Every horror story has a beginning, but sometimes, not in the way you think. Eerie and poignant, a chilling new teaser is beguiling viewers with its haunting shadow puppetry, hinting at the origins of one cinema’s modern horror icons. The animation features the backstory of the Candyman, the unsettling entity that terrorizes the protagonists of Jordan Peele’s (Get Out, Us) upcoming film of the same name.
Director Nia DaCosta (Little Woods) shared the animated short via Twitter. She credited Manual Cinema for the shadow puppetry and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe for the music score.
The short consists of grisly tales of racism, made all the more chilling by the references to real life acts of racism towards the black community. Moreover, the crudeness of the animation adds a new layer to the bleak atmosphere within it.
One such tale was that of George Stinney Jr., a 14-year-old black boy who was unjustly accused of crime by 2 white girls. He was ultimately persecuted and led to an untimely death by the electric chair at the young age of 14. After questionable instances were pointed out over the decades, his conviction was overturned in 2014, 70 years after he was executed.
Armed with a hook attached to the bloody remnants of his right arm and a swarm of bees, the supernatural killer continues to haunt the residents of the present day Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighbourhood. The 2020 Candyman film will be a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name.
Known for his zany sense of humour and comedy sketches, the multitalented Jordan Peele teams up with up and coming director, Nia DaCosta, and fellow producers Ian Cooper (Us) and Win Rosenfeld (BlacKkKlansman, The Twilight Zone) to release this modern retelling of the gruesome urban legend. The film is a haunting reminder of the racial injustice and classism that plagues the world even today.
With the #BlackLivesMatter movement going on, the film could not have come at a better timing. It is slated to be released in theatres on 25 September 2020 after delays due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Fumiko is an avid fan of spreading herself too thin and drowning in too many fandoms. She would love to spend all day reading fanfiction at home and crying.
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