KRIS AVALON'S NUMBER 8 HORROR FILM PICK IS...

...After Hellraiser, in my opinion Candyman is the second best film adapted from a Clive Barker book. Based on Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden," a Chicago graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen)is compiling a thesis on urban legends, when she becomes aware of the prevalent superstition surrounding the legend of "Candyman" (Tony Todd)--a hook-wielding phantom who will appear if his name is recited five times into a mirror--among the tenants of Chicago's Cabrini Green project. When the clinically-detached Helen flaunts her intellectual confidence by reciting Candyman's name five times, she sets in motion an inevitable series of supernatural events -- culminating in a series of grisly killings, after which Helen is invariably found holding the bloody murder weapon. Though she is captured by the police, it becomes evident to Helen that Candyman is guiding her fate every step of the way. What I loved about this film was that not only was it spooky and it tackled urban folklore, but it also took on the topic of racism and interracial relations. It also was the first horror film I saw in a long time that featured many black characters in supporting roles.