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Candyman

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:56 am
by domino harvey
Dare you say his name five times? From the chilling imagination of horror master Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed), comes Candyman arguably one of the greatest horror movies of the 1990s, now newly restored on Blu-ray.

When grad student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) begins working on a thesis looking at urban legends, she encounters the tale of the Candyman the vengeful spirit of a hook-handed slave, who, it is said, can be summoned by saying his name five times in the mirror. As her research leads her into the bowels of Chicago s deprived housing projects and deeper into the Candyman s world, Helen learns that some legends are best left alone...

Expertly directed by British filmmaker Bernard Rose and boasting an astounding score by composer Philip Glass, Candyman ingeniously reworks Clive Barker s original short story The Forbidden (originally published as part of his Books of Blood collection) into a modern horror parable that remains as timely today as ever.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original negative and supervised and approved by writer-director Bernard Rose and director of photography Anthony B. Richmond
5.1 DTS-HD MA and Original Uncompressed Stereo 2.0 Audio
Optional English subtitles
Exclusive packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
6 Lobby Card reproductions
Reversible fold-out poster featuring two artworks
Fully illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by festival programmer Michael Blyth
Limited Edition perfect-bound booklet reproducing the original hand-painted storyboards by Bernard Rose
Brand new audio commentary with writer-director Bernard Rose and actor Tony Todd
Brand new audio commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
Be My Victim a brand new interview with Tony Todd
It Was Always You, Helen a brand new interview with Virginia Madsen
The Writing on the Wall: The Production Design of Candyman a brand new interview with production designer Jane Ann Stewart
Forbidden Flesh: The Makeup FX of Candyman brand new interviews with special makeup effects artists Bob Keen, Gary J. Tunnicliffe and Mark Coulier
A Story to Tell: Clive Barker s The Forbidden writer Douglas E. Winter on Clive Barker s seminal Books of Blood and Candyman s source story, The Forbidden
Urban Legend: Unwrapping Candyman a critical analysis of the film with writers Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes
Theatrical Trailer
Three rarely-seen Bernard Rose short films, newly restored in HD: Looking at Alice (30 mins, 1978), A Bomb With No Name on It (3 mins, 1976), The Wreckers (5 mins)

Re: Candyman

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:11 am
by Drucker
When I was like 11 or 12 I had a two week period after seeing Scream 3 (I think?) where I was determined to "get into" horror films. I saw Exorcist, and then the first 10 minutes of this and I ran away in horror and decided the genre wasn't for me. This looks like an unbelievable package and I'm excited to give this film the chance it deserves!

Re: Candyman

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:02 pm
by colinr0380
Wonderful! I would contend that the first half of this film (until the 'twist') is the closest a film has ever come to capturing the intellectual excitement of academically researching a subject (though I suppose that is not the most exciting selling point for a film!). Almost to a fault, as the research leaves Helen a little bit blinkered towards the wider context that the urban legends are operating in, until it is too late!

Plus of course its got that fantastic opening sequence, that veers a Koyaanisqatsi era-Philip Glass off into a horror dimension (I love the way that the shot is perfectly composed to start with a linear road and the movement of the larger truck in particular to subliminally follow, before seeing the truck (our sense of safety?) veer off upscreen before finishing in a tangle of criss crossing highways with the director's name briefly occupying the one patch of open space!)

(While I know nothing about the rights situation and all that, hopefully this might bode well for a release of Bernard Rose's Paperhouse at some point too)

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 2:41 am
by M Sanderson
The only truly satisfactory Barker adaptation. What looked like a good film at the time now looks to me like one of the best ‘90s horrors. This is a wonderful confirmation by Arrow, who have that balance between announcing intriguing films in the best presentations. Candyman did suffer a terrible Blu ray debut early on in the format’s era, that looked like a DVD upscale.

By the way Rose is an amazing director who also made one of the best ever Frankenstein movies and I love his commitment to intimate personal projects such as the Tolstoy inspired Kreutzer Sonata, Boxing Day, ivansxtx & 2 Jacks.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:10 pm
by John Cope
All great. And don't forget the glorious Immortal Beloved.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 5:13 am
by colinr0380
It is interesting watching some of the videos relating to Cabrini Green, such as the CBS News report from 2000 and the A.V. Club piece on how this all turned up in Candyman, to think of depressingly how easy it seemed to translate the story across from the London tower blocks of The Forbidden. It kind of feels timely at the moment back the other way too in the wake of Grenfell Tower.

Though the original story has the final fire motivated by it being a big Bonfire Night celebration rather than a lot of abandoned furniture piled up in one of the courtyards (but I suppose that itself helps in suggesting what should be a comforting domestic world piling in on top of the characters)!

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:15 am
by M Sanderson
John Cope wrote:
Sat Jul 14, 2018 8:10 pm
All great. And don't forget the glorious Immortal Beloved.
Agreed

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 5:24 pm
by Orlac
Is any of the disc content exclusive to the limited edition set - as opposed to the booklets and cards?

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 7:43 pm
by Adam X
It only seems to have one disc, so I’d say not. Arrow aren’t in the habit of stripping extras from the primary disc.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:03 am
by Orlac
Good, I'm deciding to save money now by ignorning non-disc content. It's very hard to get everything I want now at full price.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 11:20 am
by JamesF
Now confirmed to have a second disc containing the long-unavailable uncut UK cinema version, as well as a new interview with Clive Barker: https://www.homecinemachoice.com/conten ... -surprises

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 12:03 pm
by Lost Highway
I like the film, Virginia Madsen is excellent and the real horror lies in how her predicament becomes increasingly desperate. I just never found Candyman himself a very frightening or effective monster. I also think the film looses something by abandoning the Bonfire Night climax with its move to Chicago. It was my least favourite holiday while I lived in the UK. Due to my loathing of fireworks, it connects to a place of real terror for me.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 12:17 pm
by tenia
I never took the Candyman character as meant to be scary or frightening. He always felt to me as a terribly tragic and sad figure within a horror-related movie.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 12:37 pm
by Lost Highway
I just don’t find him effective or compelling, be that as a scary or as a tragic monster. The faraway voice effect doesn’t work for me either. As to him not supposed to be scary, it’s a horror film and there is quite a build up which the reveal doesn’t justify. As to him being tragic, we eventually get a backstory but the character remains a blank. Every time he appears is when the film at its least successful. Its at its best in the disorientating moments after, when Madsen’s character has to deal with the fallout.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2018 6:00 pm
by colinr0380
tenia wrote:
Thu Oct 04, 2018 12:17 pm
I never took the Candyman character as meant to be scary or frightening. He always felt to me as a terribly tragic and sad figure within a horror-related movie.
Don't forget sexy and charismatic despite the mouth and chest full of bees!

Which I think plays into the other areas of dry academic research turning into bloody and visceral reality; aspirational upper middle class characters getting fascinated, and in some ways pulled back down to earth by urban legends; and of someone academically conscious but unable to act in anything other than an oblivious manner towards danger (both from environments she goes into in the wider world and from being cheated upon within her relationship) losing everything but getting to exist within a legend rather than observing from the outside. Which also allows her to have a purpose and a bit of closure in her relationship!

Re: Candyman

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:50 pm
by Cronenfly
Looks to be sold out from Arrow direct. Shout has more extras but the Arrow exclusives (short films, Barker interview, packaging) make the latter more tempting for me.

Re: Candyman

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:16 pm
by DarkImbecile