The Sunday Score: Candyman (1992)

 

This week’s selection is from the 1992 motion picture, “Candyman.”

The Halloween season is slowly bubbling into the senses and while I’m not a fanatic when it comes to ghouls and goblins, I do appreciate the return of pumpkin-flavored baked goods to store shelves and a renewed appreciation of horror films. Of course, I’m something of a horror snob (as my critics have explained to me), but I do appreciate the genre...when it isn’t concentrating so relentlessly on stupidity and box office coin.

“Candyman” isn’t exactly a personal favorite, but the picture has stuck with me since its release so very long ago. There’s something dreamy and unnervingly nauseating about the film’s pleasure buttons, blending lust and pain in a manner that could only emerge from Clive Baker’s ink-stained, permo-boner mind. The man once had a very special ability to creep out the room.

While the sequels may suggest otherwise, the original “Candyman” is a thoughtfully executed motion picture marked by a few moments of invention and a disturbing mood that can be difficult to experience, especially if you’ve had the honor of seeing this sleeper hit during its theatrical run. Although director Bernard Rose deserves credit for his macabre creation, “Candyman” would be left to whimper without Philip Glass’s baroque score.

Granted, Glass works in repetition, making his compositions an eternal open sore for some listeners. However, for “Candyman,” the circular insistence works, with a blaring organ and a passive piano commentating on the rotating mentality of the film. It’s a haunting theme and while it might seem out of place contemplated here, it fits the picture like a glove.     

Here’s “It Was Always You, Helen.”

And the film’s schlocky trailer.

Comments

[Tyler Foster]

An underrated, solid horror flick with a horribly silly ending.