Candyman has a sizeable following now. Looking back to the acid-washed days of 1992, you never would have seen that coming. Candyman bowed and did modest business in America. However, it developed a cult fanbase in England. Those fans fed the video push until a small American subset started championing the Candyman sequels. Honestly, if the film wasn’t a loose tale of depraved sexual deviants torturing young women, then my attention faded.
Clive Barker is an acquired taste. The older I get, the more I’m surprised that people have still hung with him. It seems that most audiences can either handle extreme sex or extreme horror. When you mix the two together and throw in race relations, it can be a bit too much. Not enough credit is given to Bernard Rose for mining the best out of Clive Barker’s The Forbidden to create this tale. While I think Bill Condon would develop these ideas a bit further, you have to acknowledge the groundwork.
There is something about Tony Todd in 90s horror. He was a bigger heavy that didn’t get to flex his chops until the one-two punch of Savini’s Night of the Living Dead and this film. Oliver Stone, Michael Bay and others would keep him on the periphery as the token heavy. Watching Todd, as he stalks Virginia Madsen and brings her out of her comfortable world is stunning. It’s not just enough to be an undead slave spirit of Vengeance. This is a lion stalking his prey. An apex predator subverting the station of his 19th century familiars to haunt the 20th century.
Make sure that you check out the Unrated cut.
Candyman special features
DISC ONE (THEATRICAL CUT):
- NEW 2K Restoration From A New 4K Scan Of The Original Negative, Supervised And Approved By Writer/Director Bernard Rose And Director Of Photography Anthony B. Richmond
- NEW Audio Commentary With Writer/Director Bernard Rose And Actor Tony Todd
- NEW Audio Commentary With Authors Stephen Jones And Kim Newman
- Audio Commentary With Director Bernard Rose, Author Clive Barker, Producer Alan Poul And Actors Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen And Kasi Lemmons
- Audio Commentary With Bernard Rose, Moderated By The Movie Crypt’s Adam Green And Joe Lynch
- “Sweets To The Sweet” Featuring Interviews With Writer/Director Bernard Rose, Executive Producer Clive Barker, Actors Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, And Kasi Lemmons
- “Clive Barker: Raising Hell” – An Interview With Author/Artist/Filmmaker Clive Barker
- Interview With Actor Tony Todd (2014)
- Bernard Rose’s Storyboards
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
- Screenplay (BD-ROM)
DISC TWO (UNRATED CUT):
- NEW 2K Restoration From A New 4K Scan Of The Original Negative With High Definition Inserts For The Uncut Footage From An Archival Film Print
- NEW “Be My Victim” – An Interview With Tony Todd
- NEW “It Was Always You, Helen” – An Interview With Virginia Madsen
- NEW “Reflection In The Mirror” – An Interview With Actor Kasi Lemmons
- NEW “A Kid In Candyman” – An Interview With Actor DeJuan Guy
- NEW “The Writing On The Wall: The Production Design Of Candyman” – An Interview With Production Designer Jane Ann Stewart
- NEW “Forbidden Flesh: The Makeup FX” – Including Interviews With Special Makeup Effects Artists Bob Keen, Gary J. Tunnicliffe And Mark Coulier
- NEW “A Story To Tell: Clive Barker’s The Forbidden” – Writer Douglas E. Winter On Clive Barker’s Seminal Books Of Blood And Candyman’s Source Story, The Forbidden
- NEW “Urban Legend: Unwrapping Candyman” – A Critical Analysis Of The Film With Writers Tananarive Due And Steven Barnes
