Candy Lnd (2023) by John Swab

Director: John Swab

Year: 2023

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Exploitation; Slasher

Plot:

Working at a truck-stop brothel, the lives of the workers there are thrown for a loop when a customer is found dead in one of the stalls mysteriously, and once a similar string of bodies shows up around the location must try to solve the killer’s identity while keeping themselves safe for work.

Review:

This was a fairly solid and likable genre effort. One of the strongest elements here is the strong sense of community and brotherhood that exists within the community of the truck stop where this takes place. Openly showing them to be a family of like-minded individuals who are free with their place and purpose in life that operates with their own set of codes and ethics to keep everything operating smoothly, this one develops a real sense of the group as a bonded group of individuals who may simply be sex workers but still maintains a rather impressive sense of togetherness that makes them able to take the girl in without any difficulty or out-of-character motivation. That creates a fine sense overall here where their close-knit community is quite well-established despite the sleazy setup.

On top of that, there’s also a lot to like here with the inclusion of the string of dead bodies popping up at the location which is quite fun. While this might’ve been better had it not given the game away from the start by showing the killer work their way through the community, the scenes are brutal and energetic with the sudden turn into the homicidal displayed which gives everything that takes place around the truck stop feel like some great sequences. That does end up making the workers feel somewhat blind and stupid because it’s quite obvious who the killer is from the onset and their motivations for doing so are quite cliched and underwhelming being just as obvious as their identity, but that’s really the only issues here with this one as it’s a solid depiction elsewhere.

Overview: ****/5

An enjoyable and generally impressive mixture of exploitation and slasher, this one has quite a lot going for it which manages to hold this one up over some minor problematic areas that hold it down. Those that appreciate this kind of genre effort or are curious about it will have a lot to like here while only those turned off by the approach here should heed caution.