The Devil’s Candy (2017) Review!!!

Synopsis – A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale.

My Take – I am an avid film lover, but if there is one genre I always look over is modern horror. In my opinion, keeping aside the well done horror franchise from writer director and producer James Wan (Insidious & The Conjuring films), the biggest problem modern horror films seem to have is making the audience care about their characters. Generally, they are so cliché, bland, dumb and unrealistic that within the first 10 minutes of the film no one cares any longer about their fate, plus it seems the makers behind these films are concerned with nothing but adding just unwanted jump scares, which somehow take precedence over the plot of the film. Yet, it’s not wrong to hope right? Back in 2009, director Sean Byrne brought The Lovely Ones to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and went on to win the Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award, but it somehow never really caught on amongst horror film enthusiasts, I myself must admit that I missed it upon release. Eventually I did up seeing the film last year; I was shocked at how fun, violent and well shot this horror film was. Hence, I was anxiously awaiting this film’s release because of my love for the latter film, plus this film had a really cool trailer, seriously who would have though the combination of heavy metal and Satan look so good? It’s great to see how the film uses a lot of the common horror tropes and plays around it in the most unexpected way resulting in something very original and different. Yes, the film is never really frightening so to speak and has no paranormal events or sudden jump-scares that’ll spook you, plus the eerie part is developed in a more subtle way here, which on the contrary though, turned out to be the strongest element to the film, mainly as the film is focused on making the main characters, a family of hippy heavy metal enthusiasts, as relatable as possible. Despite their tastes & choices of style, the family like most are also charming, caring, relatable and down to Earth, forcing us to genuinely care about their fate, and that is a large part of what made this Sean Byrne directed film a very fine horror.

The story follows Jesse Hellman (Ethan Embry), a long-haired, tattooed struggling painter who has passed on his love of all things heavy metal to his preteen daughter, Zooey (Kiara Glasco). Along with his wife, loving and tolerant hair stylist Astrid (Shiri Appleby), Jesse just bought a house in the countryside outside of Austin, Texas, which they got for a bargain thanks to the two accidental deaths that took place there not long before. However, the happy family has also unwittingly placed its youngest member in danger, as the previous owners’ mentally disturbed son, Ray Smile (Pruitt Taylor Vince), is still on the loose and still plagued by demonic voices who tell him to kill children, because ‘they are his candy’, while Jesse begins to hear voices of his own. First and foremost, this film deserves credit for working in the metal-horror connection. You don’t have to enjoy metal to enjoy this film, but I think it helps, one reason the 1980s were a great decade for horror is because it was also a great decade for punk and metal and the film doesn’t try to be an 80s throwback, but does offer something of a modern equivalent. Director Sean Byrne who both wrote and directed this film has made yet another competent and crowd pleasing horror film that has the look and feel of a Rob Zombie film but with much better results. The set-up of the film has been done hundreds of times, where a family moves into a new house after the previous occupants died. At first you think it’s going to be something like the Amityville films, but the film switches things up by having the murderer of the previous occupants still being alive. Plus, there are also some very interesting things where it seems like the father, who is an artist, might also be hearing voices, and maybe the house is haunted, or perhaps he’s just catching a glimpse into the mind of the crazed killer and/or his victims. Whatever it is, it’s inspiring him and his art in a way nothing else has. So there’s a temptation to embrace whatever’s happening or fight against it. I loved how the story slowly developed, not rushing into the drama, blood, or screams, but taking its time to develop a strong foundation and build the suspense so that when the intense moments happen, the audience is glued to the screen. Also, although a unique demonic story, parts of the film reminded me of the Sinister, so it’ll be interesting to see if other viewers see a similar connection. Like Sinister, there are some elements of gore but the crux of the film is on the individual characters all of which are interesting and authentic, with a heavy helping of heavy guitar riffs, the film is a surprising hard rock pleaser filled with atmosphere and sweat. Although it’s a horror, it’s not really bloody as you can imagine what dreadful murders are happening and at some point when Jesse is painting again, you’ll see fragments of red paint mixed with seemingly bloody fragments, but it’s never explicitly shown an there are moments when you can feel the helplessness of a future victim, mainly as the powerlessness and the realization what’s waiting for them, provide an uncomfortable feeling.

Watching this film, you get this sense that something isn’t right, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the film, but the underlying themes presented within. The story of a demonic force that uses a person’s talents as a means to channel evil is pretty original, but the way that the story just burrows under your skin like a lesion is just the tip of the iceberg. Another thing I loved about this film is that is never cheats, like no scare present here is a false one and none of the sequences are suddenly revealed to be a dream sequence. This film is a perfect example of how you don’t require super-natural infested sequences to make a good story work, which is an incredible feat considering other modern horror films. Ultimately, you can ask yourself the question whether it’s really Satan who’s ordering Ray or is he just a mentally disturbed person who hears voices and is guided by them, more or less it’s explained a bit by the preacher in a religious television program. Satan isn’t only that metaphysical character with horns and a pointed tail, it’s not only that mask that’s being worn at Halloween or the character you’ll see in a film, he is an aggressive anti-Christ who lives among us and uses us to carry out his unspeakable deeds in a less religious context it simply means the evil that proliferates in humans. Yes, the basic plotline isn’t very original, but the undertone of the film is fascinating. The fact that the film is filled up with brutal metal sound, creates of course an extra satanic dimension! Personally I still think it’s absolutely ridiculous, but the association of Satan with metal is never far away. Well, probably there still are some blockheads who think that Ray’s actions are a result of listening to heavy metal. Ultimately, the film balances between a psychic, demonic story, and the story of a serial killer who’s guided by an evil influence was fascinating. The soundtrack helps ratchet up the tension. The two things, the source of the demonic voice and the local art gallery are not fully explored. Nonetheless, the voice n the art gallery, specially its owner n the receptionist set up as a sinister n surrealistic imagery. My only problem with the film is was its very short run time of 79 minutes. I would have liked a couple of more scenes with the family just existing before everything gets weird, or even more of a buildup of the evil presence or whatever it was before the end of the film. The performances were outstanding. In the lead, Ethan Embry, was above and beyond fantastic. Beyond just his fondness for heavy metal and his shoulder-length hair, he’s completely credible as both loving father and obsessive artist. Embry’s scenes with an equally terrific Kiara Glasco, especially, exude a certain warmth that makes those demon-possessed moments in which he fails his daughter even more heartbreaking. Shiri Appleby also executed her role terrifyingly good. Pruitt Taylor Vince has played similar roles before and this one adds to his tally of another one perfectly done. On the whole, ‘The Devil’s Candy’ is a solid horror film with a truly frightening atmosphere & a well directed script.