The legend of Candyman returned with a direct sequel to the original horror movie and even brought back a character who played a major role in that iconic story. Released in 1992, Candyman was a critical success, morphing into a franchise. Over two decades after the third film hit DTV, this follow-up to the first entry, also titled Candyman, arrived. Based on Clive Barker’s short story, the original Candyman followed a Chicago graduate student writing a thesis on urban legends, which led her to the legend of Candyman. 2c62r

Tony Todd played iconic horror villain Candyman in three films before a spiritual sequel arrived in 2021. While having a compelling villain can be important to just about any film, in horror, sometimes the villains themselves become the cornerstone on which a franchise is built. However, there's one thing most popular horror villains have in common: they're white. There really aren't too many prominent horror villains of color out there, and even fewer who managed to spawn a franchise.

Nia DaCosta’s 2021 Candyman explained shows how the requel ties into the original and continues the subversive themes of the horror franchise. Candyman is a sequel/soft reboot to Bernard Rose’s 1992 film of the same name, which was based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden.” The Candyman sequel picks up in the present day, with Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) returning to Cabrini-Green. Anthony’s return to coincides with the comeback of the Candyman in the form of Daniel Robitaille, and a new iteration in Sherman Fields, a Black man who was a victim of racist violence.

Candyman has the distinction of being a creepy horror film based on urban legends with a romantic sentimentality at its core, and the line its titular villain utters, 'It was always you, Helen," explores that duality. In the beginning, graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is researching the connection between local folk legends and inner-city blight in Chicago's notorious Cabrini-Green community, where the mythology of Candyman (Tony Todd) has provided both fear and respect. As she uncovers the truth about the man behind the legend, a former slave turned artist who was the victim of a heinous hate crime in the 1800s, he becomes equally intrigued with her.

The 2021 reboot of the classic horror movie Candyman was smartly written, carefully directed, and powerfully acted, including a memorable ing turn by Rodney L. Jones III. Acting as a direct sequel to the original 1992 movie, 2021’s Candyman revolves around an artist whose latest piece, inspired by the eponymous urban legend, ends up reawakening some sinister spirits. The reboot was produced by Jordan Peele, after he revitalized the social thriller genre with his debut feature Get Out, and directed by The Marvels’ Nia DaCosta. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris star as the couple who unwittingly contend with the ghosts of Candymen past.

Sweets to the Sweet: The Candyman Mythos is a short documentary that covers the making and legacy of the original Candyman. Sweets to the Sweet: The Candyman Mythos arrived in 2004, over a decade after Candyman hit theaters. The story followed a student named Helen Lyle, whose research into urban legends leads her to look into the myth of the Candyman. This is the vengeful spirit of a murdered Black artist and the story goes that he can be summoned if his name is spoken into a mirror five times.

Anne-Marie McCoy might just be Candyman's most tragic victim. The original Candyman was based on a short story by Clive Barker dubbed "The Forbidden." Candyman moved the story from Liverpool to Chicago and followed Virginia Madsen's Helen, a student researching the titular slasher, who is an urban legend said to haunt a housing project named Cabrini-Green. Helen finds much to her horror the legend is all too real after she summons him, and he slowly tears her life apart while beckoning Helen to him in the afterlife.

The Candyman franchise has been around for decades, and though it has spawned four movies since 1992, the only related game is a Monopoly-like board game. The 1995 board game was based on the second Candyman film with which it shares its name, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. The promotional board game accommodates 2-5 players and is designed by Jacobson & Atkins Advertising.

With new releases like The Black Phonescaring the wits out of unsuspecting viewers, horror hounds are often reminded of their favorite chillers based on urban legends. The old wives' tale has been used to keep people in line for centuries, and they have often made the best fodder for horror flicks.

Amazon Prime offers some great horror movie choices to fill a fright flick marathon, and these are the best Amazon Prime horror movies 2022 has to offer. While horror has long been regarded as a lesser genre by those inclined to snobbery, audiences at large seem to be finally waking up to horror's merits — as more and more horror (or horror adjacent) movies and TV shows earn rave reviews and/or huge profits at the box office. Almost every studio and streaming service has gotten into the horror content game, from crossover hits like Stranger Things, to cult items like Into the Dark.