Candyman: Day of the Dead is set in Los Angeles where the busty Caroline McKeever (Donna D'Errico) lives, the great, great granddaughter of the notorious urban legend hook handed killer Daniel Robitaille (co-producer Tony Todd) also known as the Candayman she has been having disturbing visions & nightmares about him. Caroline's friend & art gallery owner Miguel (Mark Adair-Rios) has persuaded her to loan original paintings done by Robitaille for an exhibition, the paints stir up memories & get people talking about the Candyman myth again & when Miguel is found brutally murdered the next day Caroline is sure the Candyman is responsible but the police are not convinced. As the Candyman visions get more & more terrifying Caroline must find a way to overcome her fears & lay the Candyman to rest once & for all but with the body count steadily rising will she be next?
This straight to video third instalment of the Candyman series based on the character created by Clive Barker was co-written & directed by Turi Meyer & in all honestly wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting, in fact I would go as far as to say that Candyman: Day of the Dead is actually alright. The first Candyman (1992) dealt with the myth & legend of the Candyman himself, the second one Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) dealt with the Candyman trying to get reincarnated while this one starts off like the paintings are going to be the major plot point but the script becomes a sort of Halloween (1978) clone as the Candyman goes after his sole remaining relative (who happens to be a pretty blonde chick with big breasts). Unfortunately there's never really enough explanation given as to why he goes after said big breasted blonde chick, as far as I could ascertain it's because he wants her with him or something like that & as such I didn't really care that much. Add to that a silly plot twist involving a Candyman worshipping cult who get written out no sooner as they appear, a racist bad tempered cop, a murder investigation & a man wrongly accused of the killings & there's just that little bit more story & depth than one might expect from a straight to video continuation of a horror franchise although how does Candyman manage to randomly show up at certain points (when the story needs it) despite no-one saying his name five times? I mean, you know, I thought that saying his name five times was essential. At 90 odd minutes the pace is alright, there's enough blood & gore & the character's are alright to make this watchable at least if nothing else.
There's more than a few annoying fake scare scenes where people wake up just as something nasty is about to happen & the prolonged scene where Caroline hears her friend screaming & upon rushing to her rescue finds out that she was rehearsing for a part in a horror film is groan inducing & just plain cheesy. This was gorier than I expected, there's some nice blood gushing slit throats, people are impaled on hooks, ripped up bodies are seen & someone gets a large hook thrust through their mouth & it exits out the back of their head. There's also a strange egg yolk scene in which a bloody Bee emerges from it in another of those fake scare moments. To add to the general exploitation level as well as some good gore effects there's quite a few naked breasts on show if that sort of thing interests you. The films subtitle Day of the Dead refers to some sort of tradition but doesn't really have any meaning to the film itself apart from the very last shot.
The production values are pretty good & the film looks nice enough I suppose with good special effects. The acting is alright with ex Baywatch star Donna D'Errico looking quite nice here although it's hard to believe she is related to Tony Todd.
Candyman: Day of the Dead isn't too bad a film, sure it's no masterpiece or anything but there's a bit more story, a bit more character & a bit more gore than usual for this type of straight to video horror. You could do worse but then again you could do better.
This straight to video third instalment of the Candyman series based on the character created by Clive Barker was co-written & directed by Turi Meyer & in all honestly wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting, in fact I would go as far as to say that Candyman: Day of the Dead is actually alright. The first Candyman (1992) dealt with the myth & legend of the Candyman himself, the second one Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995) dealt with the Candyman trying to get reincarnated while this one starts off like the paintings are going to be the major plot point but the script becomes a sort of Halloween (1978) clone as the Candyman goes after his sole remaining relative (who happens to be a pretty blonde chick with big breasts). Unfortunately there's never really enough explanation given as to why he goes after said big breasted blonde chick, as far as I could ascertain it's because he wants her with him or something like that & as such I didn't really care that much. Add to that a silly plot twist involving a Candyman worshipping cult who get written out no sooner as they appear, a racist bad tempered cop, a murder investigation & a man wrongly accused of the killings & there's just that little bit more story & depth than one might expect from a straight to video continuation of a horror franchise although how does Candyman manage to randomly show up at certain points (when the story needs it) despite no-one saying his name five times? I mean, you know, I thought that saying his name five times was essential. At 90 odd minutes the pace is alright, there's enough blood & gore & the character's are alright to make this watchable at least if nothing else.
There's more than a few annoying fake scare scenes where people wake up just as something nasty is about to happen & the prolonged scene where Caroline hears her friend screaming & upon rushing to her rescue finds out that she was rehearsing for a part in a horror film is groan inducing & just plain cheesy. This was gorier than I expected, there's some nice blood gushing slit throats, people are impaled on hooks, ripped up bodies are seen & someone gets a large hook thrust through their mouth & it exits out the back of their head. There's also a strange egg yolk scene in which a bloody Bee emerges from it in another of those fake scare moments. To add to the general exploitation level as well as some good gore effects there's quite a few naked breasts on show if that sort of thing interests you. The films subtitle Day of the Dead refers to some sort of tradition but doesn't really have any meaning to the film itself apart from the very last shot.
The production values are pretty good & the film looks nice enough I suppose with good special effects. The acting is alright with ex Baywatch star Donna D'Errico looking quite nice here although it's hard to believe she is related to Tony Todd.
Candyman: Day of the Dead isn't too bad a film, sure it's no masterpiece or anything but there's a bit more story, a bit more character & a bit more gore than usual for this type of straight to video horror. You could do worse but then again you could do better.