Review: The Devil's Candy

Australian director Sean Byrne made a big splash onto the horror scene with the taut, insane The Loved Ones. That film centered around a young girl who wanted to go to prom and had a dad that would do anything to ensure his daughter was happy. Byrne returns, again focusing on a family, with a heavy-metal Satanic possession film that cements him as way more than a one hit wonder.

Ethan Embry gives a hell of a performance as Jesse Hellman, a struggling painter who loves heavy-metal and his family. He has been taking commissions painting butterflies so that they can afford the new home the just moved into. Trouble is the home has a dark past. An elderly woman was killed there and her husband killed himself shortly after finding her. To make matters worse, their son Ray Smiley (the ever underutilized Taylor Vince) is still lurking around and clearly not all there in the head.

As the film progresses, Jesse begins to blackout and paint some disturbing images including his daughter Zooey burning alive. While the setup may seem somewhat familiar, there is an unusual amount of attention spent on the characters. The family dynamic feels more akin to a Sundance darling than a heavy-metal horror film. This really pays off as the film moves to an exciting showdown in the film's climax. 

In comparison to The Loved Ones, The Devil's Candy is going to feel tame. It does not feature the same level of intensity or gore as that film. Horror fans though should value the progression Byrne shows here as a filmmaker. He invests us in this family far more than most horror films of this ilk are capable of. The father-daughter relationship here feels real and honest amidst all the Satanic shenanigans. 

Embry continually proves he's a strong actor. He shined in Cheap Thrills from a few years ago and is very convincing here. The rest of the cast is solid as well. Byrne has a great sense of sound design and uses doom-metal tracks mixed with sound effects to create some very effective soundscapes. The use of a flying-V guitar in a key moment will make so many metal fans rejoice. 

The Devil's Candy is an effective horror ride. I think some fans will be disappointed that the film isn't at the same extreme level as The Loved Ones but others will see that the quality of filmmaking is still very high here. Byrne is a real-deal talent and both of his films are welcome additions to the horror canon.

4/5