Rental Review: Bad Candy

I think it is pretty common knowledge among genre fans that horror anthology movies are notoriously hit and miss.

While the likes of the Amicus entries in the 70s, or more recent fare like the V/H/S series, have thrown up their fair share of thrills and spills, it is rare to find an anthology that completely hits the spot.

Bad Candy will certainly not be changing that I’m afraid – a messy, at times amateurish offering that tries to pile on the gore to mask its deficiencies.

There are definitely plus points – for starters it is set at Halloween, so the look of the film is great, from pumpkins aplenty to lashings of spooky atmosphere.

The ‘wraparound’ is also pretty neat – a couple of smalltown radio DJs (played by Zach Galligan and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor) that are ploughing through tales of horror to while away the hours.

But the stories themselves are pretty slapdash, from re-animated corpses pestering an amorous nurse to the multiple appearances of a ‘creepy clown’ that seems to link things. Some do work though, with a child’s artwork coming to life in violent fashion probably a high point.

While the gore is plentiful, and effective when it comes to practical effects, some of the CGI fares less well and is pretty distracting if I’m being honest.

Whether you end up watching Bad Candy will probably depend on how much time you have on your hands – if you are trying to crash through a host of horror fare to celebrate all things October then it is worth a watch – just don’t go out of your way to find it.