A children's story comes to terrifying life in this gut-wrenching thriller about a graduate student whose research into modern folklore summons the spirit of the dead. Helen Lyle scoffs at superstition, but when she hears about Candyman, a slave spirit with a hook hand said to haunt a notorious housing project, she has a new twist for her thesis. To prove Candyman doesn't exist, Helen heads to the site of a brutal murder to call for him by saying his name five times. To her horror, he appears, igniting a string of gruesome murders. But the police don't believe in monsters, and Helen is charged with the grisly crimes. Only one person can set her free: Candyman.