| Multiple Mirror Effects in Movies | ||
Candyman (2021) |
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| Spoiler Alert ! Some of these pictures and descriptions may give away plot details that you might not want to know before watching the film. |
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| This is a sequel to the 1992 horror movie "Candyman." It takes place in the same Cabrini Green ghetto in Chicago after most of it was torn down and gentrified. The mythology of Candyman is based on an urban legend that claims if you say the name Candyman five times while looking into a mirror, Candyman will appear and kill you with his hook hand. In this movie, the Candyman slasher is explained in terms of institutional racism, white privilege, and police brutality, which adds a level of meaning that is missing from most horror movies, but which has brought criticism from those who want their horror movies to be free of social criticism. Because mirrors are Candyman's portals, we see lots of them in the movie along with other reflective surfaces. There is an art piece in a gallery called "Say My Name" which invites the viewer to summon Candyman that is made of mirrors that open to reveal paintings inside. We see Candyman killing a high school girl reflected in a compact makeup mirror she drops on the floor. There is also a scene in a mirrored elevator with an infinity mirror effect that gives us our first direct look at Candyman. |
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| Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is Anthony McCoy, an artist who learns about Candyman when researching the history of Cabrini Green for an art project and says the name five times in a mirror. Then he leans that it's not just an urban legend. After failing to summon Candyman from his mirror at home, McCoy goes to a library to research the legend. He checks out a recording of a woman talking about the original Candyman event from the first movie that he listens to with headphones as he enters a mirrored elevator with an infinite mirror effect. The elevator starts descending then suddenly stops between floors. He pushes his floor button again and sets off an alarm. Then a piece of candy falls onto the floor from above. It has a razor blade inside it that cuts his hand when he picks it up. We see his blood drip to the floor and more blood dripping from the ceiling and hear strange breathing sounds. When he looks up to see where the candy and the blood came from McCoy sees Candyman for the first time in the mirrored ceiling where he should be seeing his own reflection, and he falls to the floor in shock. Then the lights flicker off and on and the elevator starts up again. The elevator scene begins at about 39:38. You can watch a video clip of the elevator scene on YouTube. |
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