A scary thing happened on the way to the Movie Forums - Horrorcrammers

The killings, especially what happens to the woman, dog, and baby, are clearly driven by the Candyman. I think that it's clear that Helen's crimes are inspired by the Candyman, something that would be obvious to someone who already believed in him.

And the intention isn't to destroy himself. He wants a big spectacle: Helen and the baby die in the bonfire. Something that will totally capture the imaginations of all the people in the housing project.

I guess I can kind of get behind the first part. What makes it confusing though is that none of the officers, her husband, or anyone else brought up Candyman as a cause to her behavior and the focus was instead on her being considered as a potential murderer and later as someone who went insane. If some people speculated on Candyman being the cause of what happened, this might've resolved that aspect, but since we don't see any of that, you can't assume the killings will restore belief in him.

Also, I went back to watch the scene before the bonfire and Candyman does specifically say "We shall die together in front of their very eyes", showing that he was aware he would die in the fire. Sure, he seemed to want to create a spectacle, but it seemed that doing so would result in him being killed in the process.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

Sure, the husband and police don't bring it up. But the little boy clearly still believes that's what is happening.

But Candyman wouldn't really be dying: Helen and the baby would. The only way that Candyman dies is if people stop believing. And There's a degree to which the supernatural depends on the belief and willing reception of the person.

I don't think it's to do with dying a hero or a victim, but just how legends get formed. Someone dies in an extreme way: what unresolved things would that person's spirit deal with?

Fair enough. I didn't think of the film like that, but your reading makes sense.

Given that a lot of the subtext in Candyman deals with the allegorical belief in systemic racism and the ironic self invocation of it upon a white woman, it’s important to note how different demographics react to the violence Candyman commits. Saying her affluent husband and the police should think it’s Candyman undercuts the point a bit.

However, the film is slippery and to say everything squares up perfectly would be a lie. That’s a feature though. Not a bug. It imbues the film with the genuine feeling of being under a somnambulist spell. To have something supernatural completely obey the rules of a rigid logic will rob it of any of that “super.”

Like MKS says, not all of it hangs perfectly together.

But I think the question of who believes what is really central to what is happening. And if you think about

Those are all good points

I think I get what the film is going for better.

I am still crushed that my absurdly long essay on Candyman was lost forever to the death of Corri. I had lot to say, particularly about the intertwining of multiple sociopolitical themes.
I consider it an excellent film that transcends the Horror genre. Over the years it has ascended from a near-forgotten 90s Horror to possibly breaking my Top-31 Horror Movies Of All Time list.

I love Candyman and the 2021 new one which is a sequel, not a remake. The 2nd one is decent enough, I never saw the 3rd one.

__________________
Down The Rabbit Hole
Down A Dark Alley

Latest Movie Viewing: Wings (1927)
Latest Album Listened To: Honky Château, Elton John (1972)
Latest TV Show Viewed: Doctor Who

Had my annual Horror/genre movie night with a friend yesterday, were we spend a day trying to catch up on newer films that we have missed.

Pearl - We started with probably the best film we saw all night, X from Ti West earlier this year was a damn good film but it's prequel Pearl is somehow even better managing to be both terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. Also I love how it's shot to give the happy technicolor vibes even as things go further and further off the rails. Mia Goth is absurdly good here with a monologue near the end of the film that is just sublime.

Barbarian - Everything I read was go in blind and so I did. I'll definitely say it did not go the where I expected but honestly some of it also felt rushed and cliche once I figured out it's direction, plus there was one very groan worthy moment near the end that took me out of the film for a bit. That being said there is a lot to like and I would say I enjoyed it though I don't think it lived up to the hype my brain had built up for it.

Saloum - Genre bender that is consistently entertaining even as the tone and genre seem to shift as it goes along. The Cast has great chemistry and where it's base story of some mercenaries on the run that end up at a small commune in Senegal goes is probably not where you will be expecting. The film is super fun, some good comedy, tense standoffs and obviously a lot of heart in the making of it.

Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes - Dreamy homage to 60/70's euro horror films, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes definitely gives in to the artsy psychedelic side and occasionally the narrative suffers for it. That being said it gets the gothic aesthetic down and is a treat to look at, plus I didn't see it's shift in the second half coming but it all does tie back in on itself with some logic, even if it's a weird dream logic.

Something in the Dirt - The latest from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead directors of The Endless and Spring, is a kind of weird sci-fi buddy comedy that maybe doesn't really go anywhere but the journey of listening to the 2 characters riff off each other, butt heads and spout pseudo science theories as they try and connect an ever expanding web of information is pretty darn entertaining.

Broadcast Signal Intrusion - This one is also about an expanding web of mystery but while Something in the Dirt's was so low stakes that it's not conclusive ending didn't really hurt the film this one is the opposite where it's failure to resolve almost any of the weird clues and hints it throws along the way is so frustrating that it kind of undermines what had for most of the run time been a pretty entertaining mystery.

She Will -

This delightfully atmospheric psychological horror stars Alice Krige as Veronica, an aging, likely Norma Desmond-inspired actress. After having a masectomy, she retreats to a cabin in the Highlands with caregiver Desi (Kota Eberhardt) to recover. The retreat happens to be near the burial ground of several witches who were burned at the stake, and like the subject of another movie who stays at such a place, Veronica starts having strange visions. Most of them involve another aging performer, Hathbourne (Malcolm McDowell), who...let's just say proudly courts controversy.

I sought this movie out because Alice Krige is in it, who's good as she always is for how she elevates the material and expresses Veronica's irascibility and trauma. Eberhardt is also worthy of praise for how she struggles to stay loyal to the actress despite Veronica not always treating her nicely. I also appreciate how the movie manages to be funny in spite of its hardly funny subject matter, which is mostly courtesy of the retreat's visiting therapy group/Greek chorus as well as Veronica's annoyed reactions to them. Besides Krige, what really makes this movie work are its visuals, which accentuate Scotland's natural beauty while also making it seem like a place that time rightly forgot. From the black mud to the constantly falling ashes to Veronica's visions of the witch burning ceremonies, the movie makes this corner of the country seem like the creepiest level of Dark Souls. There have been many feminist, likely Me Too movement-inspired horror movies lately, and this one probably will not be considered a classic of the genre. Even so, with its performances and style, it has enough going for it to make it stand out and worth discovering even if you think you've had your fill of this subgenre.

I also caught up with Pearl today. I less receptive than most it seems when it came to X. However I still liked it as opposed to crumbsroom. I will say Pearl felt like it had a lot more heart in places, which X didn't feel like it had.

According to my Letterboxd year-end stats, my most watched actor in 2022 was Christopher Lee and most watched director was Terence Fisher. In other news, water is wet.


Lee- 15 films
Fisher - 35 films (!)

What's your go-to Scream movie?

I've had just about every entry as my go-to Scream movie. Right now, I'm all about part three.

What was that?

According to letterboxd, my most watched director was Jess Franco (14 films) and my most watched actor was... Jess Franco (8 films). I'm now a little curious which were the four movies of his I watched that he didn't appear in.
Will get to that later.

2 or 4 for me, also huh exactly the kind of question Ghostface would ask. Run people, run!

I only need the first one.

IDK, I'd be down for watching Scream and Scream Again or And Now the Screaming Starts!, I say blindly.