Candyman (1992)

Candyman appears to be a by-the-numbers slasher flick, but closer examination reveals a thoughtfulness about the landscape of racial suffering and those who seek to scavenge it for trinkets.

When our lead character, Helen, begins investigating Candyman and the building he is known to inhabit, she experiences hostility from the tenants. The apartment complex, Cabrini-Green, is anything but green; it is desolate, gray and inhospitable.

Helen's interests being academic, she is inherently seeking to demystify Candyman. Candyman finds this disagreeable.

Through dialogue we learn that Helen lives in a gentrified copy of Cabrini-Green. This provides commentary on how housing locations contribute to the creation of ghettos. It is also fascinating that, given our villain is summoned through mirrors, we see our characters physically remove and pass through mirrors to access neighboring apartments.

To bring Candyman to life, a myriad of practical effects were deployed. Candyman is often seen levitating, but this effect truly shines in a moment where he is pulled up and out through a window by an invisible force. His haunting of Helen is total, terrifying and disgusting. The use of real bees was visually powerful in effect; it was also a production feat in and of itself. The sound of the bees crunching as Candyman kisses Helen is nauseatingly exquisite.

Candyman's claim is made clear, both to Helen and the audience: he must correct her efforts to disprove him. To do so, he uses Helen, punishing her for her exploitation of the Candyman mythos and what it represents. Framed for multiple murders and presumed insane, Helen's last living act is to save a baby whom she had been accused of killing.

But we see that Helen, in some ways, seems to take Candyman's place. Helen has been integrated into the cycle of suffering she once sought to academically dissect. The interesting question is: has she changed it?

An examination of the perpetuation and exploitation of black suffering manifests itself in Candyman. He is not a spirit of justice, but a spectre of vengeance.