Slasher Blog- Candyman

We Dare You To Say His Name Five Times
*Warning, Flashing Lights*

Overview

The movie Candyman (directed by Bernard Rose) is about a professor from the University of Illinois, Helen Lyle, trying to prove that the urban legend Candyman is not real and is just a work of fiction. Since Helen doesn't believe that he's real and starts telling some residents from the Cabrini-Green community that Candyman isn't real, strange and horrific events began happening around her. While working on her thesis, she discovers where the origin of the story came from, as a colleague of hers has written his own work about the Candyman story. The legend goes that in 1890, Candyman was a son of a former slave, who then became an inventor after the Civil War. Because of the family's wealth due Candyman's father creating a device for making shoes, Candyman grew up in a polite society. As a man, Candyman became an artist who fell in love with a landowner's daughter and got her pregnant. The daughter's father became furious, then had Candyman killed by having him be stung by bees after cutting off his right hand. Then, they burned the body and scattered his ashes, where you might ask? At Cabrini-Green land plot, the same community where the residents are afraid to talk about Candyman due to the fact one of its own residents summed him up and was killed by him. How you may ask? Well if you say his name five times in front of a mirror in the dark, he shall appear and will kill you with a hook replacing his right hand.

Analysis

Professor Helen Lyle (Left) and Professor Bernadette Walsh (right)

Candyman, had a type of killing style I've never seen before in slasher films. Usually slashers would take the kill when killing their victims. Candyman, however, asked Helen Lyle to join him in what we can assume would be death. He wanted, or more like demanded, consent from Helen Lyle before he made her join him. However, when Helen refuses to join him, Candyman doesn't kill her, but the people around her or those she's closest too, such as Bernadette Walsh (a friend and colleague). He then flips the killings around onto Helen, making her look like she killed Bernadette and kidnapped a baby. Speaking of which, Candyman also kidnaps a baby, and treats it as if it was his own. Almost as if taking care of the baby that he never had the chance to meet before his death. Doing an act of nurturing would (stereotypical) fall under the "women" category as they can become mothers who create life such as a baby. So, seeing Candyman (an entity that takes away life) being (kind of) affectionate towards a baby (with that in mind) that isn't even his, kind of took me by surprise.

Join Our... What!?

Candyman (portrayed by Tony Todd)

Candyman's legacy can only live on when people believe he's real. So, when Helen starts telling people that he isn't real, he appears out of thin air and meets her for the first time in a parking garage scene. It was that scene when Candyman asked her to be his victim. From then on, Candyman started doing more drastic approaches for trying to convince Helen to "join him." Even going as far as to use a baby as a bargaining chip in exchange of taking her life, he'd leave the baby unharmed. Anyways, whenever Candyman and Helen were in a scene together, Candyman would always say "join me."

And it had me thinking, join where? Join what? It was when he stated to her, "Your disbelieving destroyed the faith of my congregation," I finally received my answer. And if you're like me who had an idea of what congregation meant but didn't know the full definition, I'll tell you. According to Google, the definition means a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. *Cue loud record scratch* What? Worshiping? Candyman has a God complex? Yup, it seems like he would refer to himself as nothing, if they (the people who believe in the legend) don't believe that he's real, like how Helen Lyle didn't believe. Hence why Candyman is trying to kill Helen. And it's not just *stab* now your died type of death either. Candyman wants Helen to join him as an immortal entity, to be part of the legend he created for himself to scare others into believing. 

To Be Reborn... Twice?

Candyman fire scene with Candyman, Helen, and a baby

After the type of Hell that Candyman puts Helen through, Helen finally accepts his offer in joining him. In the Cabrini-Green Apartment building, there was an abandoned apartment with a hole in the wall. Seems like nothing, right? Now, what if I described the setting as dark, wet, with red blood everywhere? With that being said, the shape of the hole in the wall is an oval shape. The scene I'm trying to describe from the movie is similar to a woman's vagina. That's the first time she's been reborn, when Helen accepts her fate when she was alive. Now, the second time she's been reborn was when she was rescuing a baby in a bonfire where she, herself was trapped in. When a woman gives birth, the baby would come out wet and bloody (for obvious reasons). Helen's second birth is made of fire, the opposite of a normal birth. I also found this symbolic as I saw it as a phoenix rising from the ashes. However, it was this scene where she died during the second birth. And as Candyman wanted, Helen became what he wanted her to be.

THERE'S A TWIST!?!

Just when I thought it was over for the movie, a rug was pulled from right under me. If you read the overview on the top of this blog, it mentions the origin story of how Candyman came to be. Next, I mentioned how Candyman wouldn't kill Helen Lyle, but tries to force her to join him as an immortal entity. And if you're like me, you're probably wondering why doesn't Candyman just kill her already? Well, I'll tell you. The reason why Candyman doesn't just go for the kill is because Helen Lyle is his reincarnated lover, the same lover that was carrying his baby from the origin story. So, of course he was demanding that Helen become immortal with him, he wanted to be back with his lover to become a family again. And he got exactly that (sort of) as after the fire scene with Helen. Helen dies and true to Candyman's word, becomes part of his legend. And, I don't know if I'm the only one who noticed, but Candyman was a legend told by African-American individuals from Cabrini-Green Community, whereas now Helen would be told by the Caucasian individuals as her first kill was her ex-husband, Trevor Lyle.

Conclusion

The final scene in Candyman, with Helen Lyle

I can honestly say, I enjoyed watching the 1992 version of Candyman (directed by Bernard Rose). Candyman was one of those types of slasher films that were different from the rest. From the origin story to how he kills his victims, Candyman would definitely keep you on your feet, just like he did with Helen Lyle throughout the whole movie. If you want to see the movie yourself it can be found on Netflix for the time being. And just to let you know, for you undergrad or graduate students working on a thesis essay, be careful on your research and how you get your sources. Because as you can see, it didn't end well for Helen Lyle.