Review: Bad Candy

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Bad Candy
Directed by Scott B. Hansen; Desiree Connell
Digital Thunderdome; Dread; Black Triad Entertainment; Epic Pictures; MVD Entertainment
103 minutes, 2021
https://epic-pictures.com/film/bad-candy
www.digitalthunderdome.com
https://www.facebook.com/BadCandyfilm/
www.mvdb2b.com

It is Christmas. So, what is a better time for an anthology film about Halloween, right? Both are about decorations, people in costumes (even if one is just ugly sweaters or red & white jackets and hats) and a whole lot of the “gimmes.”

Corey Taylor

All of the stories in this were created specifically for this collection, so there is a solid consistency in style and ideology. The wraparound story takes place at radio station 66.6 FM in a town called New Salem (of course; filmed in Atlanta), where a couple of disc jockeys are having their Halloween show, led by DJ Chilly Billy (Corey Taylor, better known as the lead singer of the band Slipknot); the other is Paul (Zach Galligan, of 1984’s Gremlins fame).

Zach Galligan

Right from the beginning, the very form of the film is interesting. Rather than the usual bookends and separate stories, this intermingles the yarns, sometimes in pieces, sometimes complete, and weaves them like a tapestry of terror. This way, the narratives can entwine into each other and overlap, which is fun. For example, there is an almost Krampus look at what happens to a nasty little kid that is complete, and then there is a longer tale of a young teen girl, Kyra (Riley Sutton) who wants to do trick-or-treating with her friends, but has to deal with her drunken bully of a dad (Kevin Wayne) who looks like he just stepped out of a Proud Boys poster (in a later story, there is a Brett Kavanaugh-type rapacious man wearing a backwards MAGA cap, so perhaps some subtle political commentary involved?).

However, the opening salvos, which would appeal to a younger generation, are just the doorway to a completely adult level of horror and gore to follow, including nail guns, necrophilia, razor blades in candy, and the like. It’s almost like “growing up,” progressing from one grade level to the next.

Riley Sutton

Beyond an obvious horror theme, there is also an almost psychedelic feel to the film that also relies heavily on fantasy, with some CGI enhancements, puppet monsters, and other wishful imagery. One of the nice aspects of all the stories by the same directors is the consistency of the look and feel, even as the tales take us to see events happening to people of various ages and emotion levels, from kids to teens to adults, some good people, many not as much. But this is a film of comeuppance for inner, personal malevolence by people taken to task by sentinel beings that are less than human.

Though I quite enjoyed that there is a consistency of style and look, there is also no uniformity on the use of whatever cine-magic takes to make the monsters come alive, be it – in part what I said above – CGI, puppets, practical SFX and demons in cool-looking clown costumes/make-up that are watchers for evil (almost slightly toned-down versions of the Killer Klowns from Outer Space from 1988). Also, the use of Halloween decorations and toys is a major theme throughout, as the camera zooms in around them and makes them into a Greek Chorus to “comment” on the actions on the screen. The mood, which is nearly another character in itself, is set with stark primary color lighting; it is a bit cliché, but still effective and well done here.

And what exactly is the “bad candy”? Well, that can depend on your perspective. It could be the razor blades, the drugs, imbibed drivers, the clown demons, or it could be most of the people we meet on their way to doing dastardly deeds.

All the stories are a bit silly (this is a light-hearted albeit spooky collection, after all), and yet they all actually work, without a clinker. My favorite, though, revolves around a few war veterans (including Derek Russo), but I won’t give more away other than I had a good laugh at the Lenny/rabbits connection (if you don’t get it, you may need a bit more literary edumacation).

The grand finale deals with a time-altering haunted house and the wraparound story that, while I am sure is supposed to be the Top Tier piece as it ties up so many of the bits, and it is really quite good, was more serious than most of the tone of the film, especially the wild piece that preceded it. Not a complaint in any way, it was still quite enjoyable and a good way to end the piece(s).

This Blu-ray is jam-packed with extras, including a full-length commentary. Honestly, I had issues with this for a number of reasons. First, the sound of the film is too loud and clashes with the talking of the two directors and married couple, Scott B. Hansen and Desiree Connell. Hansen often gets lost in the films actual track, which is unnecessary since there are subtitles available; usually one would watch the commentary and read the already-watched film’s dialogue in text to follow along. Also, Connell, whose mic is louder than Hansen’s, tends to overtalk him. The info they share is both at times interesting (such as finding out Connell played the CGI-enhanced fairy) and mundane (e.g., “I like this set piece”; “I ate so much candy”). I gave up on the commentary after about 20 minutes, but none of this reflects badly on the film proper, just hopefully a lesson learned for their next release?

There are three Behind the Scenes videos. The first is the real Making Of featurette (4 min.). However, it is mostly very quick edited shots of production with a loud soundtrack that practically makes nearly all of it b-roll with no focus narrative. It doesn’t really go anywhere.

The second is a stills collection of the production, and the third is similar to the first (2 min.). Then there are the Deleted Scenes. It was a slow start, but the final three or four were so worth the wait. While I understand why they were cut, even as standalones they were a blast, especially the last one.

There are two Filmmaker Interviews. The first is with director Hansen from the British “The Romford Sessions,” on Nerdly.com, via Zoom (35 min.). He discusses his influences, how the production got on its feet, and the amazing SFX, among others. Definitely the most interesting conversation so far. The second is, naturally, with Connell, who was also executive producer and screenwriter, by Shannon on FILMFave.com, again on Zoom (27 min.). As with Hansen’s piece, it is nicely informative and interesting, making it worth the watch. She discusses, among other things, being a woman in the business as your own influence, which is great. Both of these are better than the full-feature commentary.

The B-roll Rockwell Mansion Tour gives an overview, inside and out, of the creepy house used in the final sequence of the film. As someone who likes to photograph old and decaying houses, this was a joy, albeit short (1 min.).

The death metal band Uncured’s music video for the song “Sacrifice” was obviously shot by Hansen and some of the footage was used in a party scene in the film (4 min.). Also included are the storyboards for the Kyra scene with her dad, which is B-roll. It is well-done comic book-style art. Last are three trailers for this film, and a trio for the Dread brand.

So far, Bad Candy has won 17 best picture awards and played at more than 65 festivals around the globe.  And what is the overall moral of the film? Do not abuse jack-o-lanterns, real or plastic!

IMDB HERE