Deeply disturbing, intelligently made and without a screaming teen in sight, 'Candyman' is one of the stand-out horror movies of the decade.
To just list all the elements that make this one of the classiest genre efforts of recent years would probably take up most of the thousand words I am allowed here. Suffice to say, it has a genuinely uncomfortable premise, uncompromising execution and a bone jarringly lonely score by Philip Glass. Tony Todd is exceptional as the hollow-voiced titular creature; a lost soul brought to life by the whispers of myth. At once heartbreaking and terrifying this could be the definitive latter day horror movie monster- if it wasn't just that little bit too close to Hellraiser's Pinhead. But, when you have a winning combination of elegance and disgust in a verbose, cultured villain, why alter it too much?
Virginia Madsen convinces totally as Helen; and you can almost see all the cast acting their little socks off so as not to let the side down. So good, in fact, that I'm struggling to find one bad thing to say about it.
I read here, that in the eyes of one viewer, it "dwells on the nastier things in life" and wasn't a "nice film". I can think of no greater compliment for a truly adult horror movie. No dear, you won't find happy teens in pastel t-shirts having slumber parties and discussing trendy scary movies, while some rap star tries to sell records on the soundtrack. This is a grown up film for grown up people. There is a reason horror films are for adults, and that reason is 'Candyman'.
