Movie reviews: 'Candyman' a scary, timely reinterpretation of a classic horror movie character

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a scene from "Candyman," directed by Nia DaCosta. (Parrish Lewis/Universal Pictures and MGM Pictures via AP)

CANDYMAN: 4 STARS

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a scene from "Candyman," directed by Nia DaCosta. (Universal Pictures and MGM Pictures via AP)

There is nothing sweet about the Candyman.

The supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, first played by Tony Todd in the movie of the same name 1992, returns in “Candyman,” now playing in theatres, reframed by co-producer and co-writer Jordan Peele for a new generation.

In this “spiritual sequel,” “Watchmen’s” Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays artist Anthony McCoy, a visual artist who grew up in Chicago's Cabrini-Green neighbourhood. Almost three decades ago, Candyman, a vengeful spirit with a hook for a hand, summoned by anyone brave enough to repeat his name five times into a mirror, terrorized the area.

The towers Anthony and his family lived in are gone, torn down in the name of gentrification. Anthony and his partner, gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), take their place among the trendy millennials who now live in Cabrini-Green’s luxury lofts.

Anthony’s painting career isn’t going great guns when a long-time area resident William Burke (Colman Domingo) tells him of the urban myth (or is it true?) of Candyman.

“Candyman ain’t a he,” says William. “Candyman’s the whole damn hive. Samuel Evans, run down during the white housing riots of the ’50s. William Bell, lynched in the ’20s. But the first one, where it all began, the story of Daniel Robitaille. He made a good living touring the country making portraits for wealthy families. Mostly white. And they loved it. But you know how it goes. They love what we make, but not us. They beat him, tortured him. They cut off his arm and jammed a meat hook in the stump. But a story like that. Pain like that. Lasts forever. That’s Candyman. Candyman is how we deal with the fact that these things happen. That they’re still happening.”

Anthony finds inspiration in the story, but as he delves into Candyman’s macabre world, he unwittingly opens a passage to supernatural terror and violence that transforms his body, mind and exposes his own personal connection to the legend.

“Candyman” is a horror film, but it’s interested in more than making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Most great horror isn’t simply about the scares. “Frankenstein,” for example, is enriched by ideas of science and technology run amok, “The Wolf Man” examines the polarities of good and evil in all of us and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has compelling things to say about mass hysteria.

“Candyman” is a scary, timely reinterpretation of a classic horror movie character that brings the story into ripped-from-the-headlines context.

A study of trauma in the Black community, “Candyman” expands the scope of the original to suggest that the Candyman isn’t singular. In the new film, William says, “Candyman’s the whole damn hive,” representing all Black men who have been lost to race-based violence.

The theme is front and centre, but director (and co-writer) Nia DaCosta doesn’t shy away from the body horror—Anthony’s transformation includes some memorable fingernail horror and more—or the Candyman’s violence. The kills are suitably bloody, often shot in interesting ways, like through the mirror of a make-up compact dropped on the floor. It’s brutally elegant and never forgets to add a helping of horror with its story.

“Candyman” is a movie that succeeds on two levels, as a comment on the echoes of historical racism that can be heard today and as a horror film that’ll scare the pants off of you.

VACATION FRIENDS: 3 ½ STARS

This image released by Hulu shows Meredith Hagner, from left, John Cena, Lil Rel Howery and Yvonne Orji in a scene from "Vacation Friends." (Jessica Miglio/20th Century Studios)

“Vacation Friends,” a new rude and raunchy comedy now streaming in Disney+, is a riff on the old saying, ‘Whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” But instead of Vegas, the setting is Mexico, and instead of leaving bad behaviour behind, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Nancy (Anna Maria Horsford) would like to leave their new “friends” Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner) behind.

Straight-laced construction boss Marcus wants to surprise his girlfriend Nancy with a marriage proposal at a fancy Mexican resort. To set the scene he books a beautiful hotel room, iced champagne and rose pedals strewn around the bedroom. Unfortunately, the big surprise is something he didn’t plan, a flood. The jacuzzi upstairs in the Presidential Suite overflowed, turning Marcus and Nancy’s dream vacation room into a soggy wasteland.

With no other rooms available, the pair accept an offer to bunk with perfect strangers Ron and Kyla, the party animals in the Presidential Suite. The two couples are polar opposites. Marcus and Nancy are kind of conservative vs. the thrill-seeking Ron and Nancy who rim their Margueritas with cocaine. They are thrown together by circumstance, but a few gallons of tequila later they’re all “vacation friends,” and the Mexican adventure culminates with a wild, blackout night.

“You guys are in our lives now,” Ron says as they part ways at the airport. “Nothing can change that. I’ll remember this week forever.”

Marcus and Nancy, however, aren’t feeling the bond. “They we’re kind of fun on vacation,” Marcus says, “But not in the real world.”

The real world includes the high-end wedding Marcus and Nancy are throwing with the financial aid of Nancy’s tightly-wound parents. Ron and Kyla aren’t on the guest list… but that doesn’t stop them from bringing their own brand of chaos to Marcus and Nancy’s big day.

