Candyman follows the story of grad student Helen Lyle investigating the Candyman legend: essentially Bloody Mary if she was a black man with a hook hand who was murdered for loving a white woman. This is treated far more seriously than most ‘let’s raise a ghost’ type premise.
She’s trying to get at the social roots that create such a myth by talking to people who have a 'friend of a friend' who's been attacked by Candyman. It’s a great premise for her paper in her Urban Folklore class (and yes, Urban Folkloreologists are a real thing).
Also, Ted Rami is in it for about five seconds.
Unfortunatly, Candyman is real, and he’s angry. What’s more, he’s convinced she’s the reincarnation of the white woman he fell in love with and died for. And he wants her back. Let’s see Sammy Davis Jr. make a delightful song out of that.
Man is murdered and seeks revenge via the supernatural: Haven’t seen that before! Except in Ghost, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Friday the 13th 2-10, all six Child’s Play movies, Puppetmaster, Killjoy , and 3 of Creepshow’s 5 segments just off the top of my head. And this movie, like Hellraiser, was penned by Cliver Barker.
Inventor of this.
Helen's study leads her to Cabrini Green, a project building the Candyman supposedly killed a woman in. A woman actually died, so unlike most urban legends, it has a tie to a real tragedy. This discovery sets Helen on her inevitable crash course with Candyman. For bonus points, she says 'Candyman' into her mirror at home five times after drinks with her writing partner who will inevitably end up murdered.
After visiting the Cabrini Green and seeing the murder scene, Helen hears the 'academic' position on Candyman from a cartoonishy-snooty professor. Candyman was actually the son of a former slave turned millionaire who was raised in 'polite society'. He was a portirait painter who fell in love with/impregnated a wealthy white woman. The woman's father paid men to mutilate and kill him at *GASP* Cabrini Green! After taking off his hand with a rusty blade, they smeared him with honey from the local apiary (like ya have). He was stung to death, then burned, and his ashes scattered all over the Green.
Also, he has a sweet pimp coat.
She goes back, nearly gets killed by a guy calling himself Candyman, and the thug gets put in jail. Happy ending, except it's 45 minutes in adn we still haven't seen Tony Todd, the actor pictured above.
When he does show up, it's not a shadowed glance in a dark bathroom mirror: it's full daylight in the University parking garage. Very usual for this type of movie, and sorely appreciated. Barker knows what he's doing.
Instead of killing Helen, she is put to sleep. When she wakes, she has been draped in Candyman's coat, transported to Cabrini Green, covered in blood from a butchered dog...and probably a missing baby. She's arrested, covered in blood. Another unusual departure for this type of movie (unless it's a twist at the end where there was no killer, just a split personality all along!).
Candyman then stalks her, chanting 'By my victim.' It echos Freddy Krueger: he needs belief to exist. He tells her if she doesn't die, he'll kill the missing baby in her place. He wants her to become the next part of his story. "Come with me and be immortal." Then, as predicted, her writing partner arrives, is murdered by Candyman, and she is framed.
What follows is a full-blown descent into madness. Is Helen crazy? Is Candyman a figment of her imagination? Are her visions merely a coping mechanism?
Guess you'll need to watch to find out.
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