DVD Reviews:  Candyman - Farewell to the Flesh

This is the next installment in the Candyman series starring Tony Todd (who starred in The Crow). For those of you who are not lucky enough to have seen the first Candyman movie (made oh so long ago), the basics of the story are simple enough.  

The Candyman is  a person killed a long time ago by very evil men and the nature of his death was such that now he kills in return. There is only one way to bring him back though and that is to say his name five times in front of a mirror. Why folks persist in doing it is beyond me, though for the sake of this movie, I am glad that they do. 

This series relies very heavily upon the startle factor and is highly successful with a number of shrieks and jumps to keep you on your toes. Relying on the old fashioned formula of anything could happen, with every turn you wait for the boogeyman to come for the stars with his blood soaked hook. 

It’s funny with an industry currently swamped with that a lot of horror titles, this one despite the age is surprising good. I think that one of the main reasons is that Candyman, despite being a killer, he almost plays the part of the victim. And in a way I guess he is, as each time he is actually called forth by the person he kills. A tragic figure shrouded in horror, the folk of New Orleans don’t utter his name more than once for extremely good reason. 

Audio and visual is a mixed bag on this disc, with what appears to be a clean transfer that looks really nice on the screen. The movie shows in 16:9 format and as far as I could discern there was really nothing that stood out enough to register a complaint. 

The audio though, whilst clear is somewhat disappointing, being in a Dolby 2.0 stereo mix. The sound is clean and again nothing to complain about. All I do keep thinking though is how potent a surround sound mix would have been to up the ante on the scare factor. 

There is the original trailer on the disc however that is all there is. In fact, there is also other Umbrella propaganda (ads) however, I refuse to give the Extras a higher score for including commercials. 

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh is a great, solid piece of storytelling that will make it a worthy addition to your horror library of DVDs. Give this one a look today. Recommended.