Review of Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) by Eytan D — 06 Jan 2015

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, directed by Bill Condon, is the sequel to the original Candyman film, directed by Bernard Rose. The original told the story of a vengeful spirit who was murdered in life, only to return with a hook hand when summoned by saying his name five times in a mirror.

Upon summoning him, he would then proceed to murder his victim using his hook hand, a hand which he lost in life. The sequel continues that story while revealing more about the Candyman's past and his ties to a wealthy southern family.

Compared to the first film, the second is obviously less superior, but also because it's a movie that's a bit of a slog to get through. Instead of a college student getting wrapped up in the Candyman legend, we now have a southern family, the daughter of which is out to find the truth about the Candyman and prove her brother's innocence when he is accused of committing the murders that the Candyman has been committing.

Unfortunately, the movie just doesn't have that interesting of a story to tell. We've already seen the journey of a young, blonde female character trying to discover the truth behind the legend.

Repeating that in the sequel just isn't appealing to me. Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, Veronica Cartwright, Bill Nunn, and Timothy Carhart are all fine actors, but they can't really save a story that's nothing more than exploration, or rather, re-exploration.

And it doesn't help that the movie seems a little trashy and less highbrow, including some cheap jump scares. The main things that save the film are its score, which was conducted by Phillip Glass (who also scored the first film), and the cinematography by Tobias Schliessler.

There are some gory moments to be had for gorehounds, as well as some terrible early CGI (somewhat of a staple for Clive Barker-related material during that time frame), but overall, it's less satisfying than the first film, to say the least.

Personally, I think it's an attempt at a franchise that doesn't really warrant more than one film. Be that as it may, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh isn't a terrible movie, but it's not an overly interesting one.