Horror Movie Review: Candyman (2021)

We don’t have many horror movies with a 10/10 score here at GBHBL but we do have a few. Halloween, John Carpenter’s The Thing and Candyman. The 1992 movie blended urban legend horror with the stark reality of poverty, fear, mistrust and more in the black community. It was a smart horror film that terrified generations and made everyone afraid to say his name in the mirror 5 times.

The two sequels; Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead didn’t even come close to matching the original’s brilliance. The latter of the two, coming out in 1999, left the franchise six-feet under until now.

Forget what you heard and the confusing title, Candyman 2021 is not a remake. It is a sequel to the original movie alone (similar to Halloween 2018) but does make some changes to the 1992 plot so this film’s story fits better.

Directed by Nia DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, and DaCosta. Candyman is based on the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. It stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, and Kyle Kaminsky.

The movie begins in the 1970s in Cabrini-Green, where the police are searching for a man called Sherman Fields (Michael Hargrove). Sherman is a simple man with a prosthetic hook for a left hand and doesn’t speak. Naturally, he is something of a creepy figure to the kids but his love of handing out candy to them has seen them dub him the Candyman.

Unfortunately candy with razor blades ended up in the hands of some kids and Sherman has taken the blame. Hiding in the walls of a tower block, he emerges to give a child some candy but sadly, the child ends up alerting the police by accident who then arrive and beat Sherman to death.

Danielle Robitaille’s origin story this is not. Confused? Stick with it, Candyman 2021 wants to broaden the legend and create new fear.

In modern times, most of area around Cabrini-Green has been gentrified and the remaining parts have been closed off and await demolition. Here we meet Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), an artist struggling for inspiration.

He finds it in the Candyman legend and starts to dig deeper. Meeting local laundromat worker William Burke (Colman Domingo) who tells him all about Danielle Robitaille.

Fascinated, Anthony begins to create art around the legend but his obsession begins to cause problems. Such as driving a wedge between him and his girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), having visions of Sherman Fields and a bee-sting that has caused some sort rot and infection in his arm.

Initially sceptical of the truth, Anthony begins to realise there might be more to it then he could have ever thought. He also begins to realise that he has a much deeper connection to Candyman and that he has a place in the legend too.

Updating and moving the Candyman mythos forward was a smart idea. The story of this movie is both interesting, well-told and features some exceptionally clever twists and turns. While those won’t be spoiled here, it’s not a spoiler to talk about the fact that the major change in this movie is how Candyman isn’t one person. It’s Danielle Robitaille, it’s Sherman Fields and it wants to be Anthony McCoy.

The common theme is black men who have been wronged by the white supremacist system. Social commentary that is expected, but a little ham-fisted at times. It’s a shame as both DaCosta and Peele have proven they can create compelling narratives about social injustice in a subtle and memorable way. Candyman 2021 doesn’t have that, instead it’s dialogue and scenes that often make you roll your eyes. Nowhere is that more prevalent than at the end.

Does it ruin the movie? Absolutely not because what it is saying is reality. A harsh reality that many would like to ignore and pretending that horror shouldn’t have social commentary is absurd. Did you even watch the 1992 original movie?

While the writing might not always create the subtle and slow-burn atmosphere you want, the direction does. DaCosta does a fantastic job of building horror and paying it off in cold and unfeeling ways. Those hoping for a visual bloodbath will be disappointed but that doesn’t mean we don’t have blood.

What’s blood for, if not for shedding?

However, the bloodier moments are also where the movie drops the ball. Candyman was never a slasher so having the legend butcher a group of girls in a school bathroom just felt so out of place.

This happens a lot throughout. You’ll find yourself sinking into the atmosphere, really being caught up in the story and characters, and then a jarring bit of social commentary is dropped. Or a violent expulsion that seems to only be there to wake up bored cinema goers. It’s so frustrating. Especially as Candyman 2021 features a really strong cast who play their roles perfectly.

All of these problems aside, Candyman 2021 is a good movie. It could never hope of reaching the levels of the original but it also could have been so much worse. The legend lives on – tell everyone.