“Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candy……”
Say his name five times while looking in a mirror and you just might end up on the business end of a hook! Today’s post looks at one of the final 1990s slashers to arrive on the scene prior to the rise of the Scream franchise that changed slashers forever. Of course, I’m talking about the one and only Candyman. The character and his first film are based upon a short story by Clive Barker called The Forbidden. The first film, and our first look at the Candyman, came in 1992.
As many horror films and franchises do, the Candyman films use horror as a metaphor for real life issues. The franchise addresses interracial relationships and the terrible things that can happen as a result of those relationships due to racism, discrimination, and bigotry. It also looks at racial profiling, gentrification, and other social issues.
The iconic Tony Todd has portrayed Candyman in all four of the franchise’s films. Candyman’s real name is Daniel Robitaille. He was a young slave who becomes famous for his paintings. When he falls in love with the daughter of a white farmer and impregnates her, the farmer has a lynch mob cut off his right (painting) hand, smear him in honey to attract bees that eventually sting him to death, and burn his body. The mob scatters his ashes on what would become the Cabrini-Green Homes housing authority of Chicago. As the years go by in Cabrini-Green, Candyman’s legend grows. He requires people to keep his legend alive by having them say his name five times while looking in a mirror. He then comes back to murder the person that speaks his name and anyone else that witnesses them do so. Each film has expanded upon the urban legend of the character, with the fourth film, which largely ignores the second and third films in the series, opening up the “role” of Candyman to a wide group of black men that have been executed or murdered wrongfully. This group is collectively known as the Hive.
The fourth film also brings back one of Candyman’s early targets, Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). McCoy was saved by Helen Lyle, who sacrificed herself and replaced him in the Hive when he was an infant. McCoy is essentially being groomed to become the next Candyman in a long line of Hive members. The Candyman before him is a homeless man that is wrongfully gunned down by police. His name was Sherman Fields and he is portrayed by Michael Hargrove. He is the most prominently featured Candyman in the film until the end.
As I’ve already mentioned, there are four films in the Candyman franchise. The 1992 original and the 2021 fourth film are both titled Candyman. The second film took place in New Orleans and was called Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh (1995). The third film, Candyman 3: Day Of The Dead (1999) is a direct sequel to the second film and takes place in Los Angeles in 2020. Thankfully the 2021 film brings the story back to Chicago and back to Cabrini-Green.
Have you ever spoken the name of the Candyman????? Lemme know in the comments and thanks for checking out today’s post. Tomorrow, we’ll be looking at a young killer with an affinity for older men!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 