An almost unrecognizable Ethan Embry stars as a starving
artist who moves his family into an old house. It doesn’t take long for him to start hearing
voices while painting increasingly sacrilegious artwork while in the grips of frenzied creative outbursts. There’s
also the matter of the mentally disturbed guitar-playing man (Pruitt Taylor
Vince) who keeps showing up unannounced whose parents (the former tenants) died
in the house.
The Devil’s Candy is better in the early scenes that explore
the family dynamic of its characters. The
stuff with the long-haired, heavy-metal-loving Embry trying to balance his
artwork with being a parent rings true enough.
It’s just a shame that the horror scenes are mostly a bust and not very
effective to boot.
Part of the problem is that it all seems like it’s building
towards something… bigger. When the
finale finally does happen, the feeling is more like, “That’s it?” than
anything. Even at 79 minutes, it’s
rather slow-moving and some scenes are almost too dark to see.
The cast is solid though.
Embry is strong as the family man who paints in an obsessed state who
fears he may be putting his art ahead of his daughter’s needs. Vince makes an impression as the gentle, but
deadly guitar player, although you wish he had more to do. Leland Orser also has a few memorable moments
as a local television evangelist. None
of their efforts really make it all worthwhile, but they are certainly better
than the one-note premise deserves.
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