A strong contender for the title of best horror film of the 1990's, Bernard Rose's "Candyman" is a very faithful (and therefore truly scary) adaptation of Clive Barker's skin crawling short story. This film features a very rare and successful combination of both creepy atmosphere and visual ingeniousness. Whereas most movies (especially during the 90's) can hardly focus on any of these essential horror elements, Bernard Rose masterfully succeeds in stuffing his film with genuine tension as well as shocking gore-images. The plot centers on doctoral student Helen (underrated actress Virginia Madsen in her best role) who becomes obsessed with the urban legend of a hook-handed killer that terrorizes the pauperized ghettos of the nearby Cabrini Green. Needless to say that the Candyman-myth gets a little too realistic for Helen, as everyone she comes into contact with ends up being brutally killed with a hook. The script is intelligent and always several steps ahead of you, the eerie musical guidance is brilliant and the make-up effects are fantastically gruesome. Tony Todd is ideally cast as the bogeyman, with his strong posture and – above all – incredibly frightening voice. The legend behind his character is staggering and it's beautiful to see how director Rose plays with the realism and surrealism of Barker's basic idea. Not many horror films of the 90's decade come with my highest possible recommendation, but this one definitely does. And don't forget, the Candyman CAN…rip you to pieces!

Based on a Clive Barker story that has been transplanted to Chicago by British writer/director Bernard Rose.

Candyman is part Urban Legend/Gothic Romance/Psychological Thriller/Slasher Horror. It is because Rose plays around with horror tropes to move away from being a Freddy Krueger style rip off.

Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a graduate student researching urban myths who hears a story about the Candyman (Tony Todd.)

If you recite Candyman five times in front of a mirror, he will appear with his hooked hand. Helen starts to investigate some deaths in the Cabrini Green district which might be attributed to Candyman or it could be just local gangs.

However are some of the incidents in Helen's head as she is accused of murder or is she under some sort of spell by the Candyman. Even Helen's husband, a university professor has doubts about her sanity.

There are lots of themes explored in this film including social class and race. Some of the characters such as Helen's husband have ulterior motives. Rose goes for disturbing images rather than just purely gore.

There is a very nice opening scene as we see overhead images of traffic moving. It gives the film a hypnotic beat. However it does not always hold together well, becoming preposterous as it goes on. Tony Todd is an imposing figure as Candyman.

You'd think perhaps from the title that the film wouldn't be as good as it turned out to be. Based on Clive Barker's excellent, intelligent and very chilling book, Candyman is a very good film.

The production values are great and very stylish. The cinematography is beautiful, and the setting and lighting is suitably atmospheric. The atmosphere also really helps, and the more disturbing bits do not thankfully come across as laughable or fake, thanks to the atmosphere and other factors it is genuinely chilling. Phillip Glass's hypnotic and goosebump-inducing score is also very effective, Bernard Rose directs brilliantly, the story is always gripping with Candyman's origins especially well done the dialogue is thought-provoking, intelligent and fits each scene accordingly.

The film is a good length and goes at a well-judged pace. The performances are impressive too, Virginia Madsen is simply terrific in a difficult role while Tony Todd is absolutely terrifying down from his posture to his voice. In fact, for me the only real downside was the ending, it was a sort of "it's not over" ending, and for me(I may be biased as I am not a fan of this type of ending) it felt tacky. In conclusion, an atmospheric horror film that delivers on pretty much every level. 8/10 Bethany Cox