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Candyman 3

Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (sometimes titled just Candyman: Day of the Dead) 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 a direct sequel to the 1995 film Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh. Its plot follows Caroline, the daughter of Annie Tarrant and a descendant of the Candyman, the powerful spirit of the murdered son of a slave who kills those who invoked him, who finds herself targeted by him on the eve of the Day of the Dead.

Unlike the first two installments, the film did not get a theatrical release and was instead released direct-to-video on July 9, 1999. It was followed by a fourth film in 2021, titled Candyman, a direct sequel to the original 1992 film which returns the storyline to Chicago, Illinois.

Plot[]

In 2020, twenty-five years after the events of the second film in 1995, a Candyman-themed gallery event hosted by artist Miguel Velasco in Los Angeles is attended by Caroline McKeever, daughter of Annie Tarrant and Paul McKeever from the second film and a direct descendant of the Candyman. Caroline summons the Candyman by saying his name five times in a mirror. Shortly afterwards, the Candyman kills Miguel and his lover Lena with his hooked hand.

Miguel's gallery is soon broken into by a local gang who steals the Candyman's paintings. Caroline talks with her roommate Tamara about the Candyman. It is revealed via flashback that the Candyman killed Caroline's dementia-ridden mother while she was taking a bath by slitting her throat with his hook. Annie summoned him and her death was believed to be suicide. A couple hours beforehand when last seeing her mother alive, Annie had told Caroline to 'destroy the myth'.

The murders are pinned on David de la Paz, a friend of Miguel's who soon gets acquainted with Caroline. After envisioning the Candyman and the ghost of her mother in a diner bathroom, she comes clean with David about her history. He takes her to see his grandmother, a psychic healer, who informs Caroline that she must destroy the good part of the Candyman in order to eliminate the evil. She shows Caroline visions that the good part of the Candyman lies within his paintings. Afterwards, the Candyman kidnaps David and keeps him stored in an unknown building swinging from hooks pierced into his back.

After the Candyman kills Caroline's roommate Tamara, Caroline is taken in for questioning. A seasoned police detective named L.V. Sacco is murdered by the Candyman while Caroline is in the car, which both brings her heat from the local authorities and earns her hate from Sacco's partner Lt. Det. Samuel Deacon Kraft, who had no intention of bringing her in alive. When Caroline goes to an abandoned building to retrieve the paintings from the gang who stole them from Miguel's gallery, she is captured by them and knocked out. She awakens tied to a chair and gagged. The gang summons the Candyman in the hopes of sacrificing Caroline but the Candyman kills the entire gang instead.

Caroline explores the building and finds David alive, but injured. The Candyman suddenly appears, and attempts to convince her to give her life to him. However, Caroline destroys a portrait of him with a hook, which causes a similar wound to appear on him. She slips and causes a candle to light the painting on fire, causing the Candyman to burst into flames. Caroline frees David, but is attacked by Det. Kraft, who tries to kill her with a hook. He is shot in the back of the head by Det. Jamal Matthews, who was following Kraft. Before he dies, Kraft gasps out "Candyman”. Caroline remembers her mother's advice to 'destroy the myth', and tells Matthews that Kraft was the Candyman this whole time.

After the news is released that Kraft was the Candyman, Caroline states, "There was no such thing as the Candyman" in front of a mirror to ensure he is dead. The Candyman's hook bursts through the mirror, but is then revealed to be just a nightmare. Caroline has a picnic with David and his daughter Cristina in front of Annie's grave as the Day of the Dead celebrations continue. She is finally happy, and is convinced the Candyman no longer exists.

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