STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Caroline McKeever (Donna D'Errico) is a Los Angeles artist in an unfortunate predicament-she's the last living descendant of the Candyman!!!Eager to keep his myth alive,the hook-handed one goes about his business of slashing people from groin to gullet,trying to get Caroline to come with him into the next life and let his myth live forever.
Oh dear,where do I start?!?It wasn't inevitable that a third Candyman film would be made (highly likely,in fact) or that the Candyman franchise would branch out into the video market,but,all the same,what a mess...
It opens well,but it rapidly descends into the worst Candyman film of the series.The first and foremost problem is that it is just not scary at all,ever.It's pretty gory here and there (much like it's predecessors) but at no point does it ever jolt you or put any sense of dread into you.Another thing is that the performances are absolutely rubbish.D,Errico is okay in the lead role,even though she kept reminding me of Midlands glamour model Jakki Degg (she looks about ten years younger than she actually is,too),but Todd,as the Candyman,is here unable to liven up the proceedings,just robotically churns out his lines much less effectively than in his last two outings as the titular monster and even appears slightly bored,like he popped a valium or two before filming began.The supporting cast are what really weigh the film down,the most witless,inept bunch of hopeless nobodies who'd probably have trouble getting work in a daytime TV show (except maybe the one who played Caroline's mum!)
Overall,this is,well,as I've said,the worst of the lot.It lacks the impending,desolate,isolated sense of dread of the original and the well orchestrated shocks of the sequel.It is,in fact,a sorry,pandering mess to these far superior two films that have gone before it and a definite video work all round.Avoid.*