tony todd Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Of all the freakin' horror remake outrages, this one might take the cake. Candyman, the freakishly original 'Chicago projects urban legend' flick based on a Clive Barker story, might be remade by Sony with a Caucasian in the title role, according to Shock Til You Drop. The site says that Sony and the unidentified rights holder are in "early talks," with one idea being to change Candyman's skin color from black to white.

I know this is not confirmed, and many stupid ideas are undoubtedly floated in early conversations, but this is wrong on so many levels I'm left speechless. At the most basic level, it begs the question: has anyone contemplating the remake actually watched Bernard Rose's frightening original? In the movie, Candyman (the great Tony Todd) was the son of a slave who "suffered a hideous and unjust death," as Ryan Stewart described in his Retro Cinema appreciation. An urban legend developed around him in the notorious crime-infested Cabrini-Green housing project: say his name multiple times in front of a mirror and he appears. Virginia Madsen, as a sociology grad student, investigates, calls him back to life, and wishes she had stayed in the classroom.

Two sequels, which I haven't seen, followed Candyman to New Orleans and Los Angeles, but Chicago is where he belongs. The Cabrini-Green high-rise projects have been torn down and redevelopment is taking place -- that's your story, the horror of modern redevelopment. If you want to add a political edge, tie in the outcome of the Presidential election. But please, Sony, don't make Candyman a Caucasian.

When it comes to horror on DVD, we start with outfits like Lionsgate and Anchor Bay, and since I spend a good deal of time saying very nice things about (most of) LG's horror output, now's the time to celebrate a milestone for Anchor Bay: No, not another re-issue of Halloween or Army of Darkness ... They've picked a flick for their very first* theatrical rollout! That Hatchet movie! (And let's give it up for the festival-fave horror indies; both Hatchet AND Behind the Mask will be earning theatrical releases early next year, which is a testament to the quality of both flicks; movies like these -- good, bad or awful -- generally get remanded straight to the video stores.)

Yes, it's Adam Green's Hatchet that (according to a recent press release) will hit theaters next April, a film that's played a whole bunch of festivals and gave me a very entertaining 90 minutes when it screened at last September's Fantastic Fest. Chock-full of old-school horror staples (Kane Hodder, Robert Englund, Tony Todd, etc.), a sly sense of humor and more than a few ferocious flurries of gore, Hatchet is precisely the sort of horror flick that'll please anyone who grew up on the earliest exploits of Freddy, Jason and Mikey.

Check back in a few weeks for our interview with Gory Adam Green; you won't believe what his next project is.

*I could be wrong on this. Anyone out there know if Anchor Bay went theatrical on something before Hatchet?

If you've seen either of the first two Final Destination flicks, you'll most likely remember the weirdly creepy morgue attendant played by actor Tony Todd. Well, Final Destination 3 is in gear now, and while said morgue attendant will not be making an appearance in the third film of the franchise, co-writer and director James Wong is pleased to annouce that Todd will have a part to play – and a unique one at that. You know how these stories play out: a group of people escape what was supposed to be their proper moment of death, and death hunts them down one by one to make things right. In round three, death was supposed to befall a group of amusement park-goers by means of a roller coaster accident. The coaster is called "Devil's Flight," and a huge devil with a creepy voice is the park's way of luring riders on board. The devil is voiced by – you guessed it – Tony Todd!

As I've admitted here before, I'm not a huge horror film buff. Mind you, I'm not opposed to them in any way – I just don't particularly enjoy them. I did see the original Final Destination (mostly by accident) and as far as these things go, I enjoyed it. It had good pacing and kept a high level of tension without feeling overly forced. I have no idea what the sequel was like, however, and thus have no idea what to expect from the continuation of the franchise. Horror fans, this is where you jump to my assistance.