We Finally Know What Happened To Helen After The Original Candyman

The long-awaited sequel to a '90s classic, "Candyman" will soon be arriving in theaters on Friday, August 27. The supernatural horror film, written and directed by Nia DaCosta and co-written by Jordan Peele, retells the story of a vengeful ghost who appears when the name "Candyman" is spoken into a mirror five times. Fans are eager to see how filmmakers will tackle this horror classic for a modern age with a new cast and new batch of terrifying scares.

The premise for the new "Candyman" takes place in the same Chicago neighborhood as the original — the former Cabrini-Green housing project, which is now a series of high-class condos. An artist named Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) and his girlfriend, art gallery director Brianna (Teyonah Parris), move into one of the lofts. When Anthony learns about the disturbing local urban legend of the Candyman, his fascination with the story ultimately leads down a dark road of psychological terror.

The plot for the new "Candyman" slightly parallels that of the original. In the 1992 film, a woman named Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) is the one who investigates the Candyman myth, and she ends up with more than she bargained for when the vengeful spirit himself appears to make her life a living hell. The ending of the original saw Helen sacrificing herself in order to save an innocent child, yet in turn she also becomes a murderous ghost.

How does the new "Candyman" incorporate elements of the original? As it happens, a recent clip from the new film reveals what happened to Helen Lyle following the events of the first movie.

Recently posted on YouTube, a clip from the newest "Candyman" gives an intriguing account of the events of the first film. The scene shows couple Anthony and Brianna apparently getting acquainted with their new neighbors, cuddling up on the couch as their host, Troy (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), tells a spooky story amid an appropriately dimmed room with lit candles. As Troy begins his tale, shadow puppets are used in a sequence to present the story of Helen Lyle.

Troy's version of events is a bit different from what fans saw in the first "Candyman" movie. Helen's story has now become an urban legend, and instead of being a victim of the Candyman, she has become the monster. The legend says that Helen simply "snapped" and was responsible for various murders committed in the city. Of course, fans of the first "Candyman" will remember that Helen was actually framed for those killings, but no one else at that time would have seen it that way. Recounting the events from the first film, Troy's tale suggests that Helen had stolen a baby boy and planned to throw him into the bonfire as a dark sacrifice. Yet after the child was "rescued" by the mob, Helen walked willingly into the fire and died.

Those who have seen the first movie know what "really" happened to Helen Lyle, but it seems that the events of the original "Candyman" have given her immortality in the form of a spooky local legend. Whether or not Helen has a bigger part to play in the film is something we'll have to wait and find out when the new "Candyman" buzzes its way into theaters August 27.