Why The New Candyman Failed To Beat The Original

Nia DaCosta’s Candyman 2021 brought new life to the franchise, but it still couldn’t top the original 1992 Candyman. Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Anthony McCoy, an artist who becomes fascinated with the Candyman urban legend, the new Candyman was a hit with audiences and critics alike. Produced and co-written by Jordan Peele, it updated the story with a modern perspective on the original’s racial and social themes.

Candyman 2021 works as both a direct sequel and soft reboot of the 1992 movie of the same name. This was based on a short story from Clive Barker and followed Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen), a graduate student specializing in urban legends whose research leads her to the eponymous Candyman. The first movie is a cult favorite and established Tony Todd’s portrayal of the Candyman as a horror icon. Despite some great reviews, why is it that Candyman 2021 couldn’t beat the original?

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A key issue is that Candyman 2021 lacks the focus of the original and is ultimately a little conventional. While the new Candyman is well made, the original created a modern urban legend. Helen’s downward spiral unfolds like a classical tragedy, but Anthony’s journey fails to hit the same notes. In many ways, Anthony represents a critical redemption for the series. For Candyman’s themes to truly resonate with a modern audience, it needed Black creative voices and a Black protagonist, but the script often lets Anthony down.

While the character’s bee sting-induced physical Candyman transformation offers fantastic body horror, his rapidly deteriorating mental state separates him from viewers too as they witness him losing his mind rather than experiencing the story alongside him. This becomes especially clear as Candyman 2021 nears its climax and shifts focus, swapping Anthony’s girlfriend Brianna into the main character role, and thus creating further separation. The new Candyman pulls off a fittingly dramatic conclusion, but the clarity of Helen’s story lends the original greater impact.

The original Candyman offers a uniquely unrelenting brand of horror, and it’s remarkable how willing it is to have horrifying things happen. For example, when Helen is confronted by a hook-wielding Candyman imposter at Cabrini-Green, it’s not a hallucination or a fakeout, but a traumatic experience for Helen as she’s left badly beaten. In the 1992 Candyman, bad things happen and then worse things happen. Candyman 2021, in contrast, offers plenty of gruesome scenes but Anthony’s hallucinations become an opportunity for empty scares which undermine rather than enhance the tension. These fleeting bits of horror are well shot, but they make Candyman 2021 a much more conventional horror experience.

Candyman 2021 is a solid horror movie and accomplishes everything needed to revitalize the franchise, but ultimately, it still feels like a remake than a true evolution of it. The original Candyman movie is filled with contradictions and strange moments, but those are what give the film its unique texture and contribute to its mythic quality. Candyman 2021 might make viewers afraid of a hook-handed stranger lurking in the shadows, but the original truly made them afraid to even speak his name.

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