Review of Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) by Stuart K — 24 Jan 2012

After Candyman (1992) came out, based on Clive Barker's short story The Forbidden from Volume 5 of his Books of Blood, it was successful enough to warrant a sequel, from a pitch by Barker and directed by Bill Condon (who later did Gods and Monsters (1998) and Dreamgirls (2006), this is a cheesy horror, that does have it's moments, when they do come.

Set in New Orleans, it has Cambridge academic Professor Philip Purcell (Michael Culkin) murdered after giving a lecture on the Candyman legend, by the Candyman (Tony Todd) himself, but Ethan Tarrant (William O'Leary) ends up being accused of Purcell's murder, as his father was murdered in a similiar murder with traits of the Candyman murders.

Ethan's sister, schoolteacher Annie Tarrant (Kelly Rowan), doesn't believe Ethan could have done it, and her students believe the Candyman has come back, she dispels the myth by saying his name 5 times in the mirror.

Although he doesn't appear at first, the murders soon start all over again, beginning with Annie's husband Paul (Timothy Carhart), but Candyman doesn't murder Annie, for a good reason. Candyman was a silly but memorable horror film, this manages to be the same, with the supernatural shocks that we've come to expect from Clive Barker's work.

This is bloody and gory, but it's not as good as the original, but it'll do, and it doesn't stick around too long either.