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Review

Undeniably one of the major cult/genre DVD releases of the year, this special edition of The Candy Snatchers is doubly notable for marking this film’s first legitimate home video release – the film’s small but fervent cult following has previously been rooted in the availability of bootleg videos and isolated repertory screenings. Candy is a quite solid and crisply directed low-budget thriller – the film’s loyal fan base is likely largely appreciative of the fact that the film’s noir-ish storyline unfolds with much more care than most 1970s exploitation film plots – but it might be helpful to place the film’s modest charms in a reserved context so that one is not disappointed: it’s a highly effective B-genre picture from the era, but not exactly a neglected masterpiece, despite the claims of its diehard fans. Still, the film has a grimy, downbeat allure, and is definitely worth seeking out.

The titular Candy (Susan Sennet, who participates in the interviews and commentary track on this DVD, along with her villainous co-star Tiffany Bolling) is the adolescent victim of a kidnapping scheme devised by the nasty trio of Jessie (Bolling), her brother Alan and friend Eddy. Candy, daughter of a jewelry store owner, is buried underground with limited breathing capabilities while the three criminals attempt to extort diamonds from Candy’s father…who turns out to be every bit as unpleasant and unsympathetic as the trio of thugs behind the whole caper. Candy’s only hope might be the abused, mute young boy who lives near her premature burial site, since these two suffering youths are the only sympathetic characters in the film – which is to the distinct credit of director Guerdon Trueblood, writer Bryan Gindoff, and noteworthy exploitation producer Arthur Marks (Detroit 9000).

As bleak as the grimmest film noir (think Detour, for example), Candy Snatchers does an admirably thorough job of constructing a completely immoral, pitiless universe for its drama, a world in which every adult is corrupt, brutal, greedy, and/or sadistic, and in which Candy and the mute boy seem only doomed to suffer (though the witty climax – not to reveal anything here – does throw a twist onto that). While not the unsung classic some may have you believe, Candy Snatchers is a solid, effectively seedy thriller, and is certainly recommended.

 -- Travis Crawford