10 Things You Didn't Know About Candyman

3. He’s The Phantom Of The Opera

On the subject of classic literature and its influence on Candyman, Tony Todd linked his character to another archetype of proto-horror: Erik, the Phantom of the Opera. From Candyman’s perspective, after all, the film is a tale of dark romance. He pursues his incarnate love through the maze of a haunted structure that obeys his commands, seeing in her a chance at immortality.

The actual Candyman character parallels the Gaston Leroux original just as closely. Tony Todd’s Candyman has a shattered body, but a beautiful voice and a mind torn between love, creative inspiration and homicidal need. Todd committed to his flowery dialogue specifically to play up this connection, giving Candyman a more explicit, and more tragic, goal than the Freddies and Jasons of cinema.