Television scribe Guerdon Trueblood (Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo) ventured into feature-film directing once and only once, but what a movie he made: The Candy Snatchers, one of the greatest exploitation films of the 1970s.

The Candy of the title is schoolgirl Candy Phillips (Susan Sennett, Big Bad Mama), while her van-cruising snatchers are a slutty blonde (Tiffany Bolling, Kingdom of the Spiders) tired of sleeping with every third guy she meets; her brother (Brad David, Eat My Dust), whose number of kills is up to double digits, yet not high enough for his liking; and his overweight pal (Vince Martorano, The Severed Arm), who develops real feelings for their virgin hostage.

Because Candy’s pop (Ben Piazza, 1976’s The Bad News Bears) manages a jewelry store, the kidnappers hope for a life-changing payday with a ransom of whatever diamonds are placed in the safe at the close of each workday. What they don’t count on is that Mr. Phillips appears to be in no rush to follow their instructions, nor do they notice their crime has a witness in a mop-headed kid (Trueblood’s scene-stealing son, Christopher) who happens to be overly curious … and mute.

Look beyond the porno-sounding title; The Candy Snatchers may wallow in the mud with dregs of society, but I didn’t feel the need to shower afterward. Trueblood injects a sizable dose of appropriate humor to keep the film’s grim elements from overpowering all else. With clever story turns, colorful characters and an uncompromising ending, the grindhouse great is a gem of a crime-and-grime thriller whose reputation should shine brighter than it already does. —Rod Lott

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