The Film (4/5)

    I haven't watched the original Candyman since sometime in the 90's, back then this film was a huge film for young horror nerds, and for many in my circle of bourgeoning horror fan friends it was no different. Oddly, this film never connected with me back in those days, but the film has maintained a reputation in the horror community for over 25 years, so I retained an element of curiosity, and promised myself to check it out once it hit Blu-ray (I swore off DVD's years ago unless it was the only way to get a film, and Candyman was going to get a Blu-ray eventually).  Now that Scream Factory have unleashed a new Blu-ray of the film upon the world, I decided a revisit was in order.

    The film is an adaptation of the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker, who notoriously had trouble having his work adapted earlier in his career (See Rawhead Rex for a painful example, actually scratch that don't). By this point Barker has stepped into the world of filmmaking with his film's Nightbreed and Hellraiser, and thus had become more hands on in how his material was being adapted to screen. Thus when Bernard Rose brought Candyman to the screen, it would be more true to the spirit of both the story, and to Barker (not to say the adaptation for 1:1 there were changes made in both location, and character, but they fit what Rose and Co. were trying to do to the story, and they were quite effective).

    Candyman follows Helen a graduate student researching urban legends when she and a fellow student, Bernadette, stumble upon a mention of the "Candyman" who is a notorious killer who was an educated black man during the 19th century, who ended up viciously murdered after impregnating a well-to-do white woman. The pair become obsessed with the figure, and trace his legend to a modern housing project called Cabrini-Green.  He begins to haunt Helen to "be his victim", and turns her life upside down as he viciously kills those around her, leaving no trace of his physical presence, and making Helen look like the murderer.

    Candyman, 25 years later was interesting, at the time I watched it last it felt like another 90's horror film like Warlock or Wishmaster. Watching it now it feels like it fits into the same cannon of work as the Barker films of the period like Hellraiser with their deep mythological  bent, use of deep physical violence in an almost sexual manner, and the horror itself is more intelligent than the average slasher of the period. On top of that the film has a gothic-romance angle that would have shot right over my head a kid, as romantic subplots that weren't plainly spelled out simply just did, but also that I was not familiar with gothic romance as a genre. The blend of genres really make this film really into something special, and effective.

    The performances from Madsen, Todd, and the rest of the cast are excellent. The direction from Bernard Rose really casts a fantastic grimy urban atmosphere over the film.  Overall, the film has a tone of urban gothic horror that I believe was not only rare for the period, but still rare to this day.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Scream presents Candyman in both original theatrical and unrated director's cuts in 4k scans with 1080p AVC encoded transfers.  Both cuts look quite solid and natural in motion with decent detail, reasonably reproduced colors, and deep blacks. There are moments that are more faded in look, but this is probably due to the overall nature of the production than the transfer itself.

    Audio is presented with a DTS-HD 5.1 track in English and this comes across quite strongly with a well balanced mix that is clear and crisp.

Extras (5/5)

    Scream Factory has STACKED their release of Candyman. There are 3 commentary tracks on the theatrical release of the film, with 2 being now. On that disc there are a series of archival featurettes and interviews. On the 2nd disc with the unrated cut we are treated to a series of cast and crew interviews, and more more featurettes plus much more.

Overall

    Candyman mixes the slasher, and gothic romance into something truly unique.  The Blu-ray from Scream is quite solid, with a decent transfer, and piles of extras features. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.