Books
Jordan Peele in Talks to Remake Clive Barker’s ‘Candyman’ [Exclusive]
One of my favorite horror movies is the Bernard Rose-directed Candyman, a chilling urban horror film adapted from Clive Barker‘s “Books of Blood” short story “The Forbidden”. “Urban” has a dual meaning in that the adaptation was moved from England to the now demolished Cabrini–Green public housing development in Chicago, while the antagonist is an urban legend in himself, the Candyman (played by Tony Todd), an artist and son of a slave who had his hand severed and was then murdered (with bees, of course) by his lover’s father. Released in 1992, the film spawned two sequels, the latter being direct-to-video.
While lesser known among the horror icons, Candyman is easily one of the scariest; he can be summoned by saying his name five times while facing a mirror.
As for the franchise, it’s been dormant for nearly 20 years. In poking around for a revival screening, I learned that the rights have become available once again. Tri-Star had released the first two films while Artisan was behind 1999’s Day of the Dead. While I’m unsure who is the current rights holder – it may have reverted back to Clive Barker for all I know – I do know that Jordan Peele is in talks to produce a remake of the film through his Monkeypaw Productions. It’s unclear if he plans to direct. Sounds sweets to the sweet to me.
Even if highly unlikely, two years ago, Rose had openly stated that he’d love to direct a “proper” sequel to the film and bring Virginia Madsen as Helen.
Peele won an Oscar earlier this year for his Get Out screenplay and was also nominated for “Best Director”. He’s currently filming Us, another social thriller, while his Monkeypaw Productions is behind a remake of “The Twilight Zone”, “The Hunt” and “Lovecraft Country”. He also produced this summer’s BlacKkKlansman.
“It was always you, Jordan.”
Bruce Campbell is back this year with his brand new movie Ernie & Emma touring the country, and the horror legend has also written a brand new novella that’s now available to read.
Available now as an eBook and paperback, New York Times Bestselling Author Bruce Campbell’s Reconcile sees Campbell putting his own spin on the classic Western genre.
Campbell explains, “My mother, Joanne, loved the Western genre. She read every Zane Grey novel he ever wrote. I know because I drew stick-figure cartoons in the margins of her massive paperback collection. Westerns, by nature, are riddled with clichés – the steely-eyed, unshaven hero protecting innocent pioneers from brutal, unforgiving savages. With Reconcile, I tried to sidestep many of the cliché elements we’ve read or seen in Westerns for a generation.”
“Reality isn’t tidy or reliable,” Campbell continues. “Reality has unpleasant circumstances that don’t always resolve themselves like they do in the movies. In the heat of battle, the “good guys” and “bad guys” aren’t so easily defined. In the sprawling history of the American West, I’d like to think a different kind of story was possible, and I hope you enjoy it.”
You can purchase your copy of the 116-page, self-published novella now.
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