THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
AN EFFECTIVE antidote to the predictable and cliched ``Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh'' might be to look in a mirror and repeat ``Stay home and read a good book'' five times. To succumb to this racist and mindless sequel could, indeed, be horrific.
``Candyman,'' the 1992 horror entry that was less-than-a-big-hit even for its sorry genre, was set in the slums of Chicago and featured an African-American bogeyman who materialized when foolishly brave folks stared into a mirror and repeated his name five times. This ``summoned'' him.
The setting for the sequel is New Orleans - a promising premise that smacks of that delicious genre called Southern Gothic. Eat your hearts out, Bronte sisters. We have more ghost tales in the South than anywhere.
Our heroine is a pert young blond teacher from an Old South family who finds, after a good deal of screaming and murders, that her proper folks once inbred with a slave. The slave, Daniel Robitaille, was summarily mutilated and murdered - a ritual that the film can't resist showing several times, in flashbacks. His hand was sawed off with a rusty blade; his ghost now gathers revenge with a hook.
Our young teacher's family has been suitably cursed. Her father died mysteriously and presumably both her brother and her husband are just waiting to get theirs. Mama (former child actress Veronica Cartwright) has the film's most flagrant Southern accent, primarily because she's the only one who attempts one.
Even more pesky is a local disc jockey who keeps throwing in French words. ``It's histoire, mes amis,'' he tells us.
Tony Todd again has the role of Candyman and, again, has little to do but creep around and hook people.
The setting is suitably interesting, but we aren't into 10 minutes of the film before director Bill Condon stoops to the usual scare tactics of cheapie horror flicks - having folks dart out unexpectedly. The gimmick has been so overused that it no longer scares.
The score is composed by Phillip Glass, proving nothing other than the fact that modern composers, too, must find some way to pay the bills. His chorus chants up a storm whenever someone is about to expire - broadcasting the plot turns even more garishly than the simple-minded script.
More importantly, the idea of having an African-American man murdering only Caucasian victims is not a socially responsible film plot in these times. ``Candyman,'' if anyone took it seriously, could set race relations back centuries.
As it is, it is likely to be ignored as the silly tripe it is. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
GRAMERCY PICTURES
The Candyman (Tony Todd) haunts every aspect of Annie Tarrant's
(Kelly Rowan) life in ``Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh''
Cast: Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, Timothy Carhart, Veronica
Cartwright
Director: Bill Condon
Screenplay: Rand Ravich and Mark Kruger
Music: Phillip Glass
MPAA rating: R (the usual gore)
Mal's rating: Two stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square in Chesapeake; Circle 6 and Main
Gate in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven Mall and
Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB