Horror icon Tony Todd continues eclectic path in ‘Stoker Hills’

An iconic figure among horror fans as Candyman, Tony Todd seems right at home as a university film professor whose students hope to make their own classic horror marks in “Stoker Hills.”

Todd, 67, credits his hundred-plus film and TV credits to the basics.

“I was well trained,” he said in a phone interview. “At the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and Trinity Rep Conservatory. I’m surrounded by good people. I stay inspired. I have a great manager who hands me the good stuff, and we make our decisions from there. And I love what I do.”

Despite the volume with credits that include “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “The Crow,” “Platoon” and “Boston Public,” Todd declared, “I turn down a lot of stuff, man. You’d be surprised. My goal is to make sure that every film I do is completely different from the one before.

“But I always return to theater, which is my first love. Last year I was able to do ‘How I Learned What I Learned,’ August Wilson’s last play. That went through the roof.

“What’s interesting about ‘Stoker Hills’ is art imitates life, right?”

As he is playing a cinema studies teacher, “I was branching out and visiting different conservatories across the country. Boston College, I did something for them two months ago. I’m doing more and more of that.”

“Candyman” in 1992, adapted from a Clive Barker short horror story, will always top Todd’s resume. Candyman is a resurrected ghost, a murdered 19th century slave with a hook for a hand who haunts an infamous Chicago housing project. He starred in two ’90s sequels.

Then in 2021 Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) produced and wrote a direct sequel to the ’92 original – with Todd reprising his role.

“I think (director) Nia DaCosta did a fantastic job as a young African American woman filming that. And now she’s moved on to direct ‘The Marvels’! Success breeds success.”

Now there’s a chance that Todd’s other franchise — as William Bludworth in the “Final Destination” franchise from 2000 to 2011 – may also rise from the dead.

“I don’t know anything, but I know that they’re very close to signing off on it, the franchise,” he said. “I don’t have a contract for it yet but I’m not worried.

“I am doing ‘Venom,’” he added, “and the next Spider-Man game. That’s going to break records. Then I’m going to Sweden to work on another project. I wish with all the non-disclosure agreements that I could tell you everything — but I can’t!”