agree there could have been more chilling moments, this is not as bad of a film as these other reviewers would like you to think. If you walk into a black horror film expecting jason vorhees or michael myers, that's your fault, not Dacosta's.

Nia DaCosta has shown potential with her debut film Candyman. There was some interesting ideas and great cinematography, but the themes it presented & social commentary were handled with the subtely of a sledgehammer to the face. Way too unbalanced. All black people are innocent victims, all the white people were bullies & then slaughtered by "Candyman" (NOT Tony Todd, some creeper named Sherman) & all the cops instantly killed the black folks, even as they lay on the ground, unarmed & dying. I'm not saying bad things don't happen, but there needs to be some balance. Everything was obviously slanted towards one narrative.

Well, it has all the components - say his name five times, the hook for a hand, and the bees! And the 'puppet' animation, especially over the end credits is amazing! But the story seemed very muddled, and I'm not even sure I understand what happened at the end. I like the idea of the hive, and of Candyman standing for all the racial injustices suffered in this country, I just found the story itself to be very confusing.

But that puppet stuff - true works of art!

The original Candyman already suffered from muddled mythology and unclear rules, and this film does nothing to fix that. The lore is messier and more confusing than ever, and that's not helped by the fact that this movie has ZERO character development for anyone involved.

It's established that the lead character, Anthony, is estranged from his mother. But we never learn why and this plot thread is never resolved. Other than that, we know nothing of substance about any of these characters and thus do not care when they are in danger or die.

Despite this, the actors really do give it their all and they make all of the scenes sufficiently watchable. The camerawork and direction are creative and also elevate the clumsily-written material to be watchable...but it's still not worth watching.

I saw the original 'Candyman' film back when I was very young. I remember being completely bored by it. It wasn't scary then, and it certainly isn't scary now. A good test would be to go to the mirror after seeing this and say "Candyman" five times over. If it's easy to do then the movie has not done its job.

It felt like this version of 'Candyman' was so intent on giving a political message that it forgot to be an enjoyable film along the way. It's ridiculously preachy and self-righteous. It's not ever what I want out of a horror movie (or any film for that matter).

The characters are extremely bland, the scares are more or less non-existent, the concept is stupid and the film refuses to get off its high-horse. There are far better ways to spend your time and money than this film. Not recommended. 4/10.