The 1992 horror movie Candyman tells a heartbreaking story of a man who was mistreated, and the original and the 2021 remake have equally sad endings. In the original, graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is researching the legend when she comes across a young boy named Anthony McCoy who she wants to keep safe. In the remake, that boy is all grown up and now he's an artist (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Both Helen and adult Anthony want to learn more about what happened to Daniel Robitaille, who was a slave's child who was brutally killed for falling in love with a wealthy white woman.
Both the 1992 Candyman and the 2021 remake were a big hit with critics. And judging from both of their scores on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences liked both movies, too. What happens at the end of Candyman and how does the 2021 Candyman remake compare?
How Does the Original Candyman End?
Candyman is a good example of a classic woke horror movie and the Candyman ending is dark and emotional. Helen visits the Candyman at Cabrini-Green and he says that he can make her immortal. The Candyman kisses Helen and bees leave his mouth. Helen's goal is to help Anne-Marie McCoy's young son Anthony (Lanesha Martin).
The Candyman tells Helen that she can ensure that Anthony will be safe as long as she is part of his plan: to make the people living at Cabrini-Green afraid. Helen passes away in a fire at the apartment complex. The Candyman is one of the most timeless 1990s horror movie villains and it's heartbreaking to watch Helen die as a result of looking into this legend.
The fact that she was just trying to be there for Anthony proves how kind, helpful, and compassionate she is. But at the same time, the Candyman ending feels like the only possible one. It's not the kind of story that could end happily given the pain that Daniel Robitaille went through.
The Candyman ending shows Helen as an evil ghost. When Trevor Lyle (Xander Berkeley) repeats Helen's name a total of five times in the mirror, Helen's ghost murders him. This is definitely a chilling way to end the movie. Helen could never have imagined what happened to her when she began doing research. But she follows her gut instincts, which lead her to this apartment complex, and this is her sad fate.
The final image is memorable and scary, as the Candyman has a mural of Helen. Her hair is on fire and she's wearing a white outfit. It's a scene that definitely stays with audiences. The lore of the Candyman is rich and detailed, and the 1992 movie is a great example of an intelligent elevated horror movie. The themes of racial injustice and prejudice are present in every scene,
How Does The 2021 Candyman End?
Candyman (2021) might have an even darker ending than the 1992 movie, which is definitely saying something. The 2021 Candyman remake is a solid watch and is about artist Anthony McCoy and his girlfriend Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris). Anthony learns more about the Candyman legend and then becomes caught up in it in a dangerous way.
Anthony is in a fugue state in a church and the Candyman cuts off Anthony's hand, putting a hook there instead. In one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole movie, a cop shoots and kills Anthony. This scene is really sad to watch, especially considering what happened to Anthony when he was a young child. He has been through so much and seeing his story end this way is harsh.
But given the emotional and heavy tone of the movie, it would feel strange if there was a happy ending, despite how much audiences want to see Anthony end up okay. In both movies, the Candyman himself is an underrated '90s horror villain as he has a proper history that is really sad to think about.
When police officers want Brianna to say that Anthony has been murdering people, she makes sure that the Candyman appears. The Candyman kills the police officers by taking the shape of Anthony. Daniel Robitaille then appears in the Candyman's face. The imagery is as vivid and terrifying as in the original Candyman movie as bees are present here, too.
While some '90s horror movies don't hold up, Candyman does, and that makes the 2021 Candyman remake even more impressive. It adds something new to the original story while paying homage to it, and it feels like there is a reason for it to exist. It's incredibly emotional watching Anthony die as it feels like his life has always been tied to the legend of the Candyman, and it seems like there is nothing that he could have done about that. The Candyman 2021 ending is as powerful as the rest of the story.