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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Candyman
(Special Edition)”
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Horror |
| Video: |
1.85:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 2.0 (mono) |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish, French |
| Length |
99 minutes
|
| Rating |
R |
| Release Date |
8/17/04 |
| Studio |
Columbia
Tristar Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
Director
Bernard Rose, producer Alan Poul, author Clive Barker, actors
Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd and Kasi Lemmons |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
“Sweets to the Sweet:
The Candyman Mythos”, “Clive Barker: Raising Hell” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Trailers |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Storyboards
|
| Cast
and Crew: |
Tony Todd,
Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams |
| Written
By: |
Bernard Rose
based on a story by Clive Barker |
| Produced
By: |
Alan Poul,
Clive Barker, Steve Goslin |
| Directed
By: |
Bernard Rose
|
| Music:
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Philip Glass
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| The
Review: |
Somehow I don’t believe Sammy Davis
would ever sing the theme to this movie. Based on horror master
Clive Barker’s short story “Candyman” takes an urban legend
and makes it more than just another slasher movie. However,
there’s still plenty of gore and slashing to go around. Helen
Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a graduate student in Folklore and
Mythology at the University of Illinois. She’s fascinated
by an urban legend about a killer with a hook replacing his
right hand that can be summoned by saying his name three times.
The Candyman (Tony Todd) was a slave a century ago in Cabrini
Green an area full of run down projects now. When Candyman
gets his girlfriend pregnant, the furious father of the girl
hires thugs to track him down, hack off his right hand and
brutally beat and then murder him. This ghost haunts Cabrini
Green and when Lyle hears fresh stories about his appearance,
she’s determined to get to the bottom of the Candyman legend
and establish where fact and fiction separate. She gets just
a little more than she bargains for in the process. ***
All horror movies are, by their
nature, absurd. Its how well the absurdity is played that
determines how good the horror movie is. “Candyman” stands
out from the standard slasher flick due to director/writer
Bernard Rose’s thoughtful script and visually rich film, Barker’s
vivid imagination and the strong performances of a top flight
cast. Sure, Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen and Xander Berkeley
may be slumming but they’re slumming in pure pulp in its best
pure form.
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| Image
and Sound: |
Sugar may
be sweet but “Candyman” couldn’t be any sweeter than this. This
sharp, vivid and gooey transfer looks terrific. It’s as if the
film has been coated in crystal clear honey, cooked and is ready
for eating. There’s few to none analog or digital blemishes
on this edition of the film although I did note some minor edge
enhancement. The unusual Philip Glass score compliment the film
very well. His music has always been both eerie and beautiful
at the same time making this score particularly appropriate
for a horror film. The audio reproduction of Glass’ marvelous
score and the 5.1 mix make you feel like you’re a piece of candy
in the middle of a number of busy anthills. --- |
| The
Extras: |
There have
been so many special editions of a variety of films that it’s
to the point where they need to start calling them “very special
editions”. That said, this edition of “Candyman” isn’t quite
the deluxe edition fans might have been hoping for but it’s
a huge improvement over the no frills version available previously.
We get a great 30 minute documentary on the making of “Candyman”
that focuses on the inspiration behind the story and Rose’s
approach to the film. Additionally, we get a short featurette
on author Clive Barker that pretty effectively sums up his
unusual career as artist/writer/gay activist to date. There’s
also a five minute progression of director Rose’s storyboards
that dance across the screen.
|
| Commentary:
|
I’ve died
and gone to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! The cast and crew
sweet talk the viewer with their involved commentary track.
The audio commentary track is a slice and dice mix of commentary
by Rose, Barker, producer Poul, actors Madsen, Todd and Lemmons.
The edited commentary track provides lots of fascinating tidbits
about the production of the film from a variety of different
perspectives. It’s also clear that the cast and crew really
enjoyed working together to bring this horror vision to the
screen. --- |
| Final
Words: |
A frightening
horror thriller with strong performances, “Candyman” continues
to prove that (to paraphrase Nick Lowe) if sugar was as sweet
as this horror film is scary, sugar just couldn’t be bought.
A winning combination of a very nice transfer, extras and commentary,
“Candyman” may be too rich for some folks but younger horror
fans will eat it up. |
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