Bad Candy (2020)

There are a few different ways to do a horror anthology movie. Okay, there are two main ways. First, have a decent wraparound for a number of tales that you want to present together in a feature. Second, have the tales interweave with both each other and the framing device. Bad Candy aims for the latter, but in such a half-hearted manner that it feels like a lazy attempt to improve a film that needed a lot more work done to it.

Corey Taylor plays a DJ named Chilly Billy. Along with his assistant, Paul (Zach Galligan), he wants to hear about, and relate, some classic scary stories on Halloween night. Not things that are obviously complete fiction, but things that "happened to a friend of a friend of mine". He gets enough tales to fill some airtime, but there might also be something else heading towards the radio station. Something that could provide the material for a whole new tale.

Co-written and co-directed by Scott B. Hansen and Desiree Connell (with a story credit for Thacker Hoffman), this is a film that feels as if it is made by people inexperienced in the writing and directing of feature films. That's true, to a degree. Although one has a larger filmography than the other, a lot of work has been spent on other formats, or in other departments. 

Aside from Taylor and Galligan, who both do just fine in their roles (Taylor being the better of the two in his DJ mode, surprisingly), the other cast members who stand out are Kevin Wayne, playing a nasty stepfather, and Haley Leary, a morgue attendant who gets a bit carried away one night, leading to the best punchline in the whole film.

The big problem here is that nothing feels properly thought out or cared for. A recurring character is an evil clown figure, which is someone wearing a familiar clown mask that we've seen many times before. He has no personality, no real sense that he's the one deserving to punish others for their wrongdoings, so all you have is someone wandering around being more annoying than scary. None of the morality tales feel quite right either, with the characters not given enough decent writing to get viewers even remotely on their side, or just interested in the tale that is unfolding, before events start hurtling towards a grisly end that often feels a bit like overkill. Then there's the whole last section, the sequence which has some of the story elements crashing into the framing device. It may work on a basic level, but it doesn't work as a satisfying end to the entire film.

I have to grudgingly admit that this is far from the worst horror anthology I have seen, but it's also far from the best. Not one moment here hasn't already been done better in some other movie, which makes it feel more redundant than most. And the atmosphere was much MUCH better in both Tales Of Halloween and Trick 'r' Treat. So watch either of those instead.

4/10

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Shudder Saturday: A Creepshow Holiday Special (2020)

I don't know why I made a beeline for this, considering my history of being disappointed by pretty much every previous episode of this show, but common sense has never been my main strength. And it was a Shudder release that might have a hint of seasonal trimmings around it. 

Adam Pally plays Robert Weston, a man who thinks he may be a lycanthrope, and may be responsible for killing a number of people. He heads along to a Shapeshifters Anonymous meeting, headed up by a woman (Anna Camp) who claims she can turn into a cheetah. Other people are there, claiming to be able to turn into other animals, but the meeting is interrupted by an attempted invasion by many people dressed as Santa. This is where it gets Christmassy, but in a very Creepshow kind of way. Santa doesn't like shapeshifters, and he and his army of helpers will do all they can to destroy them.

Maybe a lot of the stops were pulled out for this holiday special, or maybe it's a sign of better things to come, but this is a lot of fun, and gets the feel of the Creepshow brand right more than any other episode so far. The tone is more comedic than horror, but there's a good amount of blood and gore, a nice feeling of things being a bit off-kilter, and some impressive creature design work in the second half of the episode.

The whole cast do well in their roles, with Camp and Pally making for very enjoyable leads, ably supported by Pete Burris (who can turn into a tortoise), Frank Nicotero (cousin of Greg, playing a character here who can turn into a boar), and Candy McLellan (who can turn into a hippo . . . when she dresses up, she's actually just a Furry they allow into the meeting every week). There's also Derek Russo as Ryan, a strong and silent type who only joins in with everyone for the wonderfully crazy third act.

Based on a story by J. A. Konrath, the writing and direction from Greg Nicotero is pretty perfect. Okay, I may be being a bit too positive because of my expectations going into this thing, but it's really very difficult to think of how this slice of festive fun could have been made any better, certainly under the umbrella of the Creepshow name. Some viewers may want a more sedate, traditional, Christmas horror, but that's not "on brand", as it were. Don't look for that here. This is colourful silliness, with no weak segments throughout the 45-minute runtime.

I never thought I would say this, but this special is the best Christmas-themed horror viewing I have had this year. 2020 continues to be a very odd year.

8/10

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