One Change To Improve Every Candyman Movie

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]All of us have those movies that we saw at the exact right moment in our lives that mesmerized us, terrified us, hooked us. One of those for me was Candyman.

[00:00:10]And as much as I love that original film, there's multiple sequels. So today, let's talk about fixing each one.

[00:00:17]We stopped at a light and saw him walking in that field behind the Lost River Drive-In.

[00:00:23]Joey said he was so creepy.

[00:00:42]Hey, what's up, everybody? Nick here, and today we are talking about Candyman.

[00:00:46]And more specifically, you guys already know it. Say it with me. One change to improve every movie in the Candyman franchise. Now, I just want to say, cuz some of you guys have really been letting me know down in the comment section the series you want to see me tackle. One, Alien is coming. The only reason I haven't done Alien yet is cuz I need to rewatch Alien Resurrection. I don't know if you guys can tell, but when I do these videos, I want to know what I'm talking about. And I haven't seen Resurrection in probably a decade.

[00:01:14]So I don't think it would be fair to talk about that series without giving it a revisited. Furthermore, I've seen some comments from people telling me to tackle franchises that aren't horror.

[00:01:23]And one of those is Star Wars. Now, I'm going to leave that up to you whether or not you want to see me do that, but I love Star Wars, so I would absolutely do it. But we're here to talk about Candyman today, okay? There are four films in the Candyman franchise, and all of them are an experience. So starting this off is the original Candy Man from 1992. And let me just tell you guys, this movie was one of those movies when I was a kid that I always saw on TV, that my mom always talked about and quoted. I was scared to say Candyman in the mirror in the bathroom because I genuinely thought Tony Todd was going to come out with his hook and kill me. And sitting here, I'm still currently trying to wrap my head around exactly what I'm going to propose to fix with this movie because this is my favorite horror film of the 1990s and one of my favorite horror movies of all time. I genuinely don't know if there's anything I really would change. But selfishly, I'll just say I wanted more Tony Todd. Look, I think this is the career-defining role for Tony Todd. Now, of course, I'm biased because I love this film, but I feel like this is most often what people remember. And it is because he is so good. There's so much happening in this movie. This movie is full of themes, talking about class, talking about privilege, talking about injustice, dealing with issues of prejudice and mistrust. And in the middle of all of that, the core of this film is the Candyman, Daniel Robitaille.

[00:02:53]He gives this performance that is so intoxicating. Like his voice, his mannerisms, the way he carries himself, the things he says, it makes complete sense why Helen is just completely enamored by him. She can't help it. It's hypnotic. And when the two of them are on screen together, it is poetry in motion. I don't know how else to put it.

[00:03:18]Those are some of the most kinetic scenes I've seen in horror. I love every second of it. Virginia Madsen just plays off of Tony Todd so well, and you truly believe that she is hypnotized by him as I think all of us are every time we watch this movie. Look, again, I don't even want to say that there's something about Candyman that needs to be changed.

[00:03:41]I genuinely don't think there is.

[00:03:43]Bernard Rose directs his ass off. The performances are fantastic. The themes are a plenty. Philip Glass's score is one of my favorites ever put to film. So genuinely, what do I say aside from selfishly, give me more and give me more of the Candyman. So next up is Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. And after the response to the first movie, it seemed like we had a promising new franchise on our hands. Unfortunately, Farewell to the Flesh did not go over as well.

[00:04:12]There's a lot of issues with this film even though I do have a soft spot for it. But if there's one thing I would change about this movie, it's that it feels more like the original, specifically in terms of tone, style, and the themes at play there. So the original Candyman is more of an experience. It's a deeper film. It's thought-provoking.

[00:04:29]Farewell to the Flesh isn't so much.

[00:04:32]This movie trades in a lot of that deeper messaging for just being a straight-up slasher film. Now, I do want to say it is really nice that we get more of Daniel Robitaille's backstory.

[00:04:43]And personally, I do think that makes the character a little bit more tragic.

[00:04:47]But by largely abandoning so much of the tone and storytelling style of the first film, this just becomes more of a run-of-the-mill '90s slasher movie. I mean, you could put it up there with films like I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend. Sure, there's fun to be had there. We can all enjoy seeing a horror villain hack people up in just grotesque ways. That's a fun time. But Candyman never felt like it needed to be relegated to that kind of film. It should have always been more. There should have been more at play. It should make us think. It should make us question things. It should make us critical of the system in and of itself. And it's not really present in Farewell to the Flesh. So while it's an easy, breezy, fun watch, it fails in comparison to the original. Okay. So now we get to Candyman: Day of the Dead. And as I said, after the first movie, it looked like we had a brand new franchise on our hands. And then Farewell to the Flesh kind of blunted any of that momentum.

[00:05:45]So Day of the Dead went straight to video.

[00:05:47]And it shows. Look, I'm just going to be real with you guys here. There is so much I would change about this movie, I don't even know where to begin.

[00:05:56]I could just be a smartass and say don't make it, but I try to be a little bit better than that. I try to actually give some constructive criticism. But with a movie that's as problematic as Day of the Dead, I think the fix here is a broad one. This just needed a better production value, period, across the board. It needed more money. It needed a better script. It needed better actors.

[00:06:18]But I'm being broad here and just saying the production in and of itself.

