10 Best Films Based On Urban Legends

Candyman, from Clive Barker's "The Forbidden", is one of the most compelling horror films in recent history, set to be rebooted by Jordan Peele. Not only does it take from Barker's slim story, writer/director Bernard Rose concocts his own legend based on actual crime, racism and modern folklore to create a moody little nightmare.

Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is a grad student working on a thesis on urban legends. When a series of murders in Chicago's south side begin to occur in the slums, they are attributed to the mythic Candyman. The murders were being perpetrated due to lousy housing development - a killer could easily entered one's apartment through holes in the wall covered only by removable medicine cabinets (a true story). Candyman's origins - the son of a slave with a hook for a hand that appears when conjured five times - is an invention of the film itself, though it's mirror-roots has its basis in the old Bloody Mary legend.

After tracking the flesh and blood killer, the real Candyman grows jealous with rage, fearing that America will forget their transgressions against African Americans, interracial relationships and ultimately their own dark history.

So the film throws pretty much every legend at the wall, blending into a modern masterpiece of social commentary, horror and vengeance - all aided by a brilliantly haunting score by Phillip Glass.