CANDY SNATCHERS (1972)
Directed by Guerdon Trueblood
Starring Susan Senett and Tiffany Bolling
A long-lost gem, "The Candy Snatchers" has the look and feel
of an episode of "Starsky and Hutch," and a storyline more
akin to Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left." Clearly influenced
by "Last House," it doesn't reach the levels of depravity
that Craven horrifically depicted. "Candy Snatchers" barely
qualifies as a horror film. If it weren't for its Last House-esque
advertising campaign, in fact, it may never have been remembered
as anything qualifying as a fear film.
But it certainly isn't a police drama either. Perhaps it is best
defined as a sadistic "noir" film, although it's even too strange
for that.
With the opening title song "Money is the Root of All Happiness,"
we meet the film's title characters -- three criminals (one of whom
is played by the gorgeous Bolling) who are about to snatch Candy, a
16-year-old heiress (played by 30-something Susan Senett). The plan is to ransom her
for money from her rich Dad. Wearning Groucho Marx glasses as disguises,
they pull her into their van and bury in the hills above Los Angeles,
with nothing but a tube to provide her with oxygen. A mute child
witnesses the crime.
In the events that follow, the storyline of "Candy" is anything but
traditional, even by early 1970s standards. What's interesting is
how producer Bryan Gindoff's script is so unconventional, but director
Trueblood's style is so rudimentary for the time. The film literally
looks like an episode of "Starksy and Hutch," with wah-wah guitar
music and a comfortable 1970s feel many of us who grew up watching
television in that era can remember well. Unlike "Last House" or
"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," which both hit you over the head
with their low budgets and documentary-style feel, "Candy" feels
like it was made for television, until the torture starts.
Although the sadism that Candy's captors inflict her with has been
exaggerated somewhat (again, it's nothing a viewer of "Last House"
couldn't easily stomach), it still demonstrates a viciousness that
could only have come out of the cinema of the 1970s. The end of the
film is especially nihilistic and interesting.
Not a classic, but an unjustly forgotten oldie from the golden age of
violent exploitation, "The Candy Snatchers" never saw an official video
or DVD release, but remains popular on the underground market. Look for
it at conventions and the like.