Candy Land

It’s possible Swab made this film just to tell a story about the more compassionate side of prostitution. If so, the movie’s guilty-pleasure thrills are just a bonus.

Watching Candy Land is a lot like eating beef jerky from a truck stop. In both cases, you might find yourself thinking, “if someone told me this was made in 1973, I’d believe them.” Yet both experiences can end up being enjoyable.

Much like the lot lizards themselves, Swab uses pink credits, classic needle drops, and Christmas cheer to belie something far more brutal and grim. It results in a flawed but compelling entry in backroads Americana horror.

“Candy Land” is standard grindhouse fare... though not without its fair share of pleasurable nastiness.

A horrible, vile film. There's nothing redeeming about it.

Swab’s latest, Candy Land, eschews the crime drama framework so inherent to his other films and embraces pure exploitation, which ultimately frees the filmmaker to deliver his best and most accomplished work to date.

John Swab has crafted an effecting horror film about religious extremism and the hypocrisy of society’s recurring puritanical nature towards sex that is far more disturbing than just the usual visual of a literal knife to the chest.

With Candy Land, Swab has delivered a historic flashpoint in the darker side of the film universe. It is a supernova of seediness.

We might see Candy Land become a cult classic in the near future, but for now, there’s just something to be desired after the credits roll.


A sleazy slasher film.