Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh is a 1995 American supernatural slasher film directed by Bill Condon and starring Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, William O'Leary, Bill Nunn, Matt Clark and Veronica Cartwright. Written by Rand Ravich and Mark Kruger, it is a sequel to the 1992 film Candyman, which was an adaptation of Clive Barker's short story, "The Forbidden". Its plot follows a New Orleans schoolteacher who finds herself targeted by the Candyman, the powerful spirit of the murdered son of a slave who kills those who invoked him.
Unlike its predecessor, the film received negative reviews from critics. It was followed by a third film, Candyman 3: Day of the Dead, which was released in 1999 and set in 2020, and a fourth film, titled Candyman, a direct sequel to the original 1992 film, which was released in 2021 and set in 2019.
Plot[]
Three years after the Candyman murders in Chicago, Professor Phillip Purcell writes a book about the Candyman legend and hosts a lecture event in New Orleans discussing his life. He reveals his real name to be Daniel Robitaille and that he was born to enslaved Africans after the civil war. For amusement, he jokingly summons the Candyman in a mirror-like reflection of his book.
After the event, Purcell runs into Ethan Tarrant, one of the attendees. Ethan's father, Coleman, was murdered while investigating the deaths of three men in a manner similar to the Candyman legend. He warns Purcell about the Candyman, but Purcell ignores him. Going to a nearby bar, Purcell is killed by the Candyman in the restroom. The case is handled by Detective Ray Levesque and his partner, Pam Carver. They consider Ethan a suspect given his confrontation with Purcell.
Ethan's mother, Octavia, and his younger sister Annie, an art teacher, come to the station to defend him. Ethan is pressured by Levesque, who believes him to be guilty. In the meantime, Matthew Ellis, one of Annie's students, claims to have seen the Candyman. Annie tries to discredit the legend by invoking his name. Her husband, Paul, becomes one of his victims. The Candyman stalks Annie so he may kill her, and reveals that she is pregnant with Paul's daughter.
At home one morning, Annie gets a visit from a couple of her students about Matthew disappearing. Annie meets with his father, Reverend Ellis, and learns Matthew had dreams of the Candyman and sketched out the events of his death. After talking with Ethan to uncover more on their father's murder, Annie visits Honore Thibideaux, Coleman's friend, unaware that Levesque is following her as a suspect. Honore tells Annie about Daniel Robitaille and his affair with a white woman named Caroline that led to his death and earning him the name "Candyman". Caroline's father taunted the dying Daniel with Caroline's mirror, capturing a part of his soul. Caroline hid the mirror in Daniel's birthplace and granted him the ability to kill when called upon. Annie's father believed that if the mirror is destroyed, it will end the curse.
The Candyman appears and kills Honore. Levesque finds Honore's body and believes Annie killed him. Annie returns to Matthew's house and his father shows her documents of Daniel's birth and realizes he was born in the same house she was. The reverend leads Annie to a cemetery where she sees his grave with Caroline buried next to him and indicating that they had a daughter named Isabel. Going through old family pictures, Annie discovers she is a descendant of theirs and that Caroline bought Daniel's house where Annie and Ethan later grew up as children, and where Ethan discovered Coleman died as a result of him summoning the Candyman to defeat him.
At the police station, Levesque tries to get Ethan to admit that Annie did the killings and he is covering for her. Levesque is killed by the Candyman after summoning him to mock Ethan, who is shot dead when he tries to escape. Annie confronts Octavia about the Candyman, and Octavia admits that Coleman tried to link their family to the Candyman, and continues to deny him to protect her family's name; incensed by her disbelief, the Candyman kills her, and Annie flees. With the police on her trail, Annie runs into Carver, who tells her she has seen how Levesque died on camera footage. She lets Annie escape.
Annie goes to Daniel's birthplace and finds Matthew in an old shed. She falls through the stairs into the flooded basement, where she finds Caroline's mirror and the Candyman. Before he can sacrifice her, Annie destroys the mirror, annihilating him. The slave quarters crashes into the river, but Matthew saves Annie. Annie returns Matthew home where they both are blessed by Reverend Ellis at his church.
Five years later, Annie teaches her young daughter Caroline about her family history, naming her after Daniel's lover. After Annie kisses her goodnight and leaves the room, Caroline starts to chant the Candyman's name. Annie stops her and tells her to go to bed.