Ethan Embry Transforms Into a Possessed Painter in ‘The Devil’s Candy’

Alex Aronson

Ethan Embry delivers a fine performance as a struggling, possessed painter in “The Devil’s Candy.” While the film starts out as a typical haunted house tale, its storyline quickly evolves into something much more sadistic – with a level of realism that will give the viewer chills long past the final scene.

Ray Smilie (brilliantly portrayed by Pruitt Taylor Vince) is struggling with the voices in his head. They drive him to commit crimes that he doesn’t want to follow through on, but he has no choice. In order to drown out the sounds, he plays an electric guitar repetitively. After several failed attempts, the voices overcome him and he kills both of his parents in their rural Texas home.

Cut to several months later: Astrid and Jesse Hellman and their young daughter, Zooey, are looking for their dream home. Jesse, an out-of-work painter, wants to provide his family with the very best. They come across a rural Texas house for a very fair price. In a scene that plays like most haunted house fare you’ve probably seen, the realtor lets the family know about the grisly murders that took place in the house not long before. The news doesn’t faze the couple, and they quickly move into the home.

Shortly after settling in, Jesse begins hearing voices in his head – similar to the ones that drove Ray Smilie to a murder spree. The voices possess Jesse to paint disturbing images of his daughter burning in hell.

The family also receives a visit from the home’s former occupant, Ray, who – unbeknownst to them – is a methodical serial killer that buries his victims in suitcases in the backyard. Before Ray kills his victims, he watches devil worship movies (based around characters similar to Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson), giving an added sense of eerie realism to the character.

The middle of the film struggles deeply with some slow pacing issues, but the final act picks up the slack as Ray turns his dark interests towards the family’s daughter, Zooey. After several failed attempts, he eventually kidnaps her, and his sinister endgame quickly becomes apparent.

Ultimately, the showdown between Jesse and Ray takes place in a flaming set piece, reminiscent of the one from his paintings – and Jesse rescues his daughter from the grips of the demented serial killer, leaving him to burn to death. The voices leave Jesse’s head as he discovers the other suitcases and dead bodies that are buried in the backyard.

This is the second feature film outing for writer and director Sean Byrne. He debuted strongly out of the gate with the anti-prom night thriller, “The Loved Ones,” in 2009. Despite the film’s pacing issues, “The Devil’s Candy” has proven an effective follow-up, with shocking imagery and realistic characters. Byrne shows much promise here – hopefully, it won’t take another eight years to see a third film from him.

“The Devil’s Candy” opens in limited release March 17.