Anthony McCoy a struggling artist is about to discover the legend and myth of the Candyman and it will completely consume not only him but his work as well. Say his name . . .
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Horror is a genre that I have started to watch more in the past few years and therefore I don't really have a massive amount of knowledge surrounding the different films, but with the hype around Candyman and the fact that Jason Peel was one of the writers and I enjoyed Get Out and also saw Us (wasn't a big fan of that one) I knew it would have some interesting twists and the story to it.
Anthony did not know anything about the Candyman and was told about it from Troy Cartwright the brother of his girlfriend Brianna. Which was told like a ghost story as he attempted to scare them not far from the area where the urban myth was supposed to have taken place. This is something that Anthony quickly becomes interesting in as he uses his phone to Google information and begins to paint and draw from the photos he has seen. He takes it one step further though and visits the now abandoned area, taking photos to draw from and talking to William Burke who works in the laundromat and fills in the gaps of the story.
This then leads him to creating an art piece for the gallery Brianna runs with a mirror covering the portraits he has painted and called "say my name" informing people if they say Candyman five times in the mirror then he will appear and kill them. Obviously no-one actually believes that this will work or happen and even Anthony is not so sure about it either. However the night after the gallery showing sees the first two victims and so it begins with others then not really believing it, although with Anthony he is feeling it all in a very different way and the bees are certainly a key aspect in the story. Some pieces are missing and it certainly has some twists and turns.
I found myself fully engaged in the film and on the edge of my seat, although don't you always think why are people so stupid when watching this type of horror film? Like yes you will die if you do this, so let's go and do it anyway type of attitude which as a viewer you actually feel a little bit daft even thinking it as its all part of the script and story! But you cannot help but think well how stupid is that and maybe they deserved it?
Balancing the horror/thriller scenes of being a little bit jumpy and wondering what was going to happen next was impressively intertwined with some humour to really lighten the mood. The ending was rather out there and very good in the sense that I actually didn't really expect it to go in that direction. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II was very impressive in the leading role, engaging throughout and carried the film very well. Teyonah Paris and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett the standouts in the more supporting roles. All linking together well to create this newer style of horror.
