Harefooted Halloween: Candyman (2021)

What I liked: Beautiful cinematography work (John Glueserian (Trial by Fire)).  The combination of a locked down camera and straight forward pans and glides adds a sense of weight to the visuals.  You can focus on the scenes without being distracted by jittering all the time.  The colors are vibrant and deep and makes the world feel amped up to a slight degree.  Use of mirrors and reflective surfaces play a big role and you can tell the filmmakers had fun figuring out ways to incorporate reflections either organically or stylistically into the shots.  You add all this up and there’s an almost Kubrickian quality to the way the film is presented with everything seeming a bit off.

And that leads to some good atmosphere.  The main gimmick of summoning Candyman by saying his name five times while looking in the mirror definitely creates serious tension and suspense.  They do this several times during the run and each one only gets more stressful.  Candyman creates immense havoc by daring folks to say his name, building fear among the characters, being a legit threat by brutally dispatching his victims and not to mention he could decide to show up in any reflective surface.  There’s not a lot of fooling around here which is great.  We slide into a wormhole of anxiety and madness at an exponential rate.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Matrix Resurrections) gives a wonderful performance as the artist/painter Anthony McCoy being recruited and tortured by Candyman.  One bee sting slowly turns his hand into a scabby mess, then his arm, then his body and he knows it’s inescapable.  He’s caught in the Candyman’s grasp and continues to get harassed by him while compulsively painting darker pictures and trying to understand who this guy is.  Abdul-Mateen starts off charming and excited about his new artwork but then becomes distant and insensitive.  He does such a nice job of letting you know what he’s thinking by his facial expressions, body language and a few short sentences.  For instance there’s a scene where McCoy’s being interviewed in an art critic’s apartment and at first he fidgets uncomfortably but then once he receives some compliments on his macabre artwork he starts to half smile and get a wild look in his eye.  The tone of Abdul-Mateen’s mood is pitch perfect as a man who’s trying to be stoic but can barely tamp down the evil simmering up inside him.

Cool soundtrack (Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe) with a main theme that has a looping synth line that constantly adjusts its pattern.  Throw some faintly spooky voices underneath and you got yourself a memorable tune.

What I Didn’t Like: Unfortunately the story’s a little too confusing BUT only because of how it relates to the original film.  The myth and character of Candyman are changed around significantly enough that they should’ve had this be a straight reboot.  And they make it crystal clear that this is a sequel to the 1992 picture referencing the events and main character, Helen Lyle, throughout so there’s no going around that.  If they started over from scratch I don’t think I’d have this hang up.  Look, I applaud when anyone takes a new installment in a franchise and makes it their own (whether they succeed or fail in that attempt is a different story) but they hedged their bet here which may not have been the right move.

There are some awkward character choices that come across as contrived.  For example in the beginning one character abruptly asks his friends if they want to hear a scary story and they say no.  He then proceeds to turn off the lights and light candles before giving a somewhat retconned recap of the original film.  This lead in is ridiculously unnatural.  Or McCoy’s hand gets mangier and mangier after a Candyman bee stings it but he doesn’t go see a doctor until towards the end of the movie (there’s a plot reason for this but it’s still odd).  And we find out McCoy’s girlfriend’s father killed himself in front of her when she was a little girl but it’s never really explored or expanded on.  I guess that means she’s attracted to self-destructive people?

Overall Impressions: This is a very enjoyable picture with a lot to like.  Plus the commentary on racism and classism works well and is balanced out enough with the creepy shit that you don’t feel like you’re being lectured to.  Sure, there are some clunky aspects but they can be mostly overlooked.

What’s really interesting is how much of an amalgam of other horror films this reminds me of and I mean that in a good way.  It’s a little bit of Nightmare on Elm Street 2 with the villain grooming a protégé, a little bit of Poltergeist 3 with the mirror gags, a little bit of The Invisible Man and Nightmare on Elm Street with people being gutted invisibly by Candyman, a little bit of The Fly (1986) when McCoy pulls off one of his rotting fingernails and a little bit of The Shining with some of the shot compositions and general off kilter atmosphere.  All movies I love with elements from each woven together pretty seamlessly.  Sweet stuff.