Films That Witness Madness

review

THE CANDY SNATCHERS

Does THE CANDY SNATCHERS live up to it's long reputation as a classic of the grindhouse era of exploitation films? Depends on how high you set your expectations. While this little gem most certainly ponies up the goods - including several rapes, a few murders, and a huge dose of questionable child care - the presentation might be a little too tame for today's audiences to get behind. As is often the case - just take a look at THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD, and any of the older horror classics that were once considered extreme - you might think to yourself: "What's the big damned deal?"

You might wonder why this film, a relative obscurity even during it's release run, has gathered so much rabid fanboy attention and affection over the years. If you're one of those people, well, you obviously weren't paying much attention.

Unlike the vast majority of those so-called grindhouse classics that all the geeky, know-it-all genre snobs (like me) rant and rave about, THE CANDY SNATCHERS actually delivers. It might not be the most bloody, sexy, or action-packed flick out there but it manages a certain level of charm that makes boredom impossible. It's also incredibly funny. It's story of three nitwitted would-be kidnappers wouldn't feel at all out of place in the Coen Brothers line-up of giggly crime films, with moments of clear tension punctuated by instances of strong violence wrapped up in laugh out loud moments of absurdity. The humor is important. It's the juice that makes this bitter pill easier to swallow. Without it, THE CANDY SNATCHERS would be interminable, too angry, too depressing, and too polarizing.

The story line is simple, noirish even. Three kidnappers - Jessie, the ringleader, her brother Alan, and Army vet Eddy - take a jewelry store manager's daughter, the titular Candy, captive and bury her in a hole in the ground. They issue a ransom demand of two million dollars from her father expecting a quick payoff. There's a small problem. Candy's father isn't her father at all. He's her stepfather and he's more than happy to let Candy die. All the better to get his hands on her share of her dead father's hefty inheritance. Unable to cope with the rising tension of their present situation, the group begins to unravel and their scheme begins to mutate from a simple snatch and grab job to one that's much more deadly. All of this occurs under the watchful eyes of a young, mute child.

This is one of those films where everyone - and I mean everyone - is either tragically flawed, homicidal, or just plain fucked up. While our three kidnappers are all strangely likeable, not a one of them has it together. Jessie shacks up and sleeps with men to get through life - her position in the group, finally in charge of men instead of subordinating herself to them, is one she obviously relishes - and her brother Alan, recently released from prison, is clearly sociopathic and chopping at the bit for some alone time with Candy. He even keeps a running count of how many people he has killed. Eddy is the character we are meant to sympathize with. He wants the money so he can escape the life of laboring for someone else's gain - his ultimate dream is to own a bowling alley. He becomes Candy's guardian angel of sorts, keeping Alan at bay while trying to reshape the group's plan in such a way that not only do they get rich but Candy gets to go on living. But he's also a rapist.

We don't get to know Candy real well - she spends most of her time gagged, tied up and/or buried - but we do experience quite a bit of her home life. Her mother is a floozy old drunk. Her stepfather - well, we already know about him. Then there's Sean, the young mute boy who stumbles across Candy's breathing tube and immediately knows something is wrong but is powerless to do anything about it - the scene in which Sean dials up a deli and uses a policeman pull-toy to try and get help is absolutely hilarious. But even Sean, ostensibly the films hero, isn't without his flaws - besides the whole mute thing, that is - as evidenced by the films climax. So who the hell is the hero in this movie?

Better question: who the hell cares? THE CANDY SNATCHERS is a true one-off film, a particular piece of brilliant mayhem that perfectly epitomizes that go-for-broke, anything-goes style of filmmaking that was in abundance in the American independent film scene of the 1970s. While no one involved in the film went on to do much of anything afterwards - only Tiffany Bolling has any name recognition; that is, if you were a Playboy subscriber - all of them shine, creating characters that are so incredibly charming in their sleaziness that we enjoy our time with them. Director Guerdon Trueblood - his son Cristopher plays Sean - went on to write a few more genre films like THE DEADLY BEES but never stepped foot behind the camera again. A shame for sure but at least he went out on top.

Essential Viewing.

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