The Devil's Candy

The Devil's Candy

Starring Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Kiara Glasco, Pruitt Taylor Vince

Directed by Sean Byrne

The Story:
In a rural Texas home, Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) hears voices and tries to down them out by playing guitar, but his mother won't have it, so he pushes her down the stairs.  Later, rock family Jesse (Ethan Embry), Astrid (Shiri Appleby) and Zooey (Kiara Glasco) buy the house and move in, where Jesse focuses on his painting.

Meanwhile, Ray is holed up in a hotel where he kidnaps children and kills them, and sets his sights on Zooey.  Jesse tries to protect her, but he starts hearing the same voices Ray did, and his paintings take a very dark turn.  Can he protect his family, or will he succumb to the same voices Ray did?

The Synopsis:
I'm very torn with "The Devil's Candy."  I really wanted to enjoy it, and for the most part I did, but I found that the film was lacking in some very important areas.  While not a top-notch horror - nor a terrible B-list drone - there was that something special missing that prevented it from being greater than it was.

It's nothing to do with the actors.  Ethan Embry (best known for his roles in films such as "Can't Hardly Wait" and his one appearance in my favorite show "The Walking Dead") plays his part perfectly, serving as a father but also a painter and rock musician, who rocks the Matthew McConaughey look (he is pretty much a dead ringer for him).  What's unique about his character is that he's a true family man, something you don't typically see in films like this.  You see the father figure as a stuffy, eyeglass-wearing, suit-and-tie wearing stiff who warns about the dangers of life, while Embry's character rocks tattoos, solid abs and smokes pot with his wife.  Yet he still exhibits true father values, offering fatherly advice to Zooey and risking his own life to protect her.  He shows that not all father types are created equal.

Shiri Appleby (known for her roles on shows "unREAL" and "Roswell") doesn't have a lot to work with here, as she pretty much plays the supporting wife and mother, yet also has a sharp edge to herself as well.  Unfortunately we don't see this edge too much, and she tends to get lost in the background.  Kiara Glasco ("Bitten") shines as Zooey, a girl with an edge but also a youthful innocence, a girl who's multi-fasceted and brave, but also vulnerable and timid.  Glasco plays her exceptionally, perfectly blending the polar opposites into one character.

Besides Embry, the other main character is Ray, played by Pruitt Taylor Vince, who's been a character actor for years, but personally I know him as Otis in "The Walking Dead" (which Embry also starred in).  His whole demeanor showcases a sense of dread and uneasiness, using his physical appearance to play the part better.  Unlike Embry's toned Jesse, Ray is overweight, wears a dirty red track suit, and overall looks totally unappealing, someone you'd suspect to be a serial killer.  He pulls it off, and makes for a very unnerving performance.

I guess the main issue I have with the film is that it's too short.  There's not a lot of information given, and there seems to be a lot of holes that never get filled.  We never know truly what is haunting Ray and Jesse, if it's located in the house, and why it didn't haunt anyone else.  We never know really why Ray did what he did, except for an expositional  throwaway line, and we don't truly see Jesse's real struggle.  The film runs at a scant 80 minutes, and could've been expanded more to explore what is really haunting them, as well as give the characters more depth and feeling.  As it was, it seemed like an unfinished art house project that showed signs of brilliance, but ultimately left too much on the cutting room floor.

The Summary:
Displaying flashes of genius but ultimately falling short of brilliance, "The Devil's Candy" had all the workings to be a great horror film, but due to the short runtime and lack of story it just becomes another average thriller.

The Score: C