Earlier this week, a short video arrived on Twitter recontextualizing the 1992 horror film Candyman for a modern audience. Despite its somewhat misleading title, the frightening film starring Tony Todd as the titular horror monster has been praised as one of the top black horror films of all time, and a “spiritual sequel” to the film produced by Jordan Peele is set for release in September of this year.
In addition to anticipating the upcoming Candyman sequel, this short film comes in the wake of weeks of Black Lives Matter protests across America in response to police violence. As a result, many film and television franchises have been asked to consider the best way to recontextualize their content for the current moment. Police-centered shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine have been encouraged to address the topic of white privilege in future episodes, and other shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia have been making efforts to address instances of racism in previous episodes. As for the horror genre specifically, there’s been a noticeable trend of inclusivity in horror films over the past decade, and fans can expect this trend to continue as early as later this year.
For Candyman in particular, its recontextualization now feels especially relevant thanks to this new Candyman 2020 movie trailer. The video was posted by screenwriter and director Nia DaCosta on Twitter, who co-wrote the upcoming Candyman sequel alongside Peele. The trailer shows both images from the film and references to real-life crimes against black people. As one commenter points out, the shadow puppet scenes illustrate instances black people being executed, as with 14 year-old George Stinney Jr., or violently attacked, as with James Byrd Jr.
The short film was a collaboration between the minds behind the upcoming film and Manual Cinema, which created the shadow puppet vignettes throughout the trailer. The resulting short film has fans looking forward to Peele and DaCosta’s take on the classic Candyman property. DaCosta’s tweet seems to promise that the film will tackle serious issues surrounding race relations, stating that the film is “at the intersection of white violence and black pain,” and will tell the story of “unwilling martyrs.”
With its gruesome yet beautiful approach to some of the most tragic stories in recent memory, Candyman feels like a horror film perfectly suited to the current moment. The upcoming sequel will have the opportunity to revisit stories of black people as monsters and retell those stories with more empathy and understanding. Hopefully, the new Candyman movie will give black viewers a sense of catharsis, and encourage white viewers to re-examine themselves through a new lens.
Source: Nia DaCosta
