The Devil's Candy

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. So when I saw early on in 'The Devil's Candy' that the main characters were a family of hippy bogans, I'll admit I was worried for the sake of the film. I make no mistake about the fact that these are not people I can relate to in any way, and have had almost universally negative experiences with them in my life. On the contrary though, that turned out to be the strongest element to the film. I loved this family. They were charming, caring, relatable and down to Earth. I genuinely cared about their fate, and that is a large part of what made 'The Devil's Candy' a very fine horror film.

The second thing I loved about this film is that is never cheats. No scare is a false one. Nothing is suddenly revealed to be a dream sequence. No super-natural elements were required simply to make the story work. That is incredibly rare in the history of horror movies, let alone modern ones. Writer/director Sean Byrne needs to be absolutely commended on this. It is a brilliant effort on his part.

There really isn't a lot of negatives I can come up with for this film. The only thing holding it back from being a '10' was an unforgettable ending. Other than that it is basically flawless. Fantastic acting, a simple yet brilliant and effective story, genuine scares that never cheat and characters that are both likable and relatable. In an industry that is seemingly completely lost as to how to make a good horror film, 'The Devil's Candy' needs to be studied by everyone in Hollywood. It is a very good film.

When i first saw the description of this movie, I thought "oh yeah, just another possession movie ... yawn, probably going to be a waste of my evening" ... but then I took a look at how many positive reviews It was getting and decided to give it a go ... and to no disappointment! This movie was well done, lots of original material, well crafted cinematic horror, good acting, good plot, actually reasonably scary and suspenseful... it's a solid horror movie. I recommend it strongly to other horror fans and trust me I don't give that recommendation out easily, there is plenty of 'horror crap' out there, but this is horror gold. Good job.

Watching this movie, you get this sense that something isn't right. 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 persons 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. The acting is great, and each character carriers a nuance that is hard to find in the horror genre. The script is subdued, but what it lacks in any depth it more than makes up for in creep-factor. Like watching a satanic ritual as you hide in a corner, unseen, this movie forces you to witness madness, and how art can be used to channel some twisted and diseased emotions.

This movie is reminiscent of The VVItch, in that both feature no real blood or gore, but still manage to disturb to the highest degree. The is no overt violence, but the few scenes that show it are haunting. I watched this film three nights ago and I am still thinking about it. That guitar riff has been sneaking its way into my dreams, and that in itself is an accomplishment. This is not a movie for everyone, and gore hounds will be sorely disappointed. What it is, however, is a private look into the mind of those affected with psychosis, and how the world seems to bend and warp around you as you battle mental illness.

Wow a great Horror Movie. I was slightly put off by the cover art of this movie and almost missed this one thinking it was a slasher film, it is not. I am not a fan of simple gore slasher movies and I visually categorized this as something akin to "Devil's Rejects" which is the type of movie I despise. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a good review of this movie which made me pick it up. Anyway, this may be one of the better horror movies of 2015. Pruitt Taylor Vince performance is very memorable and disturbing. Everything from his demeanor to that dirty red tracksuit. Ethan Embry (Late Phases, Incident on a Mountain Road) is no stranger to horror films but I barely recognized due to his long hair and grunge rock appearance, he gives an outstanding performance of a disturbed painter and father who receives an overwhelming urge to paint a sinister painting that is invading his mind. Interesting to note, the voices that the antagonist and the protagonist are hearing are NOT THE SAME. They are different which I think becomes apparent by the end of the film. This movie is full of tension with strong supernatural undertones. There is surprisingly little gore in this movie though we see multiple scenes of bloody aftermaths.

It's not disturbing, not gory, not even scary... I can't understand why there are so many reviews claiming that this movie is good horror. It had so much potential and failed to deliver on all fronts. As a satan obsessed metal head, I thought this movie would be right up my ally, but no. It was cliché in all the worst ways, boring, and not creative. There were some opportunities for it to be really gruesome or disturbing that simply weren't taken. Felt like a PG-13 wannabe horror movie trying way too hard to be original. I think the only moment I enjoyed was when the four-horned goat appeared in the yard.