#candyman2

If Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh were a standalone film, it would only take a few tweaks to make it worth your while. But this isn’t a standalone film, it’s a follow-up to a movie that offered a lot more than your average slasher and as such, it disappoints.

Four years after the events of the previous movie, Professor Philip Purcell (Michael Culkin) is murdered by The Candyman (Tony Todd). Ethan Tarrant (William O’Leary) is the prime suspect but his sister Annie (Kelly Rowan) knows he didn’t do it. She recognizes the pattern and believes the supernatural entity has something to do with her late father’s death, and her childhood home.

So much of what made Candyman effective was the mystery. Helen Lyle stumbled upon an urban legend that turned out to be real. She didn’t know what to believe. Neither did we. Now, we know how to avoid Candyman. The people inside the movie might not but many of them do and when they die, it’s their own stupid fault. It makes for few scares. Plenty of gore, but that’s not the same. In his directorial debut, Bill Condon (who thankfully has gone on to much, much better things) shows no skills as a scaremaker. Farewell to the Flesh (a reference to Carnival, which is taking place at the same time as this story) has the weakest shoulder-grab-jumpscare I’ve ever seen. It’s broad daylight, Annie and her husband Coleman (Michael Bergeron) are exploring her abandoned family home. He’s looking outside when… a hand reaches to grab his shoulder. We MIGHT have thought this indicated upcoming danger if a) it wasn’t clearly a woman’s hand b) it wasn’t a white woman’s hand, and c) if Candyman’s right hand wasn’t replaced with a hook.

This film doesn’t have much to do, so it digs into the past to further rob the titular villain of any intrigue. We learn that Candyman’s real name was Daniel Robitaille (not Granville T. Candyman as Todd originally conceived it), how he got the Candyman nickname, where he was born, why he has an affinity for mirrors, where his body was buried, etc. These are merely a way to get our heroine to the Macguffin she needs to defeat Candyman, which means nothing. We saw him “defeated” before. We know there's going to be a "part 3", and it just doesn’t feel right to reduce our monster to a mere ghost that can be appeased instead of the manifestation of the fears that accompany racism and social class in Chicago. Speaking of which, I’m guessing the location was swapped so it would be more budget-friendly. At least the film makes good use of the Louisiana landscape.

There’s a twist towards the end I won’t reveal but that borders on the offensive. If you’re curious, I’ll cover it in my review of Candyman 3: The Day of the Dead. On the upside, the score by Philip Glass is still effective, memorable, and uniquely moody. Tony Todd still has great screen presence. Some bits are interesting, like when the police capture camera footage of a Candyman attack. Nothing comes of it (one of several times elements are introduced then dropped) so unfortunately, it’s just there enough to disappoint. Ultimately, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh isn’t bad enough to be entertaining, and isn't good enough to satisfy fans. (August 31, 2021)