Candyman (1992)

“The pain, I can assure you, will be exquisite. As for our deaths, there is nothing to fear. Our names will be written on a thousand walls. Our crimes told and retold by our faithful believers. We shall die together in front of their very eyes and give them something to be haunted by. Come with me and be immortal. ” – Candyman

Number of Times Seen – 1 (8 Sep 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A psychologist studying the supernatural effects of folk tales inadvertently summons a killer spirit with a hooked hand.

My Take on it – Not being a fan of horror movies, I avoid these kind of films as much as possible, but when I am given a challenge, I try to keep to it.

This wasn’t a very scary film, yet it does have a few nice surprises along the way that make you jump.

This film finds some very intriguing ways to deal with the psychological effects of the perceived supernatural aspects of folk tales.

Virginia Madsen is a great actress and does a nice job in the lead role here.

She is able to make us believe her character as a dedicated researcher trying to uncover the truths about folk lore.

This film constantly references other films that deal with strange occurrences and it was fun hearing them descried along the way.

The story itself tho is slightly inconsistent in the way that the story moves along and that hurts things a bit.

This is largely due to the fine line that they create between the real world and the supernatural one through their depiction of things.

In addition to Madsen, the supporting cast is also great especially Xander Berkeley as a professor of the occult who is very familiar with the take and myths described here.

The gore level does go a bit too far in certain sequences and the scene with the bees was a too much for me.

Bottom Line – Not a very scary film, yet they find ways to deal with the supernatural and psychological effects of folk tales really well. Madsen is great in the lead role and makes things quite believable as she tries to research how people deal with thee kind of tales despite them not being real. Loved the way that the movie references other horror films. The story is a bit too inconsistent in the way things play out but that has to do with the way that they mix together the real world and the supernatural one. The supporting cast is also great with Berkeley playing a professor of the occult who is quite familiar with these kind of myths. The story is a bit too gory at certain points especially the scenes dealing with bees.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Tony Todd negotiated a bonus of $1,000 for every beesting he suffered during filming; he was stung 23 times. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (6/10)