"Candyman 2: Farewell To the Flesh" is a sequel to the 1992 horror film. In this sequel, the Candyman has moved on to New Orleans to continue his reign of terror. The movie opens with a lecture from a man who wrote a book about the "Candyman" urban legend and phenomena. After saying the Candyman's name five times for his audience, he heads to a local bar, but soon meets his grisly fate to the hooked killer in the bathroom of the saloon, whom he considered to be only legend. Now, a school teacher named Annie is pulled into the Candyman legend after some of her students introduce her to it. But Annie is quite familiar with the legend, as it is believed by her brother that the Candyman was responsible for her father's mysterious death. After saying his name five times, Annie is now the Candyman's new intended victim, and she must find a way to stop him before he takes her life.
Surprisingly, this was actually a pretty well done sequel. The story was interesting, not quite as much so as the first film, but it works out well. Some nice southern imagery and the spooky New Orleans setting really add to the atmosphere. The acting was good, and there were some well crafted shock sequences and plenty of fairly nasty violence. Teens of today's generation may recognize Kelly Rowan as the lead, who is now most popular for the hit TV series "The OC". Tony Todd returns and is as creepy as he was in the first film, as the hook-handed monster that is the stuff nightmares are made of.
As in many horror sequels, we get a bit of a back story on who the Candyman was before he became the ghostly legend that he is today. Turns out that the man was an artist who was punished after having relations with a white woman. His arm was brutally sawed off, and he was covered with honey and attacked by an enormous swarm of bees, while the town people chanted "Candyman, Candyman..." five times, until he was dead. His lover, Caroline, kept his soul maintained in a small mirror, thus explaining why his ghost appears after you call his name five times in the mirror. I thought this explanation was rather clever.
To sum it up, this was a fairly good sequel in my opinion. While it may not quite live up to the original film, this is a valiant effort that turns out to be a pretty good movie overall. It's better than you'd like to think, and could've been a whole lot worse. Recommended, whether you've seen the original or not. 7/10.
Surprisingly, this was actually a pretty well done sequel. The story was interesting, not quite as much so as the first film, but it works out well. Some nice southern imagery and the spooky New Orleans setting really add to the atmosphere. The acting was good, and there were some well crafted shock sequences and plenty of fairly nasty violence. Teens of today's generation may recognize Kelly Rowan as the lead, who is now most popular for the hit TV series "The OC". Tony Todd returns and is as creepy as he was in the first film, as the hook-handed monster that is the stuff nightmares are made of.
As in many horror sequels, we get a bit of a back story on who the Candyman was before he became the ghostly legend that he is today. Turns out that the man was an artist who was punished after having relations with a white woman. His arm was brutally sawed off, and he was covered with honey and attacked by an enormous swarm of bees, while the town people chanted "Candyman, Candyman..." five times, until he was dead. His lover, Caroline, kept his soul maintained in a small mirror, thus explaining why his ghost appears after you call his name five times in the mirror. I thought this explanation was rather clever.
To sum it up, this was a fairly good sequel in my opinion. While it may not quite live up to the original film, this is a valiant effort that turns out to be a pretty good movie overall. It's better than you'd like to think, and could've been a whole lot worse. Recommended, whether you've seen the original or not. 7/10.