Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)
** (out of 4)
Annie Tarrant (Kelly Rowan) arrives in New Orleans to investigate why her brother (William O'Leary) has been thrown into job suspected of murder. It seems the brother believes that their father was killed by Candyman (Tony Todd) but the sister doesn't believe this until she uncovers a family secret.
CANDYMAN was released and was a surprise hit with fans and critics. It remains one of the best movies of its type and is quite scary in its own right. CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH isn't a bad movie but at the same time you can't help but be highly disappointed with it. Once again a very good horror movie has a sequel that seems to be more money driven than anything else.
I say that because there's a lot missing from this picture. The biggest issue that I had with it is the fact that there really aren't any scares here. The first film managed to have an atmosphere of its own and the scares were there. That's certainly not the case here as there's just no tension to be found anywhere and I'd argue that there's not even an atmosphere, which is too bad since the New Orleans settings could have had more done with them.
I do think the film tried to be something more than your typical slasher but there just wasn't enough done with it. The entire story dealing with the slave and killing of Daniel Robitaille was very good and the film could have used more scenes like these. Todd, as you'd expect, is excellent in his role as are Rowan and O'Leary. Director Bill Condon certainly made a professional looking movie and there's no doubt that it's well-made. Still, CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH is mildly entertaining but a letdown.
