36 Days of Halloween - 1992: Candyman

From the mind of Clive Barker comes a this film about an urban legend about a killer called the Candyman. Essentially a modern take on the "Bloody Mary" myth, the Candyman shows up if you say his name five times while looking in a mirror. A grad student, Helen, who is looking into modern myths discovers the tale, and starts to investigate the legendary figure, with tragic results. I'm a sucker for "urban legends are real" ...movies, and this is no exception. The Candyman figure is very creepy--from the hook embedded in his bloody stump, to his torso of bees, to the incredible voice, he's incredibly menacing. If his motivations aren't completely clear, at least he's distinct and memorable. The treatment of race in this film is about as subtle as a hook to the chest, but I guess it's at least *trying* to be aware of the kind of racism that creates and traps people in ghettos? The main plot ends up being a little confusing--there's a strong implication that the Candyman's real power comes from the belief of the people that he's there. The more people who believe the stories, the more powerful he is. Helen's skepticism seems to hurt him in some way, and he becomes obsessed with making her believe in him and in having her sacrifice herself to him. The biggest flaws here are in the pacing and the failure to press the "Helen is actually just super crazy" aspects. The pacing issues are really a result of having too many scenes of Helen wandering around doing nothing, watching her husband in class, and having the most awkward dinner party I've ever seen on film. While some of the scenes do provide important information and back story, I think they needed to be tightened up. To my mind, the bigger problem is the way that the film sets up the possibility that it really all is in Helen's head, but then doesn't follow up on it very well. It's certainly possible that Helen could have kidnapped the baby, killed her friend when she came to visit, and murdered her doctor to escape. The problem is that, by the time the film introduces this possibility, the movie is almost over, and then the supernatural elements are beyond refute. She's dead and comes back to murder her own husband, after all. Still, it's a pretty creepy movie with villain who has complex motives and an unforgettable screen presence. Call it four out of five Candymen.