Candyman

Directed by Nia DaCosta, Candyman follows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Anthony McCoy as he becomes interested (and eventually obsessed) with the legend of the supernatural, murderous title figure. Filmmaker DaCosta kicks the proceedings off with a striking and thoroughly stylish opening stretch that seems to promise a vast improvement over the picture’s uniformly underwhelming predecessors, and although the movie’s screenplay, written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld, occasionally leans just a little too heavily on less-than-subtle instances of social commentary, Candyman segues into an admittedly erratic midsection that grows more and more absorbing as it unfolds – with the progressively compelling atmosphere heightened by the solid performances and a smattering of electrifying set-pieces. (The latter is most keenly reflected in a fantastic sequence wherein a group of teenage girls are massacred in a high-school bathroom.) By the satisfying climax and hypnotic end credits roll around, Candyman has certainly cemented its place as an erratic yet mostly engaging piece of work that succeeds as both a superior sequel and a better-than-average contemporary horror effort.

*** out of ****