“Find what you love and let it kill you.”
Sean Byrne’s “The Devil’s Candy” wraps themes of dark powers, corruption of the mind, and family together into one sweet, artistic, devilish journey.
When demonic voices drive Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) to murder his parents and flee his home, he curses his house. Jesse (Ethan Embry), Astrid (Shiri Appleby) and daughter Zooey (Kiara Glasco) are next to move in. Jesse and Ray become connected through the voices. As Ray kills children at the command of Satan, Jesse subconsciously illustrates their downfall through his art and works to save them.
“We’ve come to the place where we joke about the idea of the devil. With the horns, and the tail and all that. But that is Satan’s lie, to distract us from the reality of who he is. He is no mask in a Halloween store. He is not what you see in the movies. He is an active, violent, anti-God personal reality. And as much as we refuse to admit it, he lives through us. He uses us to carry out his unspeakable deeds. For we are his pawns, we are his demons on Earth, we satiate his hunger. If you have the slightest bit of greed in your heart, he will turn it into an avalanche. He will slither into your soul.”
A constant theme throughout this movie is the influence that evil has on people. The idea that Satan isn’t necessarily a person or entity, but something that corrupts the mind and drives people to do insanely violent things. That evil isn’t a natural human trait, but something we’ve been challenged to fight off. To not let inside us. Because once it’s inside us, it spirals.
“It’s like these children are inside of me. Begging, screaming to be let out.”
Most of the film’s soundtrack is heavy metal, as Jesse and his daughter are diehard fans. Ray listens to heavy metal to tune out the demonic voices. I think the point of this is supposed to be that evil in tiny doses, when you control it, can be healthy. Anger, pain, and frustration expressed in those heavy metal songs… those emotions are normal. Tuning into that anger and expressing it in a healthy way (like through music) c
an sometimes prevent one from giving into a greater evil. Jesse and Zooey listen to intense heavy metal music, but believe in treating others as they want to be treated, and friendship. They’re kind people, and they’re still able to rock out to angry, violent music. Because there’s a difference between singing about something and actually doing it.
Another theme throughout the film is the patriarchal role of a father in a family. Jesse is driven by his need to protect his family (especially his daughter) and to bring the children Ray has sacrificed to Satan to justice. His last big action scene is literally him beating Ray to death with a flying V electric guitar (which Ray gave to Zooey initially) after he tries to kill Zooey in a fire he sets himself. After Ray has been defeated, he tunes back into the voices in his head telling him where Ray buried the bodies, and goes to dig them up. He brings them to justice and, in a way, frees them.
I also think that Jesse is supposed to represent God, or a Godly figure at least. I know, it sounds like a reach, but hear me out. His hair and facial hair are identical to that of most people’s depiction of God, and he always seems to glow. He represents the perfect male physique; muscles, tan, golden hair, etc. His need to save those less fortunate than him (the children) drives him in everything he does. I mean, when Jesus died for our sins or whatever, wasn’t he redeeming, saving us?
One more thing I enjoy about this film is the anticipation of violence. There are scenes with blood, but they’re short and chopped up. You never see Ray dismembering the children, but you know that it happened. That it’s happening. That it’ going to happen again. The movie is constantly bringing you to the brink of violence, and then taking it away from you. It’s taunting, and it keeps the tension strong.
This movie gives off major spooky vibes. There are very intense, frightening scenes that do lack some gore, but will still give you unsettling vibes.
If you’re looking for some more Sean Byrne movies, check out his fist feature film “The Loved Ones” (2009).
Mooney's Corner 