The Candy Witch (2020) Review

The Candy Witch (2020) Review

Two ghost hunters, Reece (Jon Callaway) and Kat (Abi Casson Thompson), are called upon a distressed family who claim they are being tormented by an evil spirit known in their local town as THE CANDY WITCH. But as the mystery of her curse is uncovered, surprising and sinister turns are discovered around THE CANDY WITCH’s identity. Their hardest case yet, can they solve this evil curse before more people are killed by the demonic spirit?

Director Rebecca Matthews (PET GRAVEYARD) has fashioned a mixed bag for fans of the supernatural, by turns nonsensical and formulaic it still remains watchable and holds together despite the occasional absurdity that writer Scott Jeffrey’s tale throws our way. Initially I found it difficult to place where the story was set, after all candy is not a UK term, we call them sweets, and there’s a mixture of accents to further muddle the sensibilities. As it happens THE CANDY WITCH IS set in England and is centred on an American family dealing with spooky shenanigans.

Much of what happens is as equally as muddled as the basic set-up, for example, take the scene where Reece (Jon Callaway), our sexy male ghost hunter, is bequeathed with nothing but a towel wrapped around him. It’s removed for sexy time with his luscious lady friend only for us to see a pair of boxer shorts underneath. It’s no biggie but it is indicative of the kind of messy approach taken to telling a straightforward story. There are also moments such as when Tom Hardy lookalike Keith (Jon-Scott Clark) gets lost walking home, in daylight, from his girlfriend’s address. Had Keith never walked home before? Did he not have a car? Why’s he getting lost? It’s all rather vague.

In a nutshell THE CANDY WITCH is a guilty pleasure with excellent production values making this muddled concoction look better than it actually is. The acting is variable – I did wonder if one particular cast member was still groggy with sleep when filming – and with our titular witch imbued with a candy cane hook to dispatch her victims with, one can only reason that this was kind of designed to tie in with the CANDYMAN movie that would have been released theatrically about this time – it’s messy, it’s illogical, but it’s also fun.

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