Candyman X Tales From The Hood – Culture Classics

#RunTheCulture

Halloween is right around the corner and we’ve got not one but two #CultureClassics for you today that rep Spooky SZN to the fullest. Black horror classics Candyman and Tales From the Hood.

Candyman

Candyman is a slasher film that dropped in 1992. It centers around a college student studying urban legends who comes across the legend of the “Candyman” (played to creepy/vengeful perfection by Tony Todd). The Candyman was an artist and son of a slave who had his hand severed and was then murdered. You know the deal, look in a mirror, say Candyman five times and let the mayhem ensue.

The pre-eminent black horror villain, Candyman was not only scary buy broke barriers for black representation in the horror genre. It dealt with race and racism, as well as elitism and cultural appropriation. All horrors in their own right. The film was a critical and commercial success and lead to more black horror creations. #FunFacts: The film was based on the short story “The Forbidden” by horror legend Clive Barker and took place in the infamous Cabrini–Green housing project in Chicago.

Tales From The Hood

Next up is the certified hood classic Tales From The Hood, a 1995 horror anthology film directed by Rusty Cundieff and executive-produced by Spike Lee. The film presents four short stories based on issues that affect the black community with a horror spin. Police corruption, domestic abuse, institutional racism and gang violence. They’re all presented within the frame of three dealers buying drugs from an eccentric and funeral director with a knack for story-telling (also played masterfully creepily by Clarence Williams III).

The film at it’s heart is a morality tail about life in the hood with a twist that is truly shocking and an ending that ties everything together in a neat but quite horrific way.