Candyman (film)
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- For other entities called Candyman, see Candyman.
| Candyman (film) | |
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| Directed by | Bernard Rose |
| Produced by | Clive Barker Steve Golin |
| Written by | Bernard Rose |
| Starring | Virginia Madsen Tony Todd Xander Berkeley Vanessa Williams |
| Music by | Philip Glass |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 11, 1992 |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Candyman is a 1992 horror movie starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Xander Berkeley. It was directed by Bernard Rose and is based on the short story The Forbidden by Clive Barker, though the film's scenario is switched from England to the United States (specifically Chicago).
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[edit] The film
Helen Lyle is a graduate student conducting research on modern folklore. While interviewing freshmen about their superstitions, she hears about a local legend known as Candyman, the son of a slave who was brutally tortured and murdered. According to the legend, if one looks into a mirror and chants his name five times, one will summon him, but at the cost of his or her own life. Thinking this is just the new spin she has been looking for, Helen enters the notorious gang-ridden territory known as the Cabrini-Green housing projects (the site of a brutal murder). Helen believes that Candyman cannot exist, but when she calls him into our world a string of murders begins and the police look to her as the primary suspect. Now, only one person can set her free: the Candyman.
Much like another of Clive Barker's creations, the Cenobites of the Hellraiser films, the Candyman must be called into existence, so often the deciding factor in a character's safety is his/her belief. If you believe, you are more likely not to summon him, but if you do not, you would do it just to prove the lunacy of it and, as such, end up dead.
[edit] Sequels
Two sequels were produced, each of which expanded on the backstory of the Candyman himself. Both starred Tony Todd as the Candyman, but generally retained little direct continuity from one film to the next. Although both retained some of the original film's urban legend motif, the Candyman is a much more typical slasher film villain in each successive sequel. Both sequels' subtitles (Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead) are references to real-world festivals (Carnival and the Day of the Dead, respectively).
1995's Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh starred Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, William O'Leary and Bill Nunn. The father of New Orleans schoolteacher Annie Tarrant (Rowan) was murdered in a Candyman-like fashion some years prior. When other similar killings begin to occur, her brother is accused and one of her students starts to see the Candyman. In order to disprove to herself that the Candyman exists, she says his name five times in front of a mirror, summoning him to New Orleans, where the killing begins in earnest. The film's climax reveals more details of the Candyman's genesis, and it is revealed here that his name in life was Daniel Robitaille.
Candyman 3: Day of the Dead followed in 1999, and starred Donna D'Errico as an artist who learned that her great-grandparents were the Candyman and the white woman who he had been murdered for loving. The Candyman hoped to kill her so that she could be with him forever as a spirit like himself.
[edit] The Legend
It is believed that the Candyman myth featured in the film is loosely based on the real life "Bloody Mary" legend that was prevalent amongst children living in the Cabrini Green housing project. Most of the bathrooms in the Cabrini Green units had no windows, which was a source of fascination for children, who during play would often hide in, or trap other children in these pitch dark bathrooms for the purpose of scaring each other. The myth goes that if one were to repeat the phrase: "There ain't no such thing as Bloody Mary" Seven times, "Bloody Mary" would appear and gruesomely murder whoever was in the dark bathroom. One did not necessarily have to be in the bathroom to make "Bloody Mary" appear, and unlike the Candyman myth, one did not have to be looking in a mirror to make "Bloody Mary" appear in the bathroom. [citation needed]
[edit] External links
- Revelations - The Official Clive Barker Resource
- Candyman at the Internet Movie Database
- Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh at the Internet Movie Database
- Candyman 3: Day of the Dead at the Internet Movie Database
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| Novels, novellas, and Short story collections |
|---|
| Stand-alone: The Damnation Game | The Hellbound Heart | Weaveworld | Imajica | Books of Blood | The Thief of Always | Sacrament | Galilee | Coldheart Canyon |
| Books of the Art: The Great and Secret Show | Everville |
| The Abarat Quintet: Abarat | Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War |
| Short story collections: Books of Blood | Cabal | In the Flesh | The Inhuman Condition | The Scarlet Gospels |
| Films |
| Directed by Clive Barker: Salome | The Forbidden | Hellraiser | Nightbreed | Lord of Illusions | Tortured Souls: Animae Damnatae |
| Directed by others: Rawhead Rex | Underworld | Candyman | Quicksilver Highway | Saint Sinner |
| Other |
| Art collections: Clive Barker, Illustrator | Illustrator II: The Art of Clive Barker | Clive Barker Visions of Heaven and Hell |
| Plays: Incarnations: Three Plays | Forms of Heaven: Three Plays |
| Video games: Clive Barker's Undying | Demonik | Clive Barker's Jericho |
| Recurring characters |
| Cenobites | Pinhead | Harry D'Amour |
