The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.0

The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson September 30, 2017

Tasmanian-born filmmaker Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) sophomore effort The Devil's Candy has a solid premise, is well-shot and fairly ambitious so it's disconcerting that it devolves into an insipid exercise in exploitation filmmaking. Metalhead artist Jesse Hellman (Ethan Embry), phlegmatic wife Astrid (Shiri Appleby), and the couple's teen daughter Zooey (Kiara Glasco) are moving into their dream house in a bucolic town in rural Texas. The local realtor (Craig Nigh) makes terse mention of a double homicide that occurred in the house years ago but that doesn't faze the Hellman's. As they begin to get settled, a corpulent and mentally challenged man named Ray Smilie (Pruitt Taylor Vince) knocks on the door claiming that he used to live at the residence. Astrid feels sorry for Ray but Jesse senses something seriously wrong with the reprobate man who has the mind of a child. Byrne cross-cuts between the over-obsessive Jesse, who paints butterflies amidst wheat fields and Munch-like paintings of ghouls, goblins and angels, to shots of Ray watching televangelists expatiate on the devil's omnipresence.

Mads Heldtberg and Michael Yezerski's score, particularly the heavy metal riffs, stylistically fit the prologue but are overplayed during other scenes in which they're tonally not suited. Another aspect that seems forced in the first act is the relationship between Astrid and Jesse. Byrne attempts an "opposites attract" approach between uncouth Jesse and mild-mannered Astrid but their marriage strains at compatibility and chemistry. I have fond regard for Ethan Embry's (formerly Ethan Randall) early screen roles in comedies such as the underrated Dutch (1991) and Vegas Vacation (1997) but his work here is erratic due to Byrne's shaky direction. Byrne also doesn't give Astrid much to do. Pruitt Taylor Vince makes Ray Smilie into a two-dimensional character and while I don't have issues with his interpretation, there's something lacking that could have made Ray more compelling and unpredictable. Ray is appropriately laconic but he's also unmistakably deranged. Byrne could have explored Ray's past more beyond the prologue. Byrne's screenplay is good in places but plot holes exist and one wonders how the original festival print of The Devil's Candy compares to this truncated theatrical version.

Astrid and Jesse Hellman can't afford to look sleepy-eyed too long in their new abode.

The Devil's Candy visually rips off Psycho (especially the color remake) in a kind of mockumentary style. Also, the premise of a family moving into an older house with either a history of murders or a haunting is nothing new with traces of The Amityville Horror evident as a blueprint. Byrne also liberally and shamelessly borrows from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series (on paper at least). Embry's portrayal of a tormented artist mirrors in some ways Robert Englund's conflicted musings about his alter-ego and screen doppelgänger in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). Both characters are thinking about an incarnation of the devil in their heads and then painting his existence in the gates of Hell or some alternative realm. However, Byrne never completely invests in this territory and the result is a mishap that is not only inferior to all the Nightmare films, but also a wasted opportunity to develop the creative impulses that the film promises.

The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Already available on BD from German-based WVG Medien, The Devil's Candy makes it initial North American appearance courtesy of Shout! Factory on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. The movie appears in the aspect ratio of 2.40:1 which mimics its exhibition on the festival circuit. Shout! has given the feature a mean video bitrate of 29990 kbps while the whole disc sports a total bitrate of 38.45 Mbps. Cinematographer Simon Chapman shot a high percentage of The Devil's Candy at night so the image can look quite dark (e.g., Screenshot #12). There is chroma noise in places (see #s 6, 8, and 11) but banding only was an issue late in the picture (the scene in which capture #12 occurs). Chapman experiments with midnight blue (#11) and hot red (above). Skin tones are consistently rendered and don't fluctuate much throughout the presentation. My score is 3.75.

Shout! has divided the feature into its standard twelve chapter selections.

The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2669 kbps, 24-bit) mix and a DTS-HD Master 2.0 Stereo downsample (1610 kbps, 24-bit). The 5.1 track is on even keel throughout the presentation and reflects the production's low budget origins. Dialogue levels are consistent and audible although I wished they had been recorded louder. I had the volume up high for the duration. The surrounds get serious juice from the heavy metal dominated songs. The LFE made the home theater walls rumble and shake.

Shout! gives viewers the option of English SDH and Spanish subtitles for the 80-minute feature.

The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Director Sean Byrne - Byrne explains why he had reservations about recording a commentary but opens up about how he shaped the story, the characters, and the soundtrack album. The Aussie is unscripted and there are gaps in between his points. In English, not subtitled.

• Behind-the-Scenes—Visual Effects (3:23, 1080p) - a narrated mini-essay on how the fire f/x were achieved for the film's climax. This shows before-and-after shots from the shoot and what was added in post. In English, not subtitled.

• Advantage Satan Short Film (10:53, 1080p) - a 2007 short that Byrne directed which was shot in Melbourne, with funding provided by the Australian Film Commission. It's basically a two-character story on a tennis court with spooks shining the lights on them. This shows the influence The Village of the Damned had on Byrne. Shown in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. In English, not subtitled.

• Music Video (5:43, 1080p) - this is a montage of selected clips from the movie with metal group Goya's ballad "Blackfire" playing in the background.

• Art Gallery (2:48, 1080p) - a slide show of around thirty sketches and illustrated paintings for imagery in The Devil's Candy and drawings done by the character of Jesse Hellman.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:14, 1080p) - IFC's 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen trailer for The Devil's Candy with DTS-HD MA 2.0.

• Bonus Trailers (4.5 min.) - previews for Sex Doll (1:28), House on Willow Street (1:59), and The Axe Murders of Villisca (1:50).

The Devil's Candy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sean Byrne is an arty horror auteur but his inconsistent direction and patchy script produce a work that is less than the sum of its parts. Shout! Factory's transfer has a few compression issues that cause some blockiness in the picture but the transfer is overall above average. Fans of Metallica and Slayer will appreciate the lossless audio's range on the sattellite speakers and subwoofer. Bonus content appears to be more than what's actually contained on this disc. There are no interviews with cast and crew members aside from remarks by Byrne and his visual effects supervisor. The Devil's Candy sets up to aim high but falters, making it an interesting misfire. RENT IT first.