Wednesday, February 19, 2003

The Candy Snatchers (1973)

Praise be to Greywizard from The Unknown Movies -- without him, I never would have seen this wonderfully grimy (and criminally obscure) exercise in drive-in sleaze. The film kicks off with three villainous hoods kidnapping a girl named Candy off the street with the intent of getting a ransom out of her father (hence the title). Ladies and gentlemen, these three are your most sympathetic adult characters. The drama in the film comes from the gradual botching of their plans as the world around them turns out to be even more vicious and cruel than them. In its criminal milieu and its disgusted stance on humanity, the film seems a cousin to Mario Bava's great 'lost' film Rabid Dogs, especially in its grim ending, wherein the film's cynicism curdles into full-blown nihilism. Needless to say, this ain't feelgood entertainment, but it still packs a lurid kick. Fans of '70s shock cinema should make an effort to find this one.

Grade: B+

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