The Killer Likes Candy (1968)

Pair of action / adventure films, one from the 70's, the other from the 60's. I bought this DVD for the film The Killer Likes Candy, a 1968 Euro-made film starring Kerwin Mathews. He plays a CIA spy type hired to protect a Middle-Eastern potentate. Beyond that it doesn't make much sense except that the title refers to an assassin that has a sweet tooth. The transfer is pretty good quality but it could use re-mastering which it will probably not get. In quality it matches the RareFlix DVD, except that the RareFlix has an unpleasant trailer one has to sit through before one can see the film. The Code Red DVD has some extras, including trailers. If this is your preferred genre, either version will do.

Shrewd and evasive ex-Nazi and top assassin Oscar Snell (nicely played suavely sinister aplomb by Bruno Cremer) is determined to rub out King Faoud (a suitably arrogant Lukas Ammann). Snell's sole weakness is his sweet tooth; he leaves candy wrappers at the scene of his every crime. It's up to no-nonsense CIA agent Mark Stone (a smooth and solid performance by Kerwin Matthews) to find Snell and stop him before it's too late. Directors Federico Chenkens and Maurice Clothe (the latter also co-wrote the compact and eventful script) keep the movie humming along at a snappy pace and stage the plentiful rousing shoot-outs and down'n'dirty fisticuffs with a reasonable amount of skill and brio. The Rome, Italy locations add a pleasing extra exotic flavor to the lively proceedings. Moreover, there's also a welcome smattering of tasty peek-a-boo almost nudity from a bevy of beautiful ladies (King Faoud's dancing harem girls are especially luscious). Popping up in neat parts are Marilu Tolo as fetching physician Sylva, Venantino Venantini as Stone's jolly partner Costa, Werner Peters as slippery underground crime kingpin Guardino, and the ever-imposing Gordon Mitchell as Guardino's brutish henchman Toni. Fausto Zuccoli's cinematography makes inspired occasional use of a hand-held camera. Gianni Marchetti's groovy, dreamy, get-down hip and playful swinging jazz score may be inappropriate, but it still sounds insanely cool just the same. A really fun and diverting romp.

This Italian/French/West German co-production could just as easily have been a cop thriller but for the element of Mark Stone (Kerwin Matthews) being a U.S. government agent. Locations in Venice and Rome keep things visually interesting, the cast is filled with recognizable faces, and the score by Gianni Marchetti is appropriately jazzy.Stone's assignment is to guard the life of a king so we can have his oil. Sound familiar? By the way, at the beginning of the film, the killer uses an ice bullet in his first attempt to kill the king. This little trick was used two years earlier in the Ernesto Gastaldi-scripted Ring Around the World. The plot may be simple but Matthews makes for a good hero and The Killer Likes Candy has enough going for it to make it worth seeking out.

This is the most stupid movie I have seen. Is's about a hired murderer who eats candy while killing people, and always leaves a piece of the candy-paper behind. And the music.... Well, you have to see and hear it to believe it. I can't put words on it. The name of the movie says it all: The Killer likes candy!!! See it if you have the chance.