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The new Candyman film is not actually a remake, but a sequel to the original 1992 film, so let’s explore how the two films are connected.
WARNING! The following contains spoilers for Candyman (2021) directed by Nia DaCosta, now in theaters.
The original Candyman was released in 1992 and is based on a British short story written by Clive Barker. The story was adapted to a housing project in Chicago for the film version. It starred Tony Todd as the titular spirit alongside graduate student Helen Lyle played by Virginia Madsen. Helen is writing a thesis on urban legends when she learns about Candyman, who is blamed for atrocities that happened around the housing project of Cabrini Green. As Helen conducts her research, she herself gets caught up in the destructive path of the Candyman and, in turn, becomes a legend herself.
Though the original Candyman spawned two sequels, the latest entry in the series has opted to ignore their existence and instead function as a direct sequel to the first movie. The second film, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, follows Daniel Robitaille’s descendant Annie as the Candyman stalks her through New Orleans. The third movie, Candyman: Day of the Dead, is about Annie’s daughter Caroline, now grown up and working in an art gallery, as Candyman haunts her and attempts to bring her closer to him.
Neither the second nor third film earned good reviews from audiences or critics. However, elements from the two movies are included in 2021’s Candyman, particularly the link between Candyman and the art world as Anthony McCoy, the protagonist in the film, is an artist, and his girlfriend Brianna is a gallery curator.
The film takes place in the present and expands the legend of the Candyman into something bigger and more tragic. Anthony is the strongest connection between the two movies because he actually appears in both of them. In the original, the Candyman kidnaps Anthony as a baby. In the new film, Anthony is all grown up and is an artist struggling with a lull in his career, who has recently bought a condo with Brianna. Their new apartment is part of the gentrified neighborhood that was once the Cabrini Green housing project.
Adult Anthony has no recollection of his supernatural abduction in the original film; his mother never told him the truth about the experience in an attempt to allow him to live a normal life. However, the Candyman legend finds him anyway. While searching for artistic inspiration, Anthony explores what is left of the Cabrini Green housing projects where he meets the owner of a laundromat, William Burke, who actually grew up in the neighborhood. It’s Burke who explains the legend of the Candyman to Anthony.
The new film expands on the original mythology, revealing that Candyman refers to more than just Daniel Robitaille from the original movie. Burke tells Anthony the story of Sherman Fields, a man wrongfully accused of giving children candy with razor blades inside. After Fields was murdered by the police in front of Burke as a child, he became a Candyman. Anthony sees this version of Candyman after he repeats the name Candyman five times into his reflection at his house.
Just like in the original film, the protagonist says Candyman into a mirror five times and then ends the film dead and becoming a legend themselves. Helen says Candyman five times, but Daniel Robitaille does not appear and kill her right away like he does other victims. Instead, he draws her to him and twists her life into something much darker and lonelier until she sacrifices herself to save baby Anthony and try and kill Candyman. She becomes a legend within the world of the film as people share versions of her story where she is the true villain. Anthony says Candyman five times into his reflection, but though Candyman appears, unnoticed by Anthony, in the reflection, he does not kill him. Instead, Anthony’s sanity begins to unravel as he transforms into another iteration of the Candyman.
2021’s Candyman is a sequel to the original 1992 Candyman film that effectively erases the original sequel and third entry of the Candyman franchise from canon. The new film has the ability to stand on its own separate from the original trilogy, but has a strong connection to the first film, making the original well worth investing the time in prior to checking out the new movie.
Witness the connections for yourself and check out Candyman now playing in theaters.
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