Horror anthologies are some of my favourite comfort watches, from Scare Package to Masters of Horror. There is an element of appreciation that I find in watching anthologies come to life on the small screen. Bad Candy is a low-budget anthology that prides itself on simplicity and practical effects that don’t go to waste. Each of the entries weaving in stories most of us know and love, adding in horror, blood, and guts to spooky up these local myths.

Bad Candy is a 2021 horror anthology written and directed by Scott B. Hansen and Desiree Connell, with a short written by Thacker Hoffman. They set the film on Halloween night in New Salem. Two radio DJs spend their evening broadcasting spooky tales from their town, telling the myths that lead to a gruesome end for some of the town’s residents. Bad Candy premiered at the Grimmfest International Festival of Fantastic Film, later to be screened at SouthSide Film Festival. The film, now distributed by Dread, will get its first theatrical release on September 10th, 2021.

Radio hosts Chilly Billy (Corey Taylor) and Paul (Zach Galligan) take us on an adventure through stories and urban legends told through a series of shorts. These shorts exemplify the spooky and gritty side of Halloween and everything we love about the spooky season, or as Chilly Billy likes to call it “Hells Hallow Eve”. As we traverse through a series of stories (more often than not, resulting in death), we realise they are all perpetrated by masked figures. Unfortunately, some of these stories are not well-developed to the point of understanding the motive behind each killer. There are some really cool concepts that are explored throughout the anthologies, including a woman who works in a less than savoury looking morgue. Deciding an acid trip is a good idea, a situation that I would not want to be in on Halloween, stuck in a place full of dead people… on acid.

I’m a huge fan of practical effects, the less CGI, the better, and Bad Candy does not shy away from having fun with blood and guts. The special effects team really leaned into the fact that it’s Halloween and that they should go all out on the ridiculous. Scenes where gratuitous blood and gore explode across the scene made for a fun watch that takes away from some of the flat storytelling. I can definitely see what the team was trying to achieve, and they did a great job on a low budget.

One aspect of the anthology that had me confused was the number of stories that were put into the series. It felt very jam-packed and with less; I believe that there could have been more of a focus on the storytelling and execution of the shorts. Those stories that are really fleshed out captivate the meaning of the spooky season and execute their stories with passion and thought, I wish that there had been more of a focus on the strong entries into the anthology rather than trying to put as many in as they could.

This anthology is a lot of fun to watch as a horror lover, however, it might miss the mark for those who aren’t as appreciative of the simplicity in some horror. Corey Taylor was a pleasant addition to the film, himself being a huge horror lover. Each entry into the anthology has a balanced mix of practical effects with horror elements that sometimes fall flat, but are enjoyable nonetheless.

[Review] Bad Candy (2021)

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