[00:06:22]Look, this movie is offensive, like to anybody that liked the first two Candyman movies, especially the first one. I said that Farewell to the Flesh largely abandoned a lot of the stuff the first movie did well, but it was still fun. It was good performances. It was good music, good kills. You could get behind it well enough. Day of the Dead has none of that. These performances are terrible. I mean, genuinely, I don't even know if Tony Todd's heart is in this. And if you wanted to ask me my opinion, I'd say it's not, and it's pretty clear. He just seems like he's sleepwalking through this movie. The effects, bad. The social commentary, yeah, it's not there at all. And look, I'm not saying that all of these movies have to just be wrought with that. No, but you got to have some. Like Farewell to the Flesh had a little bit, moments here and there. What is this movie?

[00:07:13]Genuinely, this is on par with I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer for me. I'm serious. A movie that I found to be so offensive and such an assault to anybody that liked those previous movies, it doesn't even belong in the same franchise. And guys, I love Tony Todd, and I love Candyman. I wish that I could cherry-pick certain things out of this movie that I feel like are redeemable, but there's nothing here.

[00:07:37]This is a truly offensively bad horror film. It should have never been made. It shouldn't exist. Tony Todd should not have graced this script with his eyeballs, period. A page in, he should have been like, "No, thanks." But a lot of these issues I have with this movie could at least be massaged a bit if it just had a better production value behind it. Seriously. Like it's that simple. Sometimes you just need to put a little bit more money and effort into something, and you might have something passable.

[00:08:07]But Candyman: Day of the Dead, no. This movie is genuinely awful. And talk about fumbling such a cool idea, too. Day of the Dead, Candyman, like putting those two things together, wow, that would be awesome. I can't wait to see how they capitalize off of that. Spoiler alert, they don't. And as we sit here today, the last Candyman film is Candyman 2021.

[00:08:29]And honestly, I'm kind of bummed this is the last one because it was a modest success, and I thought we would have gotten a sequel relatively quickly after that. But alas, it didn't happen. Now, this movie, in my opinion, is truly the only one after the original that I think is absolutely worth your time. I can give a pass to Farewell to the Flesh because it's fun, but Candyman 2021 is the only one that even comes close to touching the heights of the original.

[00:08:55]Now, it doesn't touch those heights, but it gets close. Having said that, if I'm fixing one thing, this third act. Like genuinely, it is a mess. Now, look, Nia DaCosta had talked about how they had to do reshoots on this movie. That was a pretty well-known fact. I don't know if it was based off of test screenings or studio feedback, but they had to go back and try to fix this third act.

[00:09:18]Unfortunately, not only did they not fix it, they made it this truncated, nearly impossible to follow ending. In a moment's notice, we are no longer focusing on Anthony at all, and it's all about William Burke.

[00:09:33]And Anthony is just somehow already there, and he's got the hook in his hand and everything, and it's just like, "Whoa, what the hell happened?" Like you can clearly tell there's footage cut from here.

[00:09:42]And then, we are focusing on Burke give this whole speech. And sure, it's a great speech, but it doesn't feel like it should be his moment. This should be Anthony's moment. And from there, the third act just unfolds like in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, Tony Todd shows up for the final shot of the film and it's over. And you're like, "What did I just watch in the last 15 minutes?" Cuz I went from like, "Anthony's the main character and he's going undergoing this transformation." to "William Burke now has Anthony and he's already cut his hand off." to "Anthony's now the Candyman after being shot by the police." to "Oh, there's Tony Todd."

[00:10:18]Like all in 15 minutes. And if you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. Watch the movie. Like it's really that nauseating.

[00:10:25]It just unfolds at a pace that is impossible to follow. This is the moment in the movie where you needed more nuance. This is the moment in the movie where you needed to really hammer into some of these things, flesh them out a little bit more. You can't just present it all and go, "That's all, folks." And that's kind of what this movie does. And honestly, it is infuriating to me.

[00:10:45]Because look, the first hour, hour 15 minutes of this movie, I think are great. This is how you do a legacy sequel. This is how you continue off of something that is three, four decades old. This should be the blueprint. Until the end. And then you are genuinely just left like, "Oh, now there's another legacy sequel."

[00:11:08]So, as much as I like Candyman 2021 and I really do, God, we needed to fix the third act. So, there you have it. There is one change that I would make to improve every Candyman movie. Now, I'm admittedly a little disappointed that we only have four movies to talk about here. Because I think this franchise from the very beginning was something that was super promising. Tony Todd's portrayal is iconic. The themes at play here are some of the more poignant and deep that you're going to find in the horror genre, especially for its time.

[00:11:41]The fact that this didn't become bigger will never sit right with me. Because this truly had the makings of being one of the biggest horror franchises, for me at least. Having said that, I do have a lot of enjoyment with this series. Aside from Day of the Dead, I would say all the movies are worth your time. But if you want movies that are truly good, the first one and 2021 I think are the only ones genuinely in that category. But it's in your hands now. I want to know what you guys think. Do you agree with each change that I proposed or are there other ones that you would propose?

[00:12:14]Whatever you have to say, I want to hear down below. So, sound off in the comment section. I want to thank each and every one of you guys for watching this video.

[00:12:22]Make sure to leave a like on it.

[00:12:23]Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. This is Nick at The Lost River Drive-In and I'm pulling out.