Review: Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)

Stars: Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan

Budget: $6m

Directed By: Bill Condon

With a new one of the psuedo, reboot/sequels coming out i'm taking a look back at the previous entries in the series. Here is the second in the series Candyman 2 or Farewell to the Flesh.

With the success of the original it was inevitable to see a sequel of some kind. The films have now become a 'franchise' garnering respect of the likes of Ft13th and NoES. Some don't see them as scary or as strong as those series, though a lot find Tony Todds Candyman a very strong enough character.

This one takes place not long after the last, about 3 years, though has little to do with the characters from the original film. It is again based on having the belief in the Candyman but with a bit of an extra twist thrown in to extend the mythos. As with the first movie though it's still all about the belief/fear in the man himself, to keep that fear in people so he can always exist perpetually.

Teacher Annie Tarrant from new Orleans is troubled, Her dad went missing investigating some murders linked to Candyman. Also her brother has been falsely accused of murdering a book writer (the long haired teacher guy from part 1). It doesn't help that he was seen harassing the man a number of times over the book about Candyman he wrote.
Annie stupidly summons Candyman when one her students says about him, also Mardi Gras is about to start New Orleans too. Doesn't take long before people start being killed, one Annie's husband.

We get a lot more backstory on the Candyman in this one too, like his real name of Daniel Robitaille, who was the son of a plantation worker. We find out Daniel is an amazing painter, this takes him into the world of the white slavers when he is commissioned to paint a picture for a rich landowner. The picture is of his daughter Caroline, the two fall in love and Caroline falls pregnant.
Her father orders a mob to catch and lynch Daniel, except as you know he was treated a lot worse than just hung.
This is expanded on a little more in here with a small child tasting the honey proclaiming Daniel as the 'Candyman'. Caroline's father then uses Caroline's mirror to show Daniel what he looks like, then starts taunting him too. It then believed that Daniels spirit entered the mirror, which Caroline hides in Daniels birthplace. She later gives birth to a daughter, Isabel. It is thought that the mirror is the reason why Candyman can travel to where he is summoned.

In Candyman fashion he starts to kill people involved with him/Annie/investigation. Including the detective interrogating her brother Ethan, Ethan is then shot dead trying to escape the police. He kills Annie's mother who knew their connection to Caroline but disbelieves in the myth.
Annie goes to look for the original mirror in an attempt to stop the Candyman. I'll leave it there as we don't spoil ending here unless the film is abysmal.

THN awards Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh, 3 out of 5 stars where as it only made back just over twice it's budget it is a semi decent sequel that expands on the lore.