(1999)

review by:

1-16-04

Written by: Al Septien and Turi Meyer Directed by: Turi Meyer Starring: Tony Todd, Alexia Robinson, Jsu Garcia

Daniel Robitaille (the Candyman, to the uninitiated) is called to this world once again by his great, great granddaughter. People close to Tamara start dying, and she's accused of the murders. She's got to clear her name and get the Candyman off her ass, all while finding Robitaille's stolen paintings. Oh yeah, and it's the Day of the Dead. Does this plot sound familiar? Well, if you've seen the first two you'll recognize the story from the original cut with the items-linking-him-to-this-world gag from the second. And the Day of the Dead thing replaces Mardi Gras from Candyman 2. This movie gives the viewer nothing original, and is, quite frankly, crap. It's a predictable wad of horror jello with a meat hook. There's the big-busted main chick, the scum-sucking bottom-feeder of a cop who you know will get his, the handsome guy, the mystic, and the kid. There's also the obligatory abduction-of-the-love-interest scene. Trust me, you've seen this before. Don't bother to again. But it's not like this movie should exist anyway. For all intents and purposes, he's killed at the end of Farewell to the Flesh. Day of the Dead gives absolutely no explanation for why he's back, only now he's somehow linked to his paintings and not the object in 2. As GameSlave mentioned, they could have used the Day of the Dead angle as the one logical reason for his return, but they miss the point completely, using the setup merely to shoot the heroine running through a street celebration. This film strengthens the theory that no horror flick can take place in Mexico or Latino LA without it being the Day of the Dead. The only genuinely good thing about Candyman 3 is the Mexican man who screams "La Migra!" every time a cop passes by and the bee emerging from an egg yolk. And Tony Todd's performance is pretty good, considering the crap he's got to work with. But he's always been cool; who else would allow bees to crawl on his face for the crappy third installment of a once cool franchise? But these few things are really all this movie has to offer. We'd put off renting this film for quite a while, and it turns out we should have skipped it all together. The first Candyman is great, and the second is pretty good. Day of the Dead combines the two, and comes out with the good features of neither. If only someone had buried the meat hook in this project from the beginning...

AKA: Candyass: Day of the Dead Franchise

Rating