Candyman...Candyman...Candyman...Candyman...Candyman!!!
Urban legends have been well known for many years. A urban legend is a myth created through folktale stories that have been labelled true which leads to death or injury of a person. As a child did you ever test out the urban legend of Candyman? Looking into the mirror excited yet scared to say the name that people told you never to say, opening your mouth you say the name Candyman... Candyman...Candyman...Candyman... you stop but you look around and say it one more time with fright in your voice. You finish and look around the bathroom but you don't see anything, so you look at yourself in the mirror and leave the bathroom happy that you faced your fear. However, watching this movie may change your mind when deciding to say his name once again.
Understanding the plot:
Helen who is the main character in the movie and her friend decide to do their research on the urban legend Candyman. With this, Helen decided to take her research a little bit further by saying Candyman's five times since she doubted his existence. Over time Candyman appears visiting Helen to prove that she was wrong and because she begun to tell his "people" that he wasn't real. Since then, Candyman began to affect Helen's life by framing her with murders but also taking her as his own.
Idea behind Candyman's weapon:
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| Candyman's hook replaced for his hand |
Guns are a common weapon used in everyday life but in movies it is a different story. With the idea of slasher movies, we get more hands on weapon use from the killer. Many killers use weapons like knives, axes or even hammers to kill their victims but in Candyman, there is a different weapon used. In this movie, we get the chance to understand the background behind Candyman's hook that he uses foe his killings. As we get further into the movie, a story is introduced explaining its concept. We learn that Candyman was attacked by a group of men only because he had gotten a girl pregnant and fell in love with her. The group of men cut off his hand and poured honey on his body. Because of this, Candyman was attacked by the hive of bee's which resulted in his death while in the projects. After the "rebirth" of Candyman, he decided to use a hook attached to his cut off hand to pour fear into the projects.
Helen the final girl?
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| Helen's death scene |
Many slasher films contain the idea of a final girl but with the character Helen, can she be put in this category? With the idea constructed by Cover's categories, there are different factors that play into the final girl storyline. Having intelligence, being watchful, levelheaded and identifying the strange patterns all connect to what makes a character the final girl. In comparison to the Candyman movie, Helen fits into these categories through her actions. What we learn about Helen is her determination to get the answers that she needs to help boost the information for her thesis. She decided to go to the projects, interview people and get beat up for not belonging there in order to get what she needed for her thesis. Unlike the male characters that has done the same research as Helen, they did not go the same mile as she did. Next is the concept of encountering the killer Candyman. Candyman who is a human just like us, goes after Helen killing others in his way. What is noticeable during the duration of the movie is how Helen is the only person that can see Candyman which makes her the only person that can defeat him. This allows for her to develop a stronger character from the beginning to the end of the movie.
The end:
Being able to watch Candyman allowed for us to see Helen as a strong character. Seeing her ability to defeat the killer gives us the idea of how much strength a final girl can carry overall. Even after watching her close friend die and getting framed for different murders, she still stood up for herself while people thought she was an insane killer.
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