The Devil's Candy

The Devil's Candy is a movie about a family that consists of a couple and a teenage daughter who move into a new house. Father and daughter are really into metal, father is also a painter and it's like he gets possessed when he's painting and he paints all this nightmarish imagery. There's also this creepy man who kills children that starts stalking the daughter and basically, it gets a bit messy.

The main problem with this movie is that the plot just doesn't come together well. The possession part completely takes a backseat (even though it was shown a lot) and is never really explained, so we have a story about a family being stalked by this very creepy satanist serial killer who kills kids and thinks he sends them for the devil. It's like two plots and one unfolds while the other one is just kinda left hanging in the air. There could have been more, but there wasn't and it doesn't really hold up well.

That's a pretty big flaw, but I liked everything else about the movie. It was well directed and very, very intense. I'm talking biting your nails kind of intense. It also has some sudden very disturbing moments that might be a bit too disturbing to some, but that's a win for the movie. I was surprised by how little gore this movie contained, but still it manages to shock so much in certain moments, so props to the director. The acting was also one of the best I've seen in indie horror movies for a while and it really helped bring us closer to the characters (father and daughter in particular). I wasn't prepared for how good the acting actually was. And also, the movie is pretty stylish and I felt that the director really brought that sense of a nightmare. And if you like metal, that's a good enough reason alone to watch this. The soundtrack and some of the themes are a metal-head's wet dream. And while I'm not a complete metal-head, I'm quite fond of metal and I must say that I really enjoyed those aspects of the movie.

So, this movie might have had a weak script, but it was saved by good directing and strong performances.

A struggling painter (Ethan Embry) is possessed by supernatural forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas (just north of Austin), in this creepy haunted-house tale.

First and foremost, this film deserves credit for working in the metal-horror connection. You don't have to enjoy metal to enjoy this movie, 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. "Devil's Candy" doesn't try to be an 80s throwback, but does offer something of a modern equivalent.

Leading us through the film is Ethan Embry. Like many others, my love for Embry is strong. Not to pigeon-hole him, but he has been in a number of horror films in the last decade (such as the brilliant "Late Phases") and as part of the horror community I'd like to claim him as one of ours. Fans of "Grace and Frankie" may fight me, but we would all agree he is a great actor and truly underrate. Casey Affleck an Oscar contender? Really? Embry emotes with his eyes in way that few others can -- we have seen him sensitive, petrified, terrifying, and everything else. Some of that we see in this film (though luckily for us he is more on the good side this time around).

And countering Embry is Pruitt Taylor Vince, who unfortunately is probably best known as a "character actor" who has one of those faces you have seen 100 times but don't know the name. If this is you, make this the movie you start remembering Vince for. Holy smokes. He has had a handful of "idiot" or "incompetent" roles, but he really turns it on here, making us wonder just how much he is tormented inside and having pity on him, even though we know within the first five minutes that he is a tool of the devil.

The plot is thin, but not necessarily in a bad way. Rather than get bogged down or become too cerebral, "Devil's Candy" prefers to keep the pace moving so we can get punched in the face over and over again in its relatively short running time. You like cerebral horror? Great, we can watch "Frailty". This is not that film. But it is one filled with rich atmospheric cinematography and a dark, yet vibrant color palette (if such a combination is possible). With all due respect to writer-director Sean Byrne, it is cinematographer Simon Chapman who sold me on this film.

The only thing that left me wondering, is why did the film take so long for a proper release? Beginning in 2015, it was floating around film festivals, receiving praise. The journey continued throughout 2016, and we finally see a release from IFC in March 2017. I suspect maybe it was securing the music budget, as getting the rights to put Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" on DVD is probably not cheap. But what do I know? Regardless, IFC must be thanked for getting this out to the masses. Perhaps not the best horror film coming out on home video this year, but I assure you it is far from the worst. Any horror fan who has 90 minutes to spare would be investing their time wisely with "The Devil's Candy".

This movie is tense, disturbing, with some heavy imagery, gripping, and has great acting. It's not so much scary as it's disturbing - different things, the way I see it. Watching it was an intense experience. There's some lack of imagination in the underlying plot, in portraying evil and how it acts through people, but I guess that this would be asking too much of an already good movie. It lacks subtlety in key moments. Decisive scenes where the main theme of the movie are discussed are presented hurried way; they aren't properly explored. To be fair, this shouldn't be generalized, though. But I do feel the focus ended up being too much on the unfolding of the actions - a classic goal to goal rather aspect to aspect sort of thing.

The scarcity of good horror genre movies is really saddening, few artists are willing to delve into the nature of fascinating subjects such as evil and fear, but I'd say this movie is one of the good ones and I definitely recommend it.

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.