Director Nia DaCosta; with restraint, a budget and a visually understated approach deepens and expands the Candyman franchise’s mythology while paying homage along the way. It’s a chilling thriller with urban legend and folklore at its core while playing against and with expectations. It works as both a stand-alone and direct sequel.
Virginia Madsen Helen Lyle is there in spirit using her voice and archive image, Tony Todd and Vanessa Estelle Williams return, but cleverly pass the reigns over in an uncontrived way. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II an artist obsessed with the legend is great, notable is Colman Domingo as Billy but Michael Hargrove as 1977’s Candyman, steals the show with a great performance, limited screen time, with an eerie tragic back story-that equals the original Candyman.
The gross out, gory makeup special effects are impressive. While the closing CGI is a little off, the kill scenes are staged in an old school fashion with a welcomed less is more approach leaving the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Nia DaCosta with writers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld use of Cabrini-Green as a visual metaphor gives the film’s gentrification weight.
Overall, it’s full of ideas, misdirection and creepy enough to satisfy both old and new fans without going overboard. Recommend
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