I’m hoping this I am wrong on this one, but it is another film never discussed. I can understand why the, hard to watch, Day of the Dead is never discussed. Tony Todd himself doesn’t like the film. But Farewell to the Flesh is better than you might remember. I think it is an underrated Horror film from the 1990s.
Most of us who lived through the 1990s remember a time before Scream and the teen horror movie craze began. These were kind of lean years in horror. We got an occasional good one, Night of the Living Dead (1990), Candyman (1992), In the Mouth of Madness (1994) and of course the movies that the main stream wouldn’t let us have like Silence of the Lambs (1991). The 90s became a breeding ground for direct to video releases and horror seemed to have the biggest selection. For me, I remember renting tons of Full Moon films. But I will say, I have no complaints of 90s horror. I really look at it like a transitional phase?
In 1992, Candyman was released and I wish I could say it blew me away. It didn’t, I don’t know if I had the mind to grasp what was happening in the film. I expected a slasher film and got something else. It took me nearly 20 years to truly appreciate Candyman. After I did, I fell in love with the film and the legend.
As her brother stands trial for the killing of an outspoken New Orleans professor, inner-city schoolteacher Annie Tarrant (Kelly Rowan) begins hearing rumors of the Candyman (Tony Todd), a murderous, knife-handed figure of urban legend. Skeptical of the Candyman’s existence, Annie follows the procedure for summoning him and suddenly finds herself celebrating the most horrifying Mardi Gras of her life. Meanwhile, Annie’s mother (Veronica Cartwright) harbors a dark family secret.
Farewell to the Flesh takes us out of Cabrini Green and Chicago to New Orleans and it is such a great setting for the second film. We learn more about the legend of Candyman, even his real name, Daniel Robitaille. We get to see his actual origin and how he became Candyman as well.
Farewell to the Flesh continues the story without crapping on the original movie. I think I’d like to see director or Candyman Bernard Rose’s original idea for a sequel, but I like this one very much. I think people need to leave the idea that Candyman is a slasher film and realize it’s more of a Gothic love story in many ways similar to Dracula. These movies are more character based rather than Kills and blood, which this does have.
Candyman is a great character and at times he can seem complex, but this and the 1992 film show these are more than slasher films and well made horror films that really deserve a different look without thinking of the title character as a slasher. Farewell to the Flesh is about a family with a dark past coming to pay its due. I love it, give it another shot.
I have a list growing of films I think may be a little underrated, Lord of Illusions, House on Haunted Hill and a few others.
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