Taglines: You don’t have to believe… just beware.
Candyman movie storyline. Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visits a part of the town, where she learns about the legend of the Candyman, a one-armed man who appears when you say his name five times, in front of a mirror. Of course, Helen doesn’t believe all this stuff, but the people of the area are really afraid. When she ignores their warnings and begins her investigation in the places that he is rumored to appear, a series of horrible murders begins. Could the legend be true?
Candyman is a 1992 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Bernard Rose, and produced by Clive Barker and Steve Golin, based on the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker, though the film’s scenario is switched from England to the Cabrini–Green public housing development on Chicago’s Near North Side. It stars Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, and Xander Berkeley. The plot follows a graduate student (Madsen) completing a thesis on urban legends who encounters the legend of “Candyman” (Todd), an artist and son of a slave who had his hand severed and was then murdered.
It was released theatrically by TriStar and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment on 16 October 1992. It has a 69% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which called it a “nuanced, effectively chilling tale”. It grossed over $25 million over an $8 million budget. Candyman spawned two sequels, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, and Candyman: Day of the Dead, neither of which performed critically and commercially as well as Candyman.
Although Barker’s short story is set in his native Liverpool, Rose decided “that the film would be much better done in the U.S.” Assisted by members of the Illinois Film Commission, Rose scouted locations in Chicago and found Cabrini Green “an incredible arena for a horror movie because it was a place of such palpable fear.” Rose once said in an interview with The Independent that he found filming in Chicago easier than filming in England.
The film’s score was composed by Philip Glass. According to Glass, “It has become a classic, so I still make money from that score, get checks every year.” Tony Todd confirmed in an interview with IGN that a limited edition featuring 7500 copies of the film’s soundtrack was released in February 2015.
Candyman (1992)
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Starring: Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams, DeJuan Guy, Marianna Elliott, Ted Raimi, Lisa Ann Poggi, Ria Pavia
Screenplay by: Bernard Rose
Production Design by: Jane Ann Stewart
Cinematography by: Anthony B. Richmond
Film Editing by: Dan Rae
Costume Design by: Leonard Pollack
Set Decoration by: Kathryn Peters
Art Direction by: David Lazan, Mick Strawn
Music by: Philip Glass
MPAA Rating: R for violence and gore.
Distributed by: TriStar Pictures
Release Date: October 16, 1992
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