(Photo by TriStar/ courtesy Everett Collection)
13 Movies To Watch If You Can’t Wait For Candyman
Yes the bees! Candyman is back, and here’s the hook: Jordan Peele is on-board as producer, co-writer, and convincer of Tony Todd to return to the franchise as the malevolent, mirror-jumping, body-slashing spirit. (Or at least we think Todd’s back – that was him at in the reflection at the end of the trailer, right?).
The 2020 Candyman, which is directed by Little Woods helmer Nia DaCosta, is the latest installment in the long-dormant franchise, so if you’re looking for movies what to watch anticipating the June 12 release, why not start with the original? 1992’s Candyman stood out among other horror releases of the decade (see: the 40 Best ’90s Horror Movies) for its distinctly African-American setting and plot, some raw honey-coated sexuality, and the perversely elegant direction and cinematography. Todd starred as Candyman, a man in 1890 who was brutally murdered by a lynch mob, and whose vengeful ghost could now be summoned at the Cabrini-Green projects in Chicago that had been built over his grave. Todd returned for two sequels, Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead, and the 2020 film will follow the same continuity. For more of his horror work, don’t miss him as the mysterious funeral director in the Final Destination movies.
Peele has made groundbreaking strides in horror with Get Out and Us, and he and Todd appear in documentary HorrorNoire, which chronicles the history of black horror. For more films in this vein, where angry spirits return from the dead to menace the living, check out blaxploitation thriller J.D.’s Revenge, Snoop Dogg’s blaxploitation tribute Bones, and the comedic, race relations-tackling Tales from the Hood.
Meanwhile, Urban Legend is a ’90s slasher all about the spooky lore we create and share. I Know What You Did Last Summer, another horror anchor of that decade, also uses a sharp hook as its main instrument of dispensing murder. And if you just love the Chicago setting, the original Child’s Play is likewise set in a Windy City high-rise apartment building. —Alex Vo
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