Candyman

It's well accepted by now that horror films can be vehicles for pretty much anything. I generally don't have a problem with that, unless it takes away from the horror itself, and that's where this Candyman sequel becomes a complete disaster. The horror is absolute crap, which takes down the rest of the film.

The Candyman legacy lives on. Anthony is a young artist who is struggling to paint, until he bumps into the story of Helen Lyle. He becomes infatuated by the story and decides to pursue it, hoping it might give him some inspiration for his next work. What he doesn't know is that he awoke the Candyman by doing so.

There are some visually inventive moments (like the shadow puppets and the upside down urban photography), but they are overused and don't add much to the overall mood. The murders are boring, the Candyman isn't scary at all, the horror is just drab. Peele's unsubtle messaging is pretty grating too, though that's the least of this film's worries. A disappointment.