Candyman - Dollar Bin Film

By: Brandon Sites - Make sure to sign up for your chance for a FREE copy of Puppet Master: Axis of Evil
http://www.bigdaddyhorrorreviews.com/2010/07/who-wants-free-movie-puppet-master-axis.html

I remember as a kid running to the video store the day this title came out after school to rent myself a copy of this film. I was lucky enough to have grabbed the final copy that night. Afterwards, I sat alone in my mom's basement watching this film. Even with the lights on, this was an extremely intense experience. So much so, that I had to call my mom, who was next door at my grandmother's house, to come on back over to her house to watch this film with me, because it was just to scary for me. By that point, my mom was rarely watching horror films anymore, however I could tell she was hooked on this one. I even saw goosebumps on my mom's arms.

Candyman deals with graduate students doing reseach into an urban legend that plagues Chicago's Cabrini Green housing project, in which a supernatural entity kills those that repeat his name in front of a mirror. Candyman is a presence that requires people to believe in him in order to survive.

Urban legends play upon the very real fears that people experience. This film throws out the thought provoking notion that if enough people believe in a story, that the story could manifest itself into something very real. These aspects of the film create a strong sense of dread and unnerve. The film is full of interesting ideas and plot lines. In the title role, Tony Todd is simply perfect crafting a performance full of menace and terror with a surprisingly elegant edge to it. Virginia Madsen is the perfect choice as the victim of his wrath bringing a sophistication and intelligence to her role that could have been possibly dumbed down or cliched with a lesser actor. Also noteworthy, for being partially filmed in the Cabrini Green projects. This commits to creating a vivid portrait of ghetto life that is unparalled in the genre to this day. Candyman is the perfect combination of popcorn film mixed with intelligence.