I am always looking for new Halloween-themed movies to watch. Anything that sets the perfect mood in the off-season, or at the very least, is a fun watch in the spirit of the season, will almost instantly become a go-to.
But, sadly, many of the Halloween-themed horror films that can be found on streaming services suffer from…issues. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes these movies so subpar, but in many cases, I think a huge part of the problem is that they try so hard to live up to the standards set by the more popular films, that they ultimately end up shooting themselves in the foot.
One such movie came to me today in the form of Candy Corn, a movie that got a lot of buzz in the Halloween community when it was first released in 2019, but hasn’t been free to watch until now.
With its beautifully designed signature pumpkin pail, and the fact that it’s set both on Halloween and at a creepy carnival, Candy Corn almost seemed, at first glance, like it was tailor-made for my specific tastes. I’ve been dying to see it for these past three-plus years, and when I saw that it was finally available to watch for free, I freaked out like I’d just found a winning lottery ticket, and couldn’t hit the “watch now” button fast enough.
I wish I could say I found my newest go-to movie, just as I figured I would, but sadly, that did not turn out to be the case.
Don’t get me wrong, Candy Corn is built on a very solid concept. Every year at Halloween, a local boy named Jacob Atkins is tormented by a group of bullies, Mike, Steve, and Bobby. This year, though, (And I’m not sure what year it’s supposed to be because the movie comes off like a period piece though it’s never said that is.) Jacob is working at a carnival, under the wing of a man named Lester who calls himself “Dr. Death” and presents as a voodoo priest, and when the bullies confront him there, Jacob fights back, for the first time ever. The bullies don’t like this and go a little too hard, ultimately leading to Jacob’s death, but it turns out Dr. Death is no fraud, and has a real knack for helping the “freaks” of the world get revenge on those who have wronged them. He resurrects Jacob, who takes on a very Michael Myers like persona after the fact, and picks off his bullies one by one, while the movie ultimately tries to prove who the real “freaks” and “monsters” are.
It sounds like a fantastic Halloween horror on paper, and like I said, the story is pretty solid. But sadly, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
For one thing, when I first read a summary for this movie, I honestly believed it was going to be about children. The absolute obsession the three main boys, along with a randomly added diner clerk named Gus, who is very clearly trying to overact himself into a Jeff Daniel Phillips character, have with bullying Jacob is mind-bogglingly childish, yet these characters are very clearly adults. The ringleader, Mike, looks like he’s pushing thirty, at least, though I’m guessing the characters are meant to be early to mid twenties? It’s hard to tell, but regardless, it’s disturbing that these grown men, literally in Gus’s case, have such an overpowering need to bully a possibly mentally ill young man. (It’s mentioned at times that Jacob may have “something wrong with him” but it’s never confirmed.)
The kills aren’t particularly exciting, either. It could be because the characters are so awful that I wanted them to die, but it’s also a little slow paced and inconsistent. For example, one character gets her tongue ripped out and dies instantly, while another is still alive and kicking long after getting his arms ripped off. And there’s absolutely no real backstory for anyone. As sorry as I felt for Jacob, we don’t really know enough about him to fully root for him. Same with Lester/Doctor Death. He is a very interesting character who obviously cares very deeply about the people who work for him, but his motivations are never exactly clear. It’s sort of implied that he basically planned the whole thing out, but it’s never made clear. There’s also a slight implication that his entire entourage could possibly have been results of similar incidents, but those characters barely get a chance to speak. Toward the end of the movie it’s made clear that some of the items now in his show are the result of Jacob’s kills, but is that his whole motivation right there? His extreme distrust of the outside world is endearing but he also has such a selfish disposition that the two things almost cancel each other out, thus making the entire message of the movie unclear. I’m also very confused as to what time period this movie was actually taking place in. It’s never stated, at least to my knowledge, that this is a period piece of any kind, but landline phones are being used, and the style of the “kids” clearly isn’t very modern.
I know that the creator of this movie, Josh Hasty, is a friend of Rob Zombie, but all I could think throughout my viewing of Candy Corn is that it felt like someone was trying to make a Rob Zombie-esque movie but was just repeatedly missing the mark. Many of the elements were there, just not with the proper execution, and it just didn’t seem like this director was fully willing to “go there”, so to speak. I would imagine this is the movie that other people imagine when they make fun of Rob Zombie movies even though they’ve never watched one, if that makes sense. Candy Corn both tries too hard, while also not going hard enough.
Of course, it's not all bad. The opening credit sequence is beautifully shot and captures the Halloween atmosphere perfectly, and Pancho Moler’s Dr. Death is a lot of fun to watch, and someone you could definitely root for if his motivations were a little clearer. If you’ve ever had a bully, or several, the revenge aspect of it will appeal to you on some level, despite the fact it’s somewhat poorly executed. There are also some fun appearances from horror icons such as PJ Soles, Tony Todd, and Courtney Gains, which is probably the only reason this movie got any real hype around it in the first place. Most of the other actors save for Pancho Moler just come off like they’re auditioning for a Rob Zombie movie but probably aren’t going to get the part, if that makes sense. Jacob’s signature pumpkin pail is also a thing of beauty, and I’ve found myself consistently wondering if that’s where the entire budget of the movie went. All in all, there are parts of this movie I wouldn’t mind watching again, but if I did decide to rewatch, most of it, pretty much all the scenes featuring Mike, Steve, Bobby, and Steve’s girlfriend Carol, would be getting the fast-forward treatment. I almost wish it had been a short film about just the carnival aspect, with the kills done more quickly or even offscreen.
Perhaps I just simply overhyped this movie too much for myself, having waited with bated breath for over three years to watch it. Maybe I would have been disappointed no matter how it turned out, but I can’t help but be sad because I see a really good story that just wasn’t executed correctly. If Candy Corn could be remade, with the main characters being of either high school or even middle school age, a little more backstory for some, and less of a a wannabe Rob Zombie vibe, I think it could turn out pretty great. But instead we’re left with the try-too-hard story of a bunch of grown-ass losers getting picked off one by one, by a character that’s being painted as a hero and a villain all at once, and a story that seems to start in the middle somehow versus creating any real buildup.
I truly wish that some of these movies that I find on streaming could just be content being what they are. The trap that I feel so many of them fall into is that they all try so hard to capture what’s already been done by the established horror franchises that they essentially come off as cheap parodies. I think there could be a lot of decent independent Halloween horrors out there if the filmmakers could just be happy being unique, rather than trying to play to every trope or recreate something that already works as it is, because a decent amount of them are pretty good until they start overdoing it.
I’m not sorry that I finally watched Candy Corn, but I wish the experience could have been a little sweeter. If you’re curious to watch it for yourself, to currently free on Amazon Prime, and the trailer is here. Sadly, the trailer makes it look far better than it is.
Stay spooky, my friends.
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