Wednesday, April 19, 2017

1029. Candyman

Candyman
1992
Directed by Bernard Rose







I realize it doesn't make much sense thematically to place in this film in April, but I'm desperate to talk horror movies.  I am embarrassed to admit that I went to the theater to see both The Belko Experiment and Rings.  I also just watched a movie called Midnight Meat Train on Netflix.  Let's never speak of it.

The Candyman is an urban legend who is apparently summoned if you say his name five times in the mirror (Bloody Mary should have copyrighted that shtick).  If called, he will kill the summoner with a hook.  Helen is a grad student studying urban legends so naturally decides to try this out.  She learns that a woman named Ruthie Jean was recently murdered in the Cabrini-Green housing project, so again, she decides to pursue this because horror movie characters are deliciously idiotic.

I wouldn't say this was a good horror movie, but since I love the genre so much, I can even have fun with the poor quality ones (although even I have limits; see Midnight Meat Train).  It was interesting to see a horror movie that was focused (however slightly) on social issues.  Still, it wasn't at all frightening; Nicolas Cage has ruined the concept of scary bees for me.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Eddie Murphy was considered for the lead, but he was deemed too short.

Real bees were put in Tony Todd's mouth.  He wore a mouthguard to ensure they wouldn't go down his throat.

2 comments:

  1. Sorry, but I was so intrigued by 'Midnight Meat Train' that gave such a negative reaction, I had to look it up. OK, I was biased against it with such an obvious sensationalist title, but the IMDb sum up - " ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways imaginable" confirmed that I don't think I want to see it..
    I'm afraid I found 'Candyman' rather boring, but at least I remember watching it. I like the payoff final line dig against the utterly dire remake of 'Wicker Man'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Omg it was so bad. What's worse, my brother recommended it to me. So it was a pretty extreme betrayal of trust.

      Delete