I jumped into The Devil’s Candy knowing that it was going to feature some heavy metal music and demon possession. I did not know, however, that it was light on the demon possession and thick on the home invasion-esque storyline.
The backbone of The Devil’s Candy does rely on Satan dragging his sharp pointy fingers into the weak minded, this time the weak individual is known as Ray (played by the always reliably creepy Pruitt Taylor Vince). Ray hears the sounds of Satan telling him to kill children, and the only way to drown out the sound is by playing his guitar really loud. Unfortunately for everyone, people don’t like a loud guitar screaming in the middle of the night, and after being told to shut it down, he is forced to listen to the voice, which causes him to pick up his killing spree.
Ethan Embry plays the perpetually dirty looking Jesse, who lives to rock and paint. He also loves his wife (Shiri Appleby) and daughter (Kiara Glasco) to no end. They end up buying the former home of Ray, and it doesn’t take long before Jesse starts hearing the voice (Satan, not the TV show). The voice that speaks to him puts him into a trance where he starts painting up a storm. The painting that Jesse is working on is a mural of the horrifying destruction that Ray is wrecking, and it might offer a clue to how he can save his daughter’s life, as Ray/Satan has taken a liking to her.
That’s a pretty broad breakdown of the plot for The Devil’s Candy. As most readers of mine know, I don’t like to spoil movies. I will, however, have no problem telling you whether you should see a movie. The Devil’s Candy is definitely a watch, but your expectations need to be reign in a bit. If you’re expecting a crazy, Amityvillelike horror story, you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you’re expecting a sometimes terrifying killer on the loose story, with hints of the Satanic, you’ll definitely love this movie.
There are some obvious issues with The Devil’s Candy. The plot isn’t explained much, relying on a minimalistic approach to story telling. The ending also feels rushed, with some use of some rather shaky CGI work. As for the final few frames, things are left open for interpretation, which some hate but I always enjoy, so it’s nice the movie ends on a positive note (to me that is).
Director Sean Byrne struck gold with his fantastic movie The Loved Ones, and even though I didn’t enjoy The Devil’s Candy as much as that one, I still think it has more plusses than negatives. I say, give it a watch!