I am SO EXCITED about the new Candyman movie!
Not just because it’s a direct sequel to the genuinely iconic and utterly brilliant original Candyman, but because everything I’ve seen from this movie so far has gotten me hyped the fuck up. Yes, I already did a trailer review for Candyman! Yes, I am going to do one again! I have a lot to talk about!
It’s only a couple of months till this movie comes out (cue screaming into a pillow), and frankly, I am not able to wait. This trailer is just a reminder of why I am so invested in the way this film is going to unfold: because of the way it manages to repurpose the brilliance of the original Candyman movie for a modern audience without losing sight of just what it represented in its original iteration, too.
My favourite thing about this trailer is the re-working of the original’s take on the Candyman legend. The first iteration of this character in cinema had him killed by racist locals after he forms a romantic relationship with a white woman, and this version, as told by the brilliant Colman Domingo, has him murdered by police after a wrongful accusation. I think that’s a really interesting way to bring the story into the present day, while at the same time staying true to what Candyman represents. It’s an urban legend, and urban legends bend and twist to fit the anxieties of the time – police brutality is, to the residents of Cabrini Green, a more relevant fear than the original interracial relationship bigotry that the initial Candyman represents. An urban legends moves with the times, which makes building a sequel around one actually pretty damn easy.
And honestly, I just think this looks downright brilliant. The gentrified Cabrini Green serving as the backdrop for the new horrors is a perfect way to switch up the setting without losing the scares; against this sanitized backdrop, the gore and the nastiness stands out even more. I’m very intrigued by the idea of leading man Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen III) trying to use the old Candyman legend for his art – something in that meta-narrative works for me, and honestly, if I have to watch the manifestation of an urban myth tear through a community, it better be the pretentious arty one, right?
I’m just so into this trailer, this movie, and the fact that we’re finally getting the prestige follow-up to the original movie that we deserve. I’m so glad that this version of Candyman is being released into a cinematic landscape that is so much more open to genuine prestige in the horror genre, and I really hope that Nia DaCosta’s take on this story gets the love that it really deserves. Well, it’s going to be getting it here, that’s for sure. Are you looking forward to this new Candyman? Are you as crazy about the original as me? Let me know in the comments below!
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By Louise MacGregor
(header image via GameStop)
No But Listen 