Jordan Peele has done it again. Not only has he produced what looks like a terrifying new movie, he's also managed to ruin another hit song used in the trailer. The Candyman trailer will actually make you scared of Destiny's Child's seminal hit "Say My Name." And a world where I'm terrified of Beyoncé is one I do not want to live in.
The update of the '90s horror film, produced and co-written by Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta, looks truly scary. Watchmen star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is in the center of a story about Candyman, a killer ghost who has an affinity for bees and conjures when you say his name five times in the mirror. For this reason, his presence can be completely avoided. But because humans are too curious for our own good, people just have to tempt fate and say his name, resulting in their grizzly deaths and a situation of horrendously bloody proportions.
So basically, DaCosta's use of "Say My Name" as a creepy, slowed-down remix in the trailer, while clever, will have you running for the nearest panic shelter. Transforming classic songs into objects of terror seems to be a recent pattern for the producer. Peele used the same technique for his 2019 horror film Us, making Luniz's "I Got 5 on It," a song about weed, haunt my nightmares to this day.
The original Candyman, Tony Todd, returns as the title character in the new film, and it seems that he has a history with Anthony McCoy, played by Abdul-Mateen II. As reported by IndieWire, Universal's film synopsis reads, "Anthony begins to explore these macabre details in his studio as fresh grist for paintings, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unravels his own sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly viral wave of violence that puts him on a collision course with destiny.”
Before the trailer's debut, Peele told reporters at the Universal Studios lot that Candyman was a influential film for him. "It was one of the few movies that explored any aspect of the black experience in the horror genre in the '90s, when I was growing up," Peele said, as per The Hollywood Reporter, calling it "an iconic example of representation in the genre." And as DaCosta noted, social and racial issues are also embedded into her and Peele's take on the film.
Much like Peele's notable horror flicks Get Out and Us, Candyman looks guaranteed to terrify viewers with both sad realities and grotesque, blood-curdling scares. Don't say anyone's names in the mirror tonight. You know, just in case.
