Candyman 3: Day of The Dead

Candyman 3: Day of the Dead, also known as Candyman: Day of the Dead or Candyman 3, is a 1999 American supernatural slasher film directed by Turi Meyer and starring Tony Todd and Donna D'Errico. It is the third installment in the Candyman series and followed by a fourth film in 2021, titled Candyman, that omits the events of Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead.

Plot
Art collector Caroline McKeever (Donna D'Errico) conjures up the spirit of her relative, Daniel Robitaille (Tony Todd), an African-American painter who was lynched by a white mob generations before. Daniel, who wants Caroline to join him in vengeance, begins murdering her friends and making her appear responsible for the killings. As the bodies pile up, Caroline tries to convince racist police officer L.V. Sacco (Robert O'Reilly) that the real culprit is Daniel, the famous "Candyman" killer.

Why It Sucks

 * 1) Just like with Candyman 2: Farewell to The Flesh, this film misses the point of the original film and portrays Candyman as more of a slasher villain like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, instead of an urban legend that haunts those who spoke his name in a mirror five times.
 * 2) Candyman is less intimidating in this film, due to how unoriginal his dialogue and motivation is in comparison to the original.
 * 3) In this movie, Candyman reuses the lines that he already said in the original film; making them feel less impactful.
 * 4) Its hard to even care for all of the characters, so it doesn’t feel effective when Candyman kills them off.
 * 5) Candyman’s attire is less interesting in this film as he wears a more darker jacket than in the original, no brown colour scheme or anything.
 * 6) Mediocre acting, specifically from Donna D'Errico.
 * 7) The climax is very anti-climactic. Despite Candyman possessing supernatural powers such as teleportation, he was taken out after Caroline shatters a small mirror while he says the phrase: "No! Don’t!"
 * 8) He could’ve just teleported and snatched the mirror off of them. Use common sense, people!
 * 9) Despite this being a Candyman film, the movie’s tone feels completely isolated from the first two films. At least Farewell to The Flesh tried to keep the tone of the original film. Ths film just throws the original’s tone out the window and it feels more like a “made for television” film than the first two films for that reason.
 * 10) This film is too standard and basic for a Candyman film, with a weak plot that's just going through the motions and a bland happy ending, unlike the original.
 * 11) Candyman’s backstory is kind of retconned. While this is passable for Candyman is supposed to be an urban legend, some casual viewers will probably be confused by the change of background.
 * 12) Lame cinematography and production.
 * 13) The editing is terrible and obnoxious at points.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Despite the script he was given, Tony Todd once again does an amazing job as the Candyman.
 * 2) Some good kills, like Detective Sacco's death.
 * 3) Interesting concepts involving the Candyman painting and the goth gang who want to sacrifice Caroline.

Reception
Candyman 3: Day of the Dead was universally panned by critics, audiences and fans. The film held a 10% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews with an average score of 3.8/10.

In 2008, Tony Todd admitted he considers Day of the Dead a poor entry in the Candyman series during one of Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors conventions.

The direct sequel, Candyman (produced by Jordan Peele) has much better reviews and is a major improvement compared to the bunch of problems present in this movie. And even both the sequels were kept in canon, by softly becoming part of the Candyman mythos.

Trivia

 * Tony Todd expressed his distaste for this movie, and prevented a fourth instalment from happening because of Candyman 3: Day of the Dead’s poor quality, until 2021 where Jordan Peele’s new Candyman sequel was released in theatres on the 27th of August.