Continuity mistake: The first time Helen is at Cabrini Green and she goes through the medicine cabinet into the other apartment she has to actually crawl through the small opening in the wall where the medicine cabinet is, but when she goes back at the end to find the baby the hole in the wall has grown considerably, she just crouches and walks right through.
Candyman (1992)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Starring: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons
Helen hears the baby crying in the junk pile and searches through it using a hook as a climbing tool. The little boy sees someone climbing through the pile, and mistakes Helen's hook for Candyman's. The citizens of Cabrini-Green set ablaze the junk pile into a huge bonfire. Helen finds the baby, but Candyman grabs Helen. Helen stabs Candyman with a burning stake. Candyman dies in the fire. But Helen gets caught in the rubble, and is set aflame herself. She brings her burning body out of the fire, but keeping the baby safe. She hands the baby to his mom before she dies. At Helen's funeral, the little boy drops Candyman's hook into her grave. A year later, Trevor is living with the girl from his class. He walks up to the bathroom mirror and says her name 5 times. She appears behind him and guts him with Candyman's hook.
Shane
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Suggested correction: The hole became bigger because the Candyman is there now. Do you expect him to crawl?
I don't expect him to have to go through the opening at all since he is the Candyman. He can get into places without walking through a physical opening.
Anne-Marie McCoy: White people never come 'round here except to cause us a problem.
Helen Lyle: Believe me, that's not what we want to do.
Trivia: The film is notable for featuring a sympathetic but still truly evil African American villain (garbed in a black long-coat) and for exploring the harsh conditions poor African American families are often forced to live under. This is actually quite ironic, as in the original short story by Clive Barker ("The Forbidden"), the action all takes place in England and the Candyman is portrayed as an incredibly pale white man with long, blonde hair and an weirdly colorful coat made up of patches of different materials.
Question: I'm confused by the ending. Did Helen herself become just like Candyman, was it really Candyman using Helen's body, or did Helen simply decide to make a brief return from the dead to make her husband pay for his betrayal?
Chosen answer: It's a bit ambiguous, but just as Candyman became a tortured soul who suffered a painful and unjust death, to too did Helen.