I saw the new, re-envisioned Candyman today.
I had been hella hesitant to see it as the original is one of my favorite horror films.
Since it was leaving my "local" cinemas today (I have to drive at least 37 miles to the nearest cineplex), I rallied and hit an early showing.
Glad I did.
Plus I had the theater to myself!
The film follows suit with the latest Halloween entries in that it is a direct sequel to the original, thus crushing any canonical continuity to Candymans 2 and 3.
The new creative team did a good job, unleashing a serious B-movie wrapped in pseudo arthouse pretenses.
Lottsa subtext (some subtle, some overt as fiznuck) ranging from the subjects of gentrification to the need for folklore and knowing one's history.
Some really great imagery and framing of shots run throughout and the use of shadow puppetry is fantastic; it helps ground the film in not only folklore, but also urban legends.
The score and sound design are really cool, too; extremely immersive and adding to the overal vibe of the film.
While there are a few slash-and-gush moments, for the most part the film goes for implied gore, relying more on Hitchcockian techniques than in-yer-face splatter.
On the downside, the third act kinda falls apart and feels rushed, plus there is some skimping on exposition and character development. It actually would have benefited from another 15-30 minutes of run time, imho .
Yet despite the somewhat wobbly finale, all in all it's a worthy successor/continuation to the 1992 original.
Rating: 3.5/5
