The Candy Snatchers (1973)

So much average

Just perfect...

Absolutely brilliant

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The Candy Snatchers symbolizes the very essence of the perfect kidnapping plot going terribly awry, thanks to developing circumstances those responsible for putting it together weren't prepared for.It was simple, three hooligans decide to kidnap this school girl, hoping to receive diamonds from who they believe is her father. The girl's name is Candy, and the man these goons expect to shake is her stepfather, and he's not the jewelry store owner they think he is. Eddy(Vince Martorano), Candy's stepfather hopes these three kill Candy so that he can get her father's inheritance(..Eddy purposely married Candy's mother for this sole reason). This turns the plans of Jessie(Tiffany Bolling, glammed down in a plain button shirt and pants, and still looking HOT), the mastermind, and her associates, Avery(Ben Piazza)and Alan(Brad David)upside down and inside out. Candy, as played by Susan Sennett(..who is quite critical of the movie and her treatment in it claiming that the terror you see on screen is real), remains bound, blind-folded, and gagged, with little dialogue, for large parts of the movie. Candy is actually buried alive twice, and raped viciously by psychotic Alan, a smug, narcissistic, arrogant scumbag who loves pulling his switchblade knife. Avery, who seems less hostile, attempts to help Candy, and is successful for quite a while, but it was only a matter of time before Alan had an opportunity to sexually molest her. Jessie is pretty much unstable, at times reserved, and most of the time in control, and, in a radical shift regarding movies in the exploitation genre, often dictates the terms of their party. She only loses control when Avery can no longer withstand his sexual urges, rushing her into a wall with no where to escape...what makes this scene so eye-opening is Jessie's eventual allowance of Avery's advances despite a valiant effort to free herself from his grasp. Like a lot of films of this type, there are few characters to sympathize with..The Candy Snatchers is almost entirely made up of despicable people looking out for their own financial success and personal gain. Such as a sub-plot featuring an Autistic boy who doesn't speak, Sean(Christopher Trueblood, the director's son), and what he must endure concerning a loud, contemptible monster of a mother who is always angry at him..his inability to communicate has caused a definite stress and lingering hostility in his parents' marriage, even blaming him for their unsuccessful attempt at a dream promotion. Sean is the only one who might can help Candy, and contributes in a haunting finale(..knowing that Candy is buried under the earth, will he return to help her like he does the first time?)at silencing a nagging voice that has badgered him for quite some time. As these films tend to turn out, our trio are on the cusp of securing the desirables only for a sequence of events to spiral out of control. Very violent conclusion ends in guns going off, with lots of bullet wounds and blood. Candy's fate is rather troubling, considering the absolute hell she goes through for 80 minutes. Director Trueblood maintains a rather over-the-top, warped presentation, with all these loathsome cretins getting their comeuppance, but not after inflicting some damage on others along the way(..like this electrician they attempt to assault, with the guy getting the upper hand until Jessie smacks up side the head multiple times with a block of wood).

"The Candy Snatchers" perfectly embodies why so many fans of the horror & cult genre worship the 70's decade! This is a hard-boiled and intense film, with a shocking and totally unpredictable storyline, utterly deranged characters and it literally doesn't take the slightest notice of political correctness and/or human emotions. Director Guerdon Trueblood and scriptwriter Bryan Gindoff take us on a wild & trashy 70's ride, covering controversial topics such as child abuse, mental handicaps, rape of minors, live burial, Vietnam traumas and brutal murders committed by unusual characters! A trio of ruthless thugs develops a seemingly waterproof plan to get rich with diamonds very fast. By kidnapping the cute 16-year-old stepdaughter of a diamond trader and demanding a huge ransom, they rest assured of success. Unforeseen complications arise when it turns out that the father isn't in a hurry to rescue his stepdaughter at all. Even more so, Candy's 'unfortunate' death would result in a huge financial triumph for him, so he sure ain't likely to come up with any type of ransom at all. The other – if possible even more brilliant – main storyline centers on a young and autistic boy who witnessed Candy's brutal live burial in a muddy grave with only a small tube for oxygen. He desperately attempts to warn his abusive parents about what he knows, but they're too caught up in their own crazy world of greed and self-pity. Purely talking in terms of grindhouse cinema-sickness, "The Candy Snatchers" leans damn close towards perfection! The atmosphere is constantly gritty, the violence & sleaze is very explicit and literally every character that walks through the screen is demented! Even the ones that only appear briefly, like the company manager who laughs hysterically at the poor boy's mental condition or the nasty gun store seller who deliberately ignores the reason why the gangster trio so urgently needs a shotgun. Sensitive viewers and/or people with a weak stomach beware, as poor young Candy goes through a hellish ordeal and the ending surely isn't cheerful. Even technically speaking, this production is far superior in comparison with the majority of 70's genre outings. Although obviously low-budgeted, the cinematography and editing are quite professional and the musical guidance is appropriately unsettling. The acting is top-notch, with an extra special word of praise for the director's young son Christopher in his first and only appearance on the big screen. "The Candy Snatchers" has recently been re-discovered and released in a fancy edition. The DVD is an absolute must have for every fan of the genre.

THE CANDY SNATCHERS is a film that a lot of exploit fans have been buzzing about since it received a "proper" DVD release recently - and for good reason. This is definitely one of the better crafted films of the genre - with a very well thought out story-line, good acting, and just enough gritty sleaze (mostly towards the end of the film...) to place it firmly in the exploitation genre. Also a kick-ass ending really drives the whole production home...THE CANDY SNATCHERS starts with two men and a woman abducting a girl on her way home from school. Turns out that her father is the manager of a jewelry store, and the kidnappers want diamonds in exchange for his daughter. They hide the girl away (which is witnessed by a young mute boy...) and wait for her father to bring the diamonds to the drop-site...but...he never shows. Unsure of what to do next, the abductors decide to confront the father with "evidence" that they mean business - but not all is as it seems, as we find that Pops may have his own agenda that may just include the kidnapper's plans. As things start to spiral out of control - all of the major players become more desperate in their greed, leading up to the unexpected (and very cool) ending...THE CANDY SNATCHERS is a real gem of 70's exploit cinema. It is far more polished and well-done than some of the more "schlocky" entries - and this film could really have played as a mainstream crime film, if not for some of the "controversial" scenes and situations. Not all that shocking by today's standards as some would lead you to believe...but a very interesting and unique slice of 70's exploitation cinema history, and definitely a "must see" for fans of the genre. 8.5/10

I absolutely love "The Candy Snatchers." It's a wickedly clever and dead-on nasty grind-house variant on the classic O. Henry short story "The Ransom of Red Chief." It's got everything you can want in a 70's exploitation flick: solid production values, an unflinchingly grim and nihilistic tone, colorfully warped bad guys (Brad David as the sickest of the three kidnappers is an especially depraved piece of hardcore human sickness), neat'n'gnarly plot twists aplenty, brutal violence, the beautiful Tiffany Bolling as a terrifically sexy and shifty femme fatale who would have fit in snugly in a vintage 40's film noir, gratuitous nudity, savage rape, a cute little mute boy as the unlikely hero, uniformly aces acting, strong direction, a truly startling knock-out bummer ending, a nifty cameo by James Whitworth (Papa Jupitor in "The Hills Have Eyes") as a telephone repairman who gets the living stuffing beaten out of him, bubbly blonde cutie Susan Sennett absorbing more punishment than a punching bag, the ever-smarmy Ben Piazza oozing total black-heartedness with lip-smacking aplomb as Sennet's spectacularly odious stepdad, a wickedly funny sense of pitch-black humor, and, best of all, an amazingly crappy sappy folkie theme song. And the film quite powerfully shows how youthful innocence is either corrupted or destroyed when exposed to adult evil at its most ferociously base and unforgiving. And remember everyone: money is the root of all happiness.