{"id":23393,"date":"2021-08-26T13:05:38","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=23393"},"modified":"2021-08-26T13:05:38","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:05:38","slug":"candyman-presents-a-new-take-on-a-horror-icon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=23393","title":{"rendered":"CANDYMAN Presents a New Take on a Horror Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In 1992, audiences got their first taste of the iconic horror\ncharacter known as Candyman. The original film, based on a short story by Clive\nBarker, was striking and made a sizable impression on moviegoers.\nUnfortunately, the pair of follow-ups weren\u2019t nearly as successful critically\nor commercially and the franchise quickly petered out. Now, enough time seems\nto have passed to move forward with a new and updated take on the figure. While\nthe new Candyman<\/em> isn\u2019t as dynamic as the original film, it is certainly an\nimprovement over the previous sequels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) once showed\ngreat promise, but finds himself experiencing a creative block. After hearing\nstories about the fabled Candyman, he decides to research the myth and the\nfigure\u2019s old haunting grounds of Cabrini Green. The protagonist becomes\ninspired and fascinated with the legend, befriending local laundromat owner and\nCandyman authority, William Burke (Colman Domingo). Anthony\u2019s increasingly obsessive\nand erratic behavior begins to upset his significant other, art gallery\ndirector Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris). As the lead begins to uncover\nmore, those around him begin dying violently under highly unusual\ncircumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Horror fans can rest assured that although the movie\ninitially appears to be a reimagining or reboot, it is a direct sequel to the\n1992 genre classic. This screenplay takes the opportunity to elaborate on and\ndevelop the history of the title character. As expected, the story attempts to\nconnect Candyman to the many injustices committed against the African-American\ncommunity and it even discusses the gentrification of the original Cabrini\nGreen neighborhood. Conversations between the lead and supporting cast about\nthese issues are anything but subtle, but this is a genre picture and at least\nan attempt is being made to delve deeper into the story\u2019s subtext. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie also benefits from some interesting photography.\nThose familiar with the sinister killer will know that he appears in the mirror\nwhenever his name is uttered five times. The film has a lot of fun with\nreflections and there are some clever images of familiar icons, sets and even\ncityscapes reversed or framed upside-down. Many of these shots are impressive\nand the technique also serves as a nifty way to create a sense of unease with\nseemingly ordinary surroundings. The unique shots also allow for some creative\nframing during the murder sequences.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While there\u2019s some good stuff in this feature, it does have\nits share of issues. The movie certainly attempts to develop its characters,\nbut it takes too long for the menacing Candyman to actually appear and terrorize\nviewers. Early scenes also make a point of introducing Brianna\u2019s brother Troy\n(Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his partner Grady (Kyle Kaminsky). They\u2019re fun to\nwatch, but they end up fading into the background and not playing a significant\nrole in later scenes. And while the movie provides reasoning for why Candyman\ntargets specific individuals, tension and thrills would have been more\nprevalent had the film\u2019s stronger supporting cast members been put in danger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, the killer often attacks inconsequential figures\nwhom the audience won\u2019t be particularly interested in. There\u2019s one sequence\ninvolving a group of students that is largely unrelated to the main story and\nfeels wedged in to provide some gruesomeness during a lag in the proceedings. There\u2019s\nalso a tendency to keep Candyman and even his victims offscreen. This can be\neffective, but here it sometimes mutes the impact of the slayings. The lead\nalso possesses some notable wounds that no one seems particularly interested in\nor concerned about. There\u2019s a metaphorical reason for it, but the behavior\nstill strains credibility in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, Candyman<\/em> has some potent ideas, a few strong moments and a nifty cameo for viewers familiar with the original film. However, it is unfortunate that the movie isn\u2019t as cutting or pulse-pounding as it could have been. At least it is better than many re-imaginings being released these days and offers some promise for the future of the franchise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1992, audiences got their first taste of the iconic horror character known as Candyman. The original film, based on a short story by Clive Barker, was striking and made a sizable impression on moviegoers. Unfortunately, the pair of follow-ups weren\u2019t nearly as successful critically or commercially and the franchise quickly petered out. Now, enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,3829,3830,3831,3832,4628,9295,9319,14186,14607,16766,18035,19795,22825,24578],"class_list":["post-23393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-candyman","tag-candyman-film-review","tag-candyman-movie-review","tag-candyman-review","tag-colman-domingo","tag-hook","tag-horror","tag-monster","tag-nathan-stewart-jarrett","tag-reboot","tag-sequel","tag-teyonah-parris","tag-thriller","tag-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}