Not content with revolutionising horror via his movies Get Out and Us, Jordan Peele now throws his weight behind the bloodcurdling Candyman movie. This slasher-thriller is billed as a "spiritual sequel" to the classic 1992 shocker, in which a hook-handed killer from urban legend suddenly becomes terrifyingly real. And the first trailer has now carved out its place online.
Peele produces and co-writes the screenplay, and Top Boy helmer Nia DaCosta directs. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman; The Greatest Showman) is aspiring Chicago artist Anthony who aims to turn the legend of Candyman into a memorable art installation. Yet in the process, Anthony summons evil from beyond the grave, and starts to imagine himself as the notorious madman, blurring the lines between reality and madness.
The added kicker is that Anthony survived the Candyman's onslaught in the 1992 movie, rescued as a baby from the bonfire that consumed the life of Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) who went on to become an extension of the Candyman legend. Confusingly, Helen is credited as appearing in the new movie, albeit played by Cassie Kramer, not Madsen. We'll also see the return of Anthony's mother, Anne-Marie, played, as before, by Vanessa A. Williams.
The Bernard Rose-directed original was itself based on a Clive Barker story, 'The Forbidden', which was set in Liverpool, as opposed to Chicago. Everything from the inner-city Cabrini Green projects, now gentrified, to the ever-present bees (the source of Candyman's original, agonising demise) is present and correct in the sequel, as is actor Tony Todd, who reprises his role as the titular, terrifying figure.
In the manner of Peele's work on Us, the Candyman trailer turns a pop favourite, in this case Destiny's Child's 'Say My Name', inside out to suggest a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary – and not in a good way. Dare you say his name five times? Check out the trailer and prepare for carnage.
Like the look of that? Let us know @Cineworld. Candyman is released in Cineworld cinemas on the 12th of June.
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