Sweets to the Sweet

It was late and I had Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999) on the DVR. I kept going past it on occasion and decided to be rid of it. I hadn't watched it since 2000, a clean sixteen years. Yeah, it wasn't exactly beckoning from memory any sort of longing to return to it. Tony Todd has charisma and real presence regardless of the obvious diminishing returns that came from the passage of time (nine years). No longer is that name or hook so fierce as it was in previous entries. Lost is the atmosphere and Philip Glass score that even enhanced the second film.

Here you have the great granddaughter of Candyman (Donna D'Errico) displaying his paintings in a gallery in LA.  Her gallery showrunner plays up the hook-handed killer mythos, encouraging D'Errico to speak into a mirror and speak the name that should not be spoken. A hired actor scares the shit out of her and the gallery attendees get a kick out of it. The publicity only truly brings Candyman upon all those who associate themselves with D'Errico.

The hook impalements and guttings are lacking in punch and the idea to have Todd yap endlessly about D'Errico surrendering to him gradually deprives Candyman of that aura of menace so crucial to what made the character exceptional. The low voice, Todd's tenor of sinister intent, is so much more meant in smaller doses. I felt as I watched it, the approach was to see him as much as possible. That and D'Errico in tight shirts to show off her impressive bust and panties, a Baywatch cast-off looking to capitalize on the opportunity of starring opposite a popular horror character (up til this film at least). There's a racist LA cop on the Candyman murders, a Candyman cult looking to raise him from the beyond (wherever that is), and a body count linked to D'Errico and the actor in the gallery as they must also contend with the titular fiend. Even thrown in are bees coming out of Candyman's mouth and carcass, D'Errico getting some help by the actor's spiritualist mom who uses her "tools of the trade" as protection, a police chase through celebration of Day of the Dead, and D'Errico fainting nearly every time Candyman appears to her. All of this is directed with a far inferior budget and direction lacking flair, further cursed with an editing style which undercuts any intensity needed to builds to Candyman's appearances. Todd tries to answer that call, but three time was not the charm. D'Errico serves as a desirable blond bunny but she's certainly no Virginia Madsen.