James Craven

Terrific! James McAvoy is off the chain crazy, creepy and cruel; not missing one beat. As this fine actor has aged, his artistic instincts and focus has only deepened, in my opinion. Mackenzie Davis was kind of a revelation to me, in that her character had the most interesting qualities and levels going on; and I only knew her from one of the Terminator movies. I, along with many other vocal audience members, wanted to strangle the weakling character, played by Scoot McNairy. Scoot did good portrayaling him. Alix West and Dan Hough, as the children, were both heartbreaking. I don’t know if it was intentional, but I saw Dan looking directly into the camera a couple times, and, it kinda creeped me out, because his character was so wounded and I didn’t want to see him that deep. I hadn’t seen Aisling Franciosi before, but I will look for her in future films; as I will, director James Watkins, who paced this horror/thriller to its most effective stage.

The best blend of surrealism, steam punk and the study of societal dynamics, of the expectations placed on a modern woman.

JP doesn’t follow the expected path. This movie unspools slower and more disjointed, than Get Out and US, but I stayed with it and enjoyed the trip and artistry.

This Candyman is an artistic gem of a movie. The understanding of the art world denizens alone, makes this a special event. Horror story, revenge fantasy and social commentary, abound; to me, it’s Monkey Paw’s best one yet.

Far better than any of the 2020 Golden Globe nominees, in every category.