“Vacation Friends” is a sweet-natured film about friendship, but is far racier than the usual Disney+ fare. Drugs and drinking are the bedrock of the Ron and Kyla’s vacation lifestyle so this one isn’t for the kids, even if it’s on Mickey’s channel.

Adults, though, should get a mild kick out of the odd couple buddy comedy. Howery and Horsford are the movie’s bedrock, Cena and Hagner, the wild cards. Together, the ensemble play-off one another, creating fun, situational comedy that takes advantage of Cena’s manchild persona and Howery’s tightly wound Marcus. Hagner draws some of the biggest laughs with Kyla’s disregard for the niceties of polite society.

“Vacation Friends” is lightweight, but sweet and should provide a much-needed getaway from real life.

TILL DEATH: 3 ½ STARS

Megan Fox is seen in the film "Till Death." (Brave Carrot)

“Till Death,” the new thriller from Megan Fox, now on VOD, sees an unhappily married woman wake up one morning, handcuffed to her soon-to-be-dead husband Mark (Eoin Macken). Like an unholy mix of “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Saw,” it’s a study in the toll emotional abuse takes, and the resilience required to rise above it.

Before the handcuffs and the literal interpretation of the “Till death do us part” wedding vow, Emma (Fox) feels trapped by a loveless marriage. But as her eleventh wedding anniversary looms, she calls off the relationship she’s been having behind her lawyer husband’s back with his associate Tom (Aml Ameen) and accepts Mark’s invitation for a weekend away to work on their relationship.

“Things have been bad between us,” he says, “and I’m sorry.”

At first the weekend seems to be heading toward healing the scars that mar their marriage. But things take a dark twist when Emma wakes up, hungover and handcuffed to Mark as he then shoots himself in the head. Connected to his corpse, Emma finds herself a pawn in a dangerous game of survival.

“I have been chained to this nightmare all day!”

“Till Death,” just one of the five films Fox has scheduled for release in the 2021/22 season, begins like a hundred other thrillers. A bad marriage, a vague sense of unease and a remote location. And so what if Fox appears to be on autopilot in the film’s opening minutes? There’s a hint of some neo-noir action in the air.

It takes about twenty-five minutes, but by the time Mark blows his head off, filling the air with a bloody mist, the movie finally distinguishes itself as the nasty piece of work it is. It also gives Fox the opportunity to branch out from disinterested to engaged as director S.K. Dale allows her to shed the story’s dead weight (literally) and shine. She hands in a fun performance that is more subtle than the movie’s main metaphor of a late, toxic husband as a literal anchor or ball-and-chain.

“Till Death” is a simple movie of survival. When two abusers (Callan Mulvey and Jack Roth) from Emma’s past arrive as part of Mark’s master scheme to terrorize her, she must muster all the courage she has from years of pent-up frustration to stay alive. There aren’t many twists and turns you won’t see coming, but slick direction, a tense score, a self-depreciating tone and Fox’s study in resilience should earn the movie a look from fans of survival horror.

THEY WHO SURROUND US: 3 STARS

Troy Ruptash is seen in the film "They Who Surround Us." (Gynormous Pictures)

“They Who Surround Us,” now playing in theatres and starring Troy Ruptash, who also stars as the main character Roman, is a melancholy story of intergenerational trauma.

The film opens in 1943 as German soldiers invade seven-year-old Roman’s Ukrainian village, murdering everyone. With his mother and baby brother at his side, the terrified Roman flees into the woods, soldiers in pursuit. When they reach a river, Roman is told to hide, the baby is placed in the river to float away while the mother meets her fate.

Cut to 1987. Roman has built a life as a farmer with wife Kalyna (Vera Graziadei) and eight-year-old son Mykola (Daniel Mazepa). Tragedy reenters his life when Kalyna is killed in a farm accident, leaving him the grief-stricken single father with a business to run.

“Go with God,” his local priest tells him. “God is always with you.”

“Where was God two weeks ago?” he asks.

As old memories flood his head, Roman falls apart. He hits the bottle, and has visions of German soldiers shouting “find the boy!” He hears gunshots in the distance and pictures his mother in the woods. As his behaviour escalates, becoming more and more erratic, Mykola is placed in the care of his Aunt Natalia, played by Ali Liebert. With the aid of his family and church, Roman’s fog of grief slowly lifts and he is able to find a new way to live his life.

“They will beat us and try to destroy us,” Roman remembers his long-lost Uncle Stefan (Michael Sech) telling him. “Some of us will die, but we will rebuild our lives.”

“They Who Surround Us” is a low-key examination of the effects of intergenerational trauma. But just as it examines the life altering effects great personal tragedy, it also underscores the healing power of community. Roman discovers he is not an island, that the very people he tried to push away would become his salvation. It’s an uplifting message, perhaps underplayed, that caps off a movie that slowly and carefully details Roman’s pain.

“They Who Surround Us” is a deliberate film, in its slow pace and considered performances that may move too slowly for some viewers, but offers subtle rewards to those who take the ride.

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