Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray, DVD and Digital from director Nia DaCosta and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of the one and only CANDYMAN.

It is twenty-seven years later, and Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is an artist living in Chicago. Trying to find something to inspire his next group of work, he decides to go to Cabrini-Green and take photographs of the abandoned houses. He learned the story of Helen Lyle, the kidnapping and bonfire and the story of Candyman and how to summon him from William Burke (Colman Domingo) who owned a local laundromat.

Anthony is inspired and tells girlfriend Brianna (Teyonah Parris) what he is working hard. He creates the “Say My Name” and she puts the work in the Clive Privler (Brian King) art exhibit. Not getting the positive response he wanted, he becomes belligerent and leaves the exhibit. After closing, the owner and girlfriend Miriam (Jerrica Cooper) think it is all a joke and actually summon Candyman to their detriment.

Anthony spends more time doing portraits that Brianna does not know about, becoming more and more obsessed with the work inspired by Candyman. He also returns to talk to Burke more about the history and discovers the secrets are even deeper than he could have imagined. With the obsession over Candyman, Anthony also begins to change more and more as he discovers who he really is.

Burke begins to help Anthony and what is to come, and it is based in fear and blood!

Abdul-Mateen II as McCoy is trying to get his work seen and appreciated. Looking for inspiration, he finds it but what he does not realize is that he is now on a path that can not be changed. Picking up from the original storyline, he takes on all aspects of the story and brings it to a new generation.

Parris as Brianna is a young woman who is successful and encouraging towards McCoy and his artistic dreams. When she begins to notice a change, Parris makes sure she knows what is going on under the roof of their home but also can not possibly see what is coming.

Domingo as Burke has all the truth and is about to spill it, but little by little which is where the twists seem to happen. He is almost as creepy as McCoy is becoming and it is nice to get all tangled in the twists.

Other cast include Kyle Kaminsky as Grady Greenburg, Vanessa Williams as Anne-Marie McCoy, Nathan Jarrett as Troy Cartwright, Rebecca Spence as Finley Stephens, Heidi Engerman as Haley Gulick, Christiana Clark as Danielle Harrington, Carl Hopkins as Jameson, Breanna Lind as Annika, Tony Todd as Daniel Robitaille.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Bonus Feature includes Never-Before-Seen Alternate Ending, Deleted and Extended Scenes, Say My Name, Body Horror, The Filmmaker’s Eye: Nia DaCosta, Terror in the Shadows, Candyman: The Impact of Black Horror and More!

In the 1992 CANDYMAN, the story is told equally as well, and it holds up in my own horror film collection. Virginia Madsen gives an ending that is shocking and had me staying away from mirrors for a while (or at least not repeating the words!).

The CANDYMAN of 2020 extends the story to get deep into the well of horror allowing for a political message to be interjected. There is still a massive amount of horror mixed in the twists that pay homage to the 1992 film while also allowing for the potential to reboot the story for the audience.

In the end – say it!

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