THE DEVIL’S CANDY – Review

Review by Jake Billingsley

Fire is commonly associated with passion and assertive action in philosophy; Sean Byrne’s latest feature THE DEVIL’S CANDY has plenty of the three. In only his second feature film, Byrne paints traditional horror elements through a satanic platform. Some of these elements provide a timeless effect and some have been dragged through the horror landscape for far too long.

The film’s core action takes place in a rural Texas landscape. It is the cliche story of a family moving into a new house that brings strange consequences. Have we traveled across this landscape before? Jesse Hellman, played by Ethan Embry, is the artist within the film; Embry gives a fine performance. Hellman is the type of guy you look at and imagine to be a rockstar, but on the other end his facial composure is comparable to Jesus. He paints butterflies for the local bank so that he can afford his new mortgage, but his artwork evolves into the divergent visions that satan poisons him with. Hellman is not only a talented artist but is also the loving father of Zooey (Kiara Glasco). She carries herself like any death metal loving girl would, quiet and anomalous. We see this father daughter bond through the heavy metal music they both thoroughly enjoy. Its as if their life motto would follow a song by Metallica. Hellman enthusiastically holds up the beloved rock horns as he watches his daughter walk into her new highschool. His loving wife, Astrid (Shiri Appleby), is not pictured much throughout the film. While the family may seem content in the exposition of the film, it is Jesse that knows what is truly going on; it is inside him.

A demonic presence is the underlying voice that hides behind not only Jesse but another character in the film, Ray Smilie (Pruitt Taylor Vince). The lurking whisper, sort of like a nightmarish version of the “if you build it” voice in “Field of Dreams,” is remnant through a whisper in which Byrne utilizes to show the audience that these characters are being mentally possessed. This is a cheesily effective way of showing the audience a direct translation of possession. As Jesse is being mentally taken by the satanic being in his new residence, Ray is still experiencing voices as well. Ray has been carrying this voice much longer than Jesse, and it even forces him to kill his mother in the first sequence of the film; the only way he could avoid the whispers was to perform the ritualized death metal music to drown out the plaguing voice of the devil. Jesse now lives in Ray’s old home, and Ray wants to get back in; he wants to get back in badly.

Byrne creates many good moments in this film. When the family moves in he uses a montage of jump cuts to remind us that the house is watching, especially from the point in which a crucifix would be placed. The art that Hellman paints in the studio behind the house gets more satanic as his possession progresses, and he even paints the satanic visions he has been seeing; one of them shows his daughter on a grand canvas in flames with an accompanying group of dead children. Hellman states that the kids are “inside of him trying to get out.” Byrne as well, in writing and directing, has a big picture to paint. At times the film gives you penetrating suspense that latches onto you for the entirety of the sequence at hand. Other times we see him flail at traditional horror elements that only make us feel as if we have seen this a thousand times over. Altogether, the film brings an entertainment value that is sprinkled upon with unique tension in a few sequences. The acting and photography isn’t the main issue of the film, but what does it matter if there is no originality? Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY is entertaining, but I’m afraid that’s all it is.