It’s still technically summer, but horror season is already officially underway. In fact, every weekend in August had a horror release but not were as high profile as Candyman. The sequel to 1992’s cult-classic horror film, resuscitates the franchise by digging deeper into the mythology and weaving a more complex tapestry of its history.
Writer/Director Nia DaCosta wanted her movie to have a theatrical release and I can see why. The showing I went to was mostly sold out and the movie pulled a respectable $22-mil opening weekend in a tough market. Beyond the hype and the anticipation, DaCosta’s film is a well-crafted piece of cerebral horror that investigates its characters’ collective and individual histories.
Coming to life nearly 30-years after the original, this story follows an up-and-coming artist who’s looking for inspiration in the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago, where the events of the first film mostly took place. In going back, DaCosta painted a larger picture of gentrification and racism in the city and the impact it had on the community in the projects. It’s in that space that Candyman becomes more than just a malicious spirit, he becomes the spirit of vengeance for the history of that neighborhood.
The visual storytelling is exceptional and the puppeteering is particularly eye-catching. It provides a storybook element to the narrative that helps build the symbolism that’s much larger than just the characters on screen. Those elements, along with John Gulesarian’s cinematography, went a long way in cultivating the movie’s emotional tone and keeping the audience on edge over the course of the runtime. And of course, having Jordan Peele (and Win Rosenfeld) working on the screenplay was a nice addition as well.
We are treated to some great performances. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II takes the lead as Anthony McCoy, the struggling young artist who goes looking for inspiration in Cabrini-Green. He’s knocked out a few notable turns in recent years and is really coming into his own. The same can be said of Teyonah Parris who starred opposite him as Brianna Cartwright, an aspiring high-end art gallery curator. Their chemistry as partners could have been better, but there wasn’t a lot of time spent establishing that either.
Colman Domingo has quickly become one of my favorite performers. His keen ability to switch gears tonally is remarkable and you get to see some of that here too. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett also provided one of the better performances in the movie as Brianna’s highly protective brother, Troy, who also helps deliver some exposition.
There was a lot of hype surrounding this movie and some of that morphed into pressure when the release got pushed back due to Covid. Fortunately, it paid homage to the source material and expanding on it rather than merely imitating it. By doing so, it’s a much different experience than the original film.
Recommendation: This is a very solid stand-alone offering for horror fans that may be too young to remember the original, but it’s even sweeter for longtime fans.
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