Review of Candyman (Special Edition)

Introduction

I`ve been trying to get my head around this, but I`m not getting any answers. I`m talking about those infuriating anti-piracy trailers. I see them on most mainstream discs that I get to review nowadays, and I`m instantly predisposed to marking them down. Just imagine how it feels to pay out your hard-earned money for a new release, only to be greeted with 3 minutes of badly edited rawk, which you can`t escape or skip through because your player is locked for the duration. What is the point in telling someone who has just increased your company`s profit margin not to steal from you? It`s like telling a teetotaller to avoid the perils of alcohol, or a pacifist not to bear arms. Can`t someone tell these companies that they are preaching to the bloody converted? The Candyman Collectors Edition opens with one of these public service announcements, and it continues with its user-unfriendliness from there. It`s one of those discs with a commentary track that doesn`t allow you to change soundtracks on the fly, and try as I might, I couldn`t get it to play through my PC (although if this review is accompanied by screencaps then it is probably only my PC that balks.)

So it`s not an auspicious start to this review, and given my usual disdain for the horror genre, especially the Hollywood horror canon, it wouldn`t look promising for Candyman. Except that I have fond memories of this particular film, having seen it in the cinema over ten years ago when I was at university, and subsequently freaking out a friend when I looked into a mirror and began...… Of course being unceremoniously turfed out of her room lacked a little dignity, but it certainly indicates how effective a film Candyman was.

Helen Lyle is a graduate student at Chicago University who is working on a thesis on urban legends, and the most prominent one that prevails in the city is that of the Candyman. A hundred years previously, a son of a slave, a refined and educated man made the mistake of falling in love with a woman of the wrong colour. For his crime, his right hand was hacked off and he was stung to death by bees. The legend goes that if anyone looks into a mirror and calls, "Candyman" five times, then a hook handed figure will appear to deal death to the innocent. Helen learns of an unsolved murder in the rundown area of Cabrini-Green, one that bears all the hallmarks of the Candyman. She learns more of the story from the victim`s neighbour, Ann Marie McCoy, all juicy material for her thesis, but when she is attacked by a group of thugs led by a man wielding a hook, it seems that the urban legend has an all too human face to it. With the culprit behind bars, and sufficient material for her thesis, all seems rosy, but the legend has been debunked. Which is when Candyman appears to her, demanding her life to restore the people`s belief in him. Helen wakes in Anne Marie`s blood-soaked apartment, blade in hand, with the mother shrieking hysterically at an empty crib.

Video

Candyman gets a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, but it is an unimpressive one. That the film looks dull is understandable given the setting, but the image does seem muted at times, grainy and soft and there are some minor hints of print damage. Some edge enhancement is apparent too. Still the film is clear and consistent throughout, and there isn`t any real detriment to the viewing experience. Candyman is also refreshingly light on the effects and `movie magic` with a more gritty and grounded feel to the proceedings. It`s rare for a horror film, but works well in the context here.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 2.0 Surround English, French and Polish (the Polish track is a voiceover rather than a dub). There are plenty of subtitles. Given the THX logo on the end credits, the lack of a 5.1 track is certainly disappointing, but the Surround manages well, with a fair bit of ambience to it, and the rears really come to life with Candyman`s voice. Then again, Tony Todd was born with a subwoofer in his larynx. Phillip Glass provides the music, and it is an effective and unsettling score that really marks this film out.

Features

Candyman is presented on this disc with simple static menus and a smattering of extras.

First and foremost is the filmmaker`s commentary, with input from screenwriter and director Bernard Rose, writer and producer Clive Barker, producer Alan Poul, and actors, Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Kasi Lemmons. It isn`t a scene specific track, rather a cut and paste job taken from a collection of interviews. It`s interesting, but occasionally repetitive with speakers covering the same ground.

You can see more of the interviews in Sweets To The Sweet: The Candyman Mythos, which lasts 24 minutes and where the same six contributors describe the making of the film. It`s a compressed version of the commentary, and actually works better as you can see who is speaking.

Clive Barker: Raising Hell lasts 11 minutes and he talks about his career and the horror genre. Finally you can see 6 minutes of Bernard Rose storyboards, which look at a couple of key scenes from the film.

As a Collectors Edition, this is a little lacking. A cut and paste commentary is joined by a couple of featurettes that cover the same ground. Virginia Madsen tantalisingly hints at an alternate ending, but there are no deleted scenes on this disc. Pretty perfunctory.

Conclusion

A fairly humdrum disc does little to hide a horror film that is still pretty powerful fourteen years after it was first released. All horror films rely on suspense, uneasiness, shocks and thrills. The audience wants to be scared out of their wits, to be holding onto the nearest convenient arm, and no horror film would be complete without a monster and plenty of victims. Buckets of blood and viscera don`t hurt either. Candyman has all this, yet it is the least of what this film achieves.

Clive Barker speaks in the commentary about metafiction, about a horror movie that is about the horror genre. Indeed, years before the genre was being deconstructed in Scream with excessive irony and a palsied wink to the audience, Candyman managed the same thing completely straight faced. This is a film about the urban legend. It`s consciously looking at what scares people, trying to understand the psychology of fear and how legends thrive when there are people to believe in them. Barker and Rose create a brilliant urban legend in Candyman. Most monsters are reprehensible, irredeemable, ugly Freddy Krueger and Jason figures. But Candyman is a noble innocent man, horribly wronged. His origin lies within the origin of the United States itself, born in the race divide that still exists today. It`s mirrored in the film, a layer of social comment, as the legend of Candyman thrives in the ghetto of Cabrini-Green, a place where the police hesitate to go. It doesn`t hurt that the film gains a sense of realism from this.

The performances work well in this regard too, the characters are far from the wayward teens that usually inhabit these films, and once again realism is the watchword. There is detail and background to the characters that makes their personal lives more interesting, and makes this film much more than just the scares. We get an insight into Helen`s marriage. Her husband Trevor is a lecturer at the university, and their marriage is going through a rough spot during this film. With all the stress that Helen is under it makes her encounters with Candyman all the more ambiguous, and as stated in the commentary, the film never categorically states that Candyman is real. How much is real and how much is within Helen`s psyche is up to debate, and again makes this film a rich experience. Virginia Madsen is good in this regard, delivering a realistic performance that balances that fantastic elements well. Tony Todd is majestic as Candyman, creating a noble seductive monster that harbours a hint of tragedy. The best monsters in horror are the tragic ones, and Candyman combines the dignity and allure of a Dracula, with the pathos of Frankenstein`s monster. He`s very much a monster created by society, and as such a sympathetic one.

I hate horror movies, but I really enjoy Candyman, a film that is much more than the sum of its parts. It cunningly combines realism and fantasy to create a unique experience. Although the disc is lacklustre, the film isn`t and it is one horror movie that I don`t hesitate to recommend, five times over.