A trio of vaguely counter-culture ne'er do wells kidnap a young schoolgirl Candy and hold her for ransom. Her father manages a diamond store, and they want all of the diamonds he has in exchange for his daughter. The problem is that her father doesn't seem to care about getting her back. He doesn't tell her alcoholic mother that she's even missing and goes and sleeps with his mistress. Meanwhile, a young autistic boy witnesses the crime and could save her, but his abusive parents pay no attention to him. Everybody in this film apart from the young autistic boy and Candy herself is some variation of a scumbag, and there's a lot of joy in watching them all collide into each other and do each other in. It's a cheap, exploitative film for sure, but it has a wicked sense of humor.

16 year old Candy Philips (played by 21 year old Susan Sennett) is kidnapped by a group of psychos--Jessie (Tiffany Bolling), REAL sick Alan (Brad David) and Eddy (Vincent Martorano). They contact her father and demand jewels in return for her...but her dad won't do it. Things unravel completely from there. There's also a subplot about an autistic child being verbally and physically abused by his mom.This is clearly not for everybody. it was a complete ripoff of "Last House on the Left" but it's much better than that film. "Last" was sick, disgusting and badly made. "Candy" is sick but not as vicious or cruel as "Last". Also it's MUCH better made. It has a good script with many twists and turns, all the acting is good (especially by Bolling and Martorano) and the last 10 minutes or so go barreling out of control. This is unique in there's not one likable character in it...even Candy got on my nerves! It's disturbing and sometimes brutal but a very good grindhouse film. I give it a 7.

Candy is a 16 year old girl on her way home from school, when she is suddenly grabbed off the streets, blindfolded, and thrown into the back of a van by three "masked" assailants, and taken to a place, thought to be secluded, to be stored away while they try to collect the ransom from her father. Candy's only hope lies in a young mute autistic boy who witnessed the crime while hiding from his abrasive mother in the bushes nearby. What are they doing to Candy? Will this boy somehow be able to help her? What secrets is her father hiding? Exploitation films are not typically of high quality, and honestly, that's what we like about them. But there's something to be said for a movie like The Candy Snatchers, a movie with all the ingredients of a good exploitation film; rape, murder, kidnapping, a girl in a catholic school uniform, and a funky 70's soundtrack. Yet goes beyond your typical 70's crime-exploitation affair, with solid acting all around, a great script with plenty of well thought out plot twists and an ending that will leave a big (somewhat maniacal) smile on your face. I highly recommend The Candy Snatchers, be you an exploitation fan or not.

If you are a fan of sleazy 70s American Drive in Exploitive fare like me..and I'm not talking by numbers trash like Friedman's TRADER HORNEE or WHAM BAM SPACEMAN or PLEASE Don't EAT MY MOTHER either. I'm talking high grade like BLOOD AND LACE, THE TODD KILLINGS, WHEN YOU COMING BACK RED RYDER,POOR WHITE TRASH II, FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, WHITE DOG, LEMORA, SWITCHBLADE SISTERS and THE BABY. If you like 'em mean and bleak this underrated and highly disturbing flick is for you. In my opinion this surpasses the excellent but slightly disappointing LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT by miles in sheer queasiness. Powerful evil men and strong woman characters raise this well above the average b grade clunker. Make no mistake there are real messages to be found in this film about violence that predates even a CLOCKWORK ORANGE. I thoroughly recommend it and this DVD release by Subversive (thank you!!!) is absolutely lovingly brilliant. There is a awesome featurette with in depth, decent questions being answered both by Susan Senet and Tiffany Bolling who are both striking even today. I urge all horror enthusiasts to give this angry violent film a whirl. You may not love it as much as I do but you will have to admit it is way better than average in a genre that is full of clueless try hard crap. I give it 10/10.