The Candyman really is a tragic character. Not just as a result of the events that led to him becoming a killer of myth to begin with, but also because for all his talk of what a "blessed condition" it is to live on through the beliefs of his "congregation," his time spent trapped between life and death has left him constantly searching for a means of regaining the family that was taken from him. His latest attempt at doing so sees him once again ruining the life of one of his descendants by killing everyone close to her and framing her for the murders so that she has nowhere else to turn but to him. Only this time he gets weirdly incestuous about it... Like its direct predecessor, this still isn't a worthy follow-up to the original. Yet, if they were so determined to turn the property into a low-rent slasher series at least it fully embraces the kind of cheap thrills that Farewell to the Flesh was light on. Namely gore and nudity. There is no shortage of blood here. While none of it is used as creatively as in the first movie, believe it or not there are a few genuinely gruesome and eerie moments. Like watching a bee crawl out of a bloody egg yolk. Tony Todd is also effectively unnerving again as a spectral quality has returned to his voice. He also seems to have more supernatural powers than ever before, giving him plenty of new tricks to use when screwing with his prey. The story itself is just a retread of the first two films without the depth. No explanation is given as to how the Candyman is able to come back after his one link to the world was destroyed. It's implied that his continued existence is the result of people still passing around his urban legend, and that somehow his paintings from before he was killed have become a new anchor he can use to pass into the realm of the living. It's shaky logic to be sure, but at the same time isn't worse than anything the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise ever came up with to keep Freddy in theaters. What's really strange though is that the movie inexplicably switches its focus from the issues facing the African-American community to the Latin one as the cast is primarily Hispanic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just kind of comes out of nowhere and feels a little odd given what I had come to expect from the trilogy up to this point. If you were hoping Day of the Dead would right the wrongs of the second entry and be a true successor Bernard Rose's horror gem then prepare to be letdown. This is another cheap splatter flick bearing the Candyman name that's more concerned with gratuitous bloodshed (because what's blood for after all?) and boobs than thematic depth or rich symbolism. However, by giving up any pretense of complexity it manages to be quite a bit of fun in its sex and slaughter, while offering scenarios that are perhaps more inventive than anyone gives them credit for. I even liked the hazy visuals brought about by the low budget. So while the superb 1992 classic should never have been reduced to this, I still had a great time regardless.