Film Review: "Candyman" (2021).

"Dare to Say His Name." It's Candyman. This supernatural slasher film directed by Nia DaCosta, written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld and based on the characters created by Clive Barker. It is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman film series. In the present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, a visual artist named Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend, an art gallery director named Brianna Cartwright, moved into a luxurious loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by the upwardly mobile millennials. With Anthony's painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini Green old-timer exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind the Candyman. Anxious to maintain his status in the Chicago art world, Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes the terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with his destiny.

In September 2018, it was announced that Peele was in talks to produce a sequel of the 1992 film through his Monkeypaw Productions. In November, it was confirmed that Peele would produce the film with Universal and MGM and will partner with Rosenfeld to co-produce and co-write the film, while DaCosta was hired as director, and filming was due to commence in early 2019. In January 2019, it was reported that Lakeith Stanfield was considered to star in the film, but not as the main titular character rather as an older version of Anthony McCoy. However, in February 2019, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was cast to play McCoy, and, ultimately, it was announced that Tony Todd would reprise his role. By early August, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Estelle rounded out the film's cast with Williams respiring her role. At the same time,. principal photography commenced and wrapped in late September. Filming took place in Chicago, Illinois under the working title Say My Name. The production was brought back to the Cabrini Green neighborhood. Though the high rises have long been demolished, the Rowhouses still exist. The film was originally scheduled for a June 12, 2020 release date, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was pushed to September 25, 2020, and then again to October 16, 2020, and then finally delayed to August 27, 2021

Thanks to the strong cast, the film is now a Black slasher flick for a new generation as the white characters, typical of the genre, have been dispatched. Now African-American characters are front and centre, and they will have to face the Boogeyman.

After two lacklustre sequels, the original Candyman is back and in a new form. Peele and DaCosta almost nail it despite a few weak decisions. But the Candyman mystique is back along with hellish surprises.

Simon says Candyman receives:

Also, see my review for Little Woods.