2021 was a big transition year for horror franchises. The Conjuring‘s came to an end. Netflix’s Fear Street created an exciting brand new one. But probably the most anticipated franchise reboot was the movie about the hook-handed bee loving Candyman. Why? Because horror/thriller savant, Jordan Peele, is a producer and helped write part of this film. So does the movie live up to that behind the scenes hype? In some ways yes, in some ways no; much like the Candyman himself, this is a strange brew of ideas and horror elements that’s great in moments but never quite fully gels into something great.
In 2019, the 1992 version of Candyman and Helen Lyle’s story is long forgotten in the Cabrini Green, a mostly now gentrified neighborhood in Chicago, only known by some stalwart locals like William Burke (Colman Domingo). The Candyman’s story gets resurrected by Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a local street artist stuck in a rut looking for his next big project. After talking to Burke, Anthony is drawn to the story, and with the help of his live in girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Parris), creates an art installation about the history of the Candyman, including a mirror where if you say his name 5 times, he shows up and kills you. Things start to get weird when after that installation, people who saw Anthony’s project start turning up dead.
Certainly the bee covered hook handed killer is a pretty creepy slasher creation, but the 1992 Candyman had a lasting legacy because of the subtext diving into the ugly racial history of the United States and the role white people, specifically white women, played in shaping that legacy. The 2021 movie maintains Candyman’s thematically rich layers, focusing more on how African-Americans point of view on the killer. This time, director Nia DaCosta focuses on the concept of Candyman himself, as an urban legend. More importantly, how that story can change over time and space, which helps make that lore richer and deeper. 1992 Candyman is maybe intriguing to Anthony McCoy, but William Burke’s version of the Candyman hits Anthony much harder, as he sees the “scary” Candy man as someone who might be more misunderstood than anything else. The most important lesson DaCosta drives home here is that perpetuation of the story gives Candyman his power, not some rigid nature of his origin. The legend can change over time, but people need to hear that story to allow him to do so, pretty deep to think about as bees and hook handed shapeshifters come stalking after you after you say his name 5 times.
While 2021 Candyman’s themes are rich, the surface level entertainment of slashing, killing, and storytelling is more of a mixed bag. I think Peele and DaCosta stitched their scripts together, sharing themes but faltering staging their thrills. Some of the problems rest with the dialogue, which very clunkily resorts to history book sounding preachiness about racism and gentrification with cheap laugh mic drops to push the story along. That choice gives this movie a weird tone, simultaneously goofy and deadly serious, like oil and water. One death scene, supposed to be dramatically terrifying, elicited hard laughter from a couple people in the theater because of how silly it looked. And that is probably the biggest sin Candyman commits: the ability of DaCosta to draw out scares varies wildly scene to scene. And even the well staged ones (like a creepy elevator scene) get punctuated early on by a joke of some kind, usually saved by Abdul-Matten or Teyonah Parris who give the scene their dramatic heft. Some scares were even inserted for cheap thrills and had nothing to do with the overall arc of DaCosta’s story in a condescending attempt to assuage horror fans, trying to use the mirrors and upside down cinematography to unease everyone so they don’t have to put as much effort into their death scenes. So even though the themes of Candyman are rich, the surface level appeal of the character will be a big disappointment to fans of the horror genre.
Perhaps that’s the lasting legacy of Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta’s work. They take what should be a bargain bin slasher movie character and make them a college level arthouse darling. Think about it: Candyman, the Tethered, Allison Williams. Those characters should be straight to DVD forgettables elevated by Peele and DaCosta’s magic touch. THAT’S RIGHT ALLISON WILLIAMS!!! SHOTS FIRED!!!!!