On Friday night, I watched the new Candyman, this afternoon, The Craft: Legacy. In both cases, the original films appeared in the 1990s, and now they pick up a generation or so later.
These films are not remakes, reboots or reimaginings. Both have been advertised as sequels, and while one gets it very right, the other gets it so very wrong.
Let’s talk Candyman first.
Both Candyman films are set in the same place: Cabrini Green, though the Cabrini Green of today is very different to that of the 1990s. Early on, a visitor to an apartment there tells the story of Helen from the original Candyman, but it’s done in the way the press reported on the story – basically what the police thought happened in the original. While this is being told (using a cool puppetry effect), it uses the original iconic theme.
It knows we know about Candyman. It knows we know the truth. But it also sets up an important theme about myths and legends, truth and lies, and how different agendas can mean one takes prevalence over the other.
As the film continues our protagonist starts to learn more about the story of the Candyman, and about what happened to Helen in 1992. The two stories come together in an interesting way. The new is wrapped in the old, and yet still stands on its own two feet. To be honest, I’ll probably go see it again, as there’s so much more to take from it, but I was really impressed with how well it’s constructed.
Now let’s talk The Craft: Legacy.
This film gets straight down to business. Three young girls playing witches. They need a fourth. Cut to road, and mother and daughter moving down that road. Yes, this is our fourth that will make the coven. The first hour or so of this movie seems like it’s going to just retread the story of the original. But after a quick start, damn does it slow down. Then David Duchovny gets all weird. Then there’s an utterly pointless link to a character from the original.
There were some ideas in here, some points that had potential, but it felt like an unnecessary tacked on appendage. There are some similar ideas used as we approach the finale so it feels like the rules of magic are similar, but the antagonist makes no sense at all. It doesn’t even feel like it belongs in this movie, let alone part of the whole movie world.
Another reason that Candyman works is the way in which facts and interpretations of the original movie are weaved into the new one. The protagonist, Anthony, hears the story of Helen, and he goes to investigate, which develops the story. Throughout, connections are made. In The Craft: Legacy connections are limited at best, and when the big one comes it’s right at the end of the movie and has not affect on the plot whatsoever.
So while Candyman 2021 adds to the lore of the original, The Craft: Legacy draws from the same well as the original before taking a giant dump in the bucket.