Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

Instant Favorite.

A Masterpiece!

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a 90s supernatural horror/psychological thriller film about the Candyman, a murderous soul with hook for a hand. Sometimes I am not a huge fan of horror films of the 1990s, but it's actually surprisingly excellent, creepy, dark, sad and deeply disturbing film. The story is really thrilling and fantastic. The acting is surprisingly good, especially for a horror movie. The amount of depth, dimension and persona that Tony Todd gives to his character 'Candyman' is amazing. The gory scenes are very effective.9.5/10

Candyman, featuring a career-defining role for Tony Todd (it's the voice AND the clothes and his poise all put together), the repugnant but beautifully chosen Cabrini housing projects before they were torn down (think of this as the version of what you saw in Hoop Dreams but the dark-evil side), is a good movie, and it has certain flourishes (the bee attack, those shots of the Chicago sky-line, Virginia Maden's performance in general) that are wonderful.And yet somehow due to Bernard Rose's tenacity in getting Phillip Glass one of the major scores of all horror films in cinema. The mix of solo piano, accordion, organs, choral chants, high-orchestras, it all comes together and makes something that gets into your bones, far more than even his scores for Koyaanisqatsi and Morris films. How did Glass get involved with this? Maybe the power of Tony Todd and that opening shot (after the credits) of the sea of bees did it for him. Seeing this again I was so floored by his work that I'd put it just behind Psycho and Halloween as far as the champion horror movie music

Candyman is pure poetry. It is an atmospheric art film, with hooks rending flesh and pools of blood. Everything is several steps above the normal level of a Slasher (except humor, which is completely lacking—this work takes itself very seriously), particularly the acting. Madsen creates a completely believable heroine, a bit naive and weak at the beginning, trapped but stronger at the end. Todd is a standout, with his deep, fluid voice and commanding, somewhat lost expressions. When he extols the virtues of painful death, it is almost believable. The complex screenplay, based on a Clive Barker story, left me with plenty to think about and more to feel, particularly about race relations in modern culture. If you're not interested in thinking, Candyman will still entertain with plenty of gore and scares. It did frighten me, but I'm not entirely comfortable reciting "Candyman," five times.

Candyman is still one of the few horror films that scares me in the primal, flight or flight way that puts a chill down my spine. Interesting, considering that on paper the idea is more in the vein of shocker and gory slasher stuff, which is the last thing that scares me, movie wise. Threason this one triumphs over so many: atmosphere. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the most important thing in a horror flick is atmosphere. This one jumps at you with an ambient, dilapidated, forgotten ghetto aura that stays with you. It takes place is Chicago's sketchy Cabrini Green, a run down project and breeding ground for filth, poverty and despair. An urban legend circulates about the Candyman, a tortured slave who returned from the dead with a hook hand to wreak havoc, brought about by saying his name 5 times while looking into a mirror. Virginia Madsen plays a determined woman who investigates this, much to her dismay. Tony Todd is a velvet voiced, imposing, terrifying gentleman as Daniel Robitaille, the ghost of the former slave, and the titular Candyman. He bites into his role with a malevolent grace and all knowing mirth that jumps out of the screen at you, creating a horror legend and archetype that would carry on for two vastly inferior but interesting sequels. Like I said, few horror films can really frighten me, but this one has that magical eerie spark that's so hard to capture, but does the trick, causing you to leave the lights on in bed after watching it.