I saw pieces of this film at different times but never watched it from beginning to end until now. It was much more than the usual slasher film. The dynamic between the Candyman and his would be victim (Helen) was much more personal than is typical for a horror film.

The themes of race could have easily become didactic, but the film did a great job of walking that line.

One of my favorite themes was the intellectual/academic one. Helen was so absorbed in her thesis that she treated the real world (and the people in it) like it was just part of her study. That made her seem pretty fearless in the way she approached danger and uncertainty, but really she was just presuming that everything scary could be given an “explanation” turning it innocuous.

The film adds a layer to this theme when it is revealed that Candyman was educated and well-respected in academic circles until he was brutally tortured to death. The academics were too removed to kill him themselves, so they hired some “hoodlums.”

The film does a great job of juxtaposing the past with the present and asking us how much has really changed.