![]() There’s Something Wrong With The ChildrenĪ pretty fun Blumhouse horror flick that surprisingly only got a January digital release instead of a theatrical one, this second film from director Roxanne Benjamin (who debuted with the pretty tight Body At Brighton Rock) is one of those “evil kids” movies that I’m sure all us horror fans have encountered and loved at some point in our lives.Īnd I’m pretty sure that even non-horror fans would’ve seen or at least heard of films like The Children, Village Of The Damned, The Omen and Children Of The Corn before, so we’ll know what we’ll be getting once we walk into one of these films. John Swab, Owen Campbell and Olivia Luccardi - watch out for these names in the near future surely they are stars in the making. These two actors/characters are the heart and soul of this surprisingly great film, juggling between heartbreaking, harrowing and terrifying with terrific ease, and all of it done with a natural poise and none of that showy actorly swagger that can sometimes spoil a good performance. It’s really hard to single out only one actor, but if I can only pick two, it’ll have to be Owen Campbell as Levi and of course Olivia Luccardi who plays Remi, the latest addition to the group (who’s escaped/banished from a religious cult), who is the film’s own version of Pearl/Mia Goth. There’s an intimacy here, helped immensely by the surprisingly strong acting from all of the main actors that help the audience to buy into the world that the filmmakers are creating - this close-knit group of sex workers really are a family in all but name, and we care about their survival (as real people in the real world, not as characters in a slasher movie). So far, so slasher, right? As a logline/summary of the film’s plot, yes, Candy Land is very much a truck stop slasher flick, complete with a mystery killer (and a twist that I’m sure most would’ve guessed correctly) and plenty of grisly kills, but there’s a level of empathy and depth of character here that might not even seem out of place in a critically acclaimed arthouse film, not to mention some very eloquent shots and blocking by Swab. This one’s about a bunch of sex workers in a truck stop who then encounter an increasing number of dead bodies in their place of work and residence. It’s populated with characters and settings that won’t seem out of place in those movies as well. ![]() ![]() On the surface, this seems like another one of those lovingly made throwbacks to the grimy grindhouse films of the 1970s, complete with retro fonts used for the opening credits. Screen capture via YouTube/IGN Movie TrailersĪvailable to buy/rent from platforms like Amazon, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu, Candy Land is going to be one heck of a calling card for director John Swab, whose only previous film I had seen was the quite excellent action thriller Ida Red from 2021. 'Candy Land' is about a group of sex workers in a truck stop who encounter an increasing number of dead bodies in their place of work and residence. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |