Candy Land

This sleazy slasher is one helluva way to start 2023.

"Candy Land" is a film that feels like it needs to be watched under the sickening yellow glow of a flickering fluorescent light. This sleazy slasher is one helluva way to start 2023.

When John Swab's "Candy Land" landed on my radar, I thought it would be a run-of-the-mill horror thriller hoping to be more than it turned out to be. Man, I love it when I'm wrong. Swab is able to effortlessly mix and mash genres to create an intimate portrait of four sex workers at a truck stop while also giving horror fans the bloody good time they hope for.

The year is 1996 and the setting is Candy Land, a decedent dreamscape where any trucker's desires are a reality. Sadie (Sam Quartin), Riley (Eden Brolin), Levi (Owen Campbell) and Liv (Virginia Rand) are a close group of young sex workers who call Candy Land home along with their low-rent madam Nora (Guinevere Turner). We also have Rex (William Baldwin), a local sheriff who visits Levi often and turns a blind eye to the group's activities.

But not everyone turns a blind eye. Theo (Brad Carter) leads a group of religious believers spreading the word to those sinners who need to find the kingdom of heaven. He attempts to address our quad of outcasts but is quickly rebuked with a van full of his followers watching.

The following day after plying her trade in the gas station restroom, Sadie finds Remy (Olivia Luccardi), a member of the religious group sitting alone outside. She tells Sadie that she was asked to leave the group and has no place to stay. Sadie offers her a place to crash for a few days, but Nora lets her know that if she stays, she plays and becomes one of the group. The group takes Remy under their wing and shows her the ins and outs of Candy Land.

When a body turns up in the station restroom, everyone is unsettled, but business is business and the show must go on. Shortly after, Levi is brutally raped by a "john" and kills the man. Sheriff Rex believes Levi has taken out the killer and agrees to help dispose of the body and life will go on.

We soon find that the threat they fear is from within the group as we find that Remy is the killer after she takes out a man of the cloth when he knocks on her door for a late-night visit and her oversized cross she carries everywhere contains a blade she uses to help sinners ascend of heaven.

As she continues to knock off folks one by one, Remy is visited by Theo and he informs her that group will be leaving tomorrow if she wants to return and join them. This gives her less than 24 hours to cleanse as many people as possible, and she doesn't waste a second.

"Candy Land" is a film you'll recommend for years. It feels like discovering the next cult classic that, years from now, people will still be talking about. Swab gives us a film that beautifully combines genres with ease and handles some delicate topics with grace. This is the first film I've seen of Swab, but I can guarantee it won't be the last.

The entire cast does a great job, but Luccardi is brilliant as Remy. I loved every aspect of her performance and you can't take your eyes off her in any scene. Her range is terrific, and when the film's final scene is revealed, her performance is heartbreaking.

"Candy Land" was a great way to kick off 2023 and might be a film that finds its way onto my year-end list. It won't be everyone's cup of tea due to its subject matter and displays of nudity, but it deserves to be seen, if only to enjoy Luccardi's performance.