Limited Edition

Arrow Video, out October 29

Researcher Helen Lyle discovers that urban legend Candyman is more than a myth in this deluxe version of the Clive Barker short story.

As much as I love the work of Clive Barker, the first two Hellraisers aside, most of his movie adaptations have ranged from pedestrian to poor. Candyman is a notable exception, directed in 1992 from Barker’s Books of Blood short story The Forbidden and shifted from Liverpool to inner city Chicago. A convergence of great elements – Tony Todd as the towering eponymous villain, Virginia Madsen as the heroine, a hypnotic score by Philip Glass – ensures that this is a classic, light years away from the two sequels.

Arrow’s Limited Edition release is a packed package, putting other special editions to shame. A new 2K restoration from a new 4K scan of the original negative supervised by Rose and his DoP Anthony B. Richmond reveals previously unseen (on home release anyway) detail in the shadows, supported by a 5.1 DTS soundtrack.

Away from the discs, the set also includes lobby card prints, poster,  illustrated booklet with new writing by Michael Blyth and booklet of director Rose’s hand-painted storyboards. The director also features on a new audio commentary alongside his leading man Tony Todd, and there’s another new audio commentary from horrorphiles Stephen Jones and Kim Newman. New interviews with Todd and Madsen, three of Bernard Rose’s short films, and focused features on the effects, production design and Barker’s story are other highlights of this heavyweight package.

Verdict: Buy it. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it. No, I daren’t say it five times – just take my word that this is the definitive version of Candyman, from the enhanced movie to the stack of glorious extras. 9/10

Nick Joy