In 2018, it was announced that Jordan Peele would direct a new installment of the Candyman film series.
Set to be a sequel and reboot of the original 1992 cult horror film, it promises to follow up not just on the fear factor but also on the grim reality of injustice the titular character was based on.
Many urban legends have grown from real events.
The Bloody Mary, the La Llorona, and the quintessential Hook Handed Killer were all based in some form of reality in the past. That goes for the modern horror leaders as well. But Candyman is special.
Though initially based on a Clive Barker short story’s un-detailed character, the Candyman has become an iconic horror spirit for the Black, urban demographic.
He represents horror not just to an unsuspecting protagonist but to a race of people through his historical creation.
10 /10 Two Faces Of Inspiration
The Candyman monster first appeared in a Clive Barker short story. The renowned horror author, a creator of many monsters that have come to screen over the years, and director of some classic cult horror adaptations, published a short story titled “The Forbidden.”
The monster’s nature was that merely denying its existence would summon it, and it appeared as a waxen-skinned man of indeterminate race or character who smelled like candy and had a nasty hook for a hand.
9 /10 From Book To Screen
The roots which gave the Candyman his racially significant tones came from the actor, Tony Todd. He was cast in the titular role as the eponymous monstrous figure, despite the mismatched racial traits, and created a good reason.
He combined the history of oppression and indiscriminate horrors committed against black men in the post Civil War segregationist period with the killer’s urban mythos who is summoned from a mirror.