Horror - Candyman

Analyse how the film’s opening establishes genre conventions and reaches target audiences through technical codes, narrative and characterisation

Candyman is an American Horror Film that was released in 1992, it was released on 19^th March 1993 in the UK. The film had a budget of $8 milliion and made nearly $26 million.  The film was directed by Bernard Rose and was based on a short story by Clive Barker called ‘The Forbidden’.  It is about a University Student that is researching about urban legends and comes across one known as ‘Candyman’.

The film starts with an aerial shot of a city which tracks along following a road. It is accompanied by a soundtrack that is very overpowering immediately as the film starts. The aerial shot represents how people are carrying on with day to day life unaware of the danger they face. The non-diegetic soundtrack is a choir and an organ so the audience can see that religion has something to do with the story of the film.  When the title ‘Candyman’ appears it is much larger than any previous titles, the edges are pointed which could represent danger but also religion with the points on the cross. It is also white which is usually used to represent innocence and purity. The organ also gets louder at this point to try and add fear for the audience. Although nothing has happened at this point the soundtrack illustrates that something will to the audience to try and build the suspense and tension.

This scene then cuts to an aerial shot of what seems to be large number of bees which then begins to zoom in on them. The audience automatically will see them as a sign of danger and fear as most people fear being stung. This is accompanied by a voice over by a man which is deep is again added to fear to the audience. It then cuts to a scene of the city with the swarm of bees around which there is a piercing scream.

There is a brief voice over which says ‘I came for you’ which the scene then fades into a close up on a woman’s face which suggests that she is in some sort of danger from the ‘Candyman’. The idea of the woman being blonde and pretty suggest she is the venerable on in danger. The close up lingers there for some time highlighting this. The scene then cuts to a house on which the camera is zooming in unsteadily and at a quite fast pace. This is accompanied by a voice over telling the narrative of the scene.

The next woman that the audience see again has blonde hair, she proceeds to take her top off and the audience notice the cross necklace she has and the white bra. The idea of the white is used to represent purity, however she is not and while the cross shows her religion she isn’t sticking to the rules of her religion so the protection of the cross may be invalid. The over the shoulder shot of the two infront of the mirror gives  the audience a different view of the scene and is a reflection of them. As the man says ‘Candyman’ each time the soundtrack builds to add tension and fear giving the illusion that something is coming for them although he only reaches the fourth time. The man then leaves to the room and the scene cuts to a wide shot of him which zooms in and then back to the woman who says ‘Candyman’ for the fifth time who then turns out the light. Suddenly you see a figure appear behind her and then it cuts to a shot of the ceiling below and you see the blood begin to appear and drip through. The idea of the blood is to reinforce the idea of the horror genre and to the audience.  The audience has tension and suspense built up throughout the scene. This is widely used throughout the horror genre to make the audience fear and the idea that something doesn’t happen every time makes the audience on edge throughout.

This film is successful using the horror conventions throughout. A combination of different things help to give the audience the suspense, fear and tension they expect when watching any horror film. Within this film I think the soundtrack music and the mise-en-scene such as the props and costumes of the female characters help to show them as the vulnerable ones and the ones that something will happen to. This follow the typical conventions where audience expect a male to be the one who is the bad person and the female to be the victim.