The Devil's Candy (2015) and The Loved Ones (2009): Sean Byrne double feature

Metal Mural Music

The Devil's Candy was added to my Halloween list to go along with some other devil/demon/possession movies, but it doesn't really fit neatly into that category. That doesn't matter though, because it was fucking great! So good that I immediately looked up writer/director Sean Byrne and found a copy of his previous/debut film The Loved Ones. Since these are not super well-known movies, I am going to recommend watching both of them before I even get into a detailed review. The Devil's Candy leans a little more suspense/thriller but is very tense. The Loved Ones is disturbingly violent and twisted, but also darkly funny (that one is NOT recommended for the faint of heart). Alright, you have been recommended/warned.

The Devil's Candy

One of the best movies I have watched this October. After so many horror movies where characters are one-dimensional, unlikable, or completely unrelatable to me, this one immediately grabbed me with its well-drawn family. We weren't quite as metal as father/daughter duo Jesse (Ethan Embry) and Zooey (Kiara Glasco), but this definitely brought back memories of driving around with my mom listening to Metallica (my dad was not into it, much like wife/mother Astrid [Shiri Appleby]).

Jesse is a struggling artist (is there any other kind?) taking on maudlin mainstream murals for money. That's important, because the family just decided to purchase a home. They probably can't afford it, but the deal is too good to pass up thanks to some recent deaths in the house. The real estate agent says it was a natural death followed by a grief suicide, but we know different. The opening scene showed a huge man in the same house playing guitar to drown out voices in his head, then killing his mother. That man Ray (Pruitt Taylor Vince) soon starts showing up at his old home. Meanwhile, Jesse seems to be hearing the same voices. He starts to have walking blackouts and finds that he has covered his mural with nightmarish imagery (including his daughter engulfed in flames!). Things escalate until Jesse's sanity and his family's safety are on the line.

This movie has a couple of almost unbearably tense scenes. Many horror movies rely on extreme gore or violence, and sometimes I have a visceral gut reaction to that. Others attempt to shock with how dark or nihilistic they are, but that often bounces off me or leaves me feeling numb. The Devil's Candy doesn't rely on either of those. Instead, the film made me care enough about this family that I was genuinely worried when they were in danger. The bedroom scene had me holding my breath in suspense. There is also another great scene in a motel bathroom. The movie hasn't shown us a lot of direct violence, but by that point we know the horrible significance of Zooey waking up bound next to a piece of luggage. It's immediately scarier in its mundane horror than any supernatural slasher in the shadows.

This thing is firing on all cylinders. Top notch directing, editing, acting, music, sound design, and a script that gives you enough info without over-explaining. I can't believe Embry is the same dude from Can't Hardly Wait. Now he's ripped, tatted up, and always looks a little dirty (but in a hot way, according to my wife). Glasco gives one of the best performances I have seen from a child actor. She's adorable as a happy metal moppet, plays anger and disappointment in her dad without seeming petulant, and completely sells Zooey's fear when things get scary. I was bummed to see this was apparently her last acting role, hopefully that was her choice because it sure wasn't for lack of talent. Appleby has the most thankless role, but she does a good job of grounding the family without seeming like a killjoy. Vince does a great job playing a troubled man who is all the scarier because you know he doesn't want to do this, but you never know when he will lose control.

Great stuff!

Guess who's coming to dinner?

The Loved Ones

Teenager Brent is traumatized after he lost control while driving and his father was killed. Six months after the accident, he is distant from his girlfriend, self-harms, and engages in risky activities like hanging off a cliff face one-handed. Things can always get worse, though. After Brent refuses a date request from mousy classmate Lola, he is abducted by Lola and her father. Then things get nasty.

This is some fucked up shit right here. Plenty of horror movies get called "twisted" or "demented" by critics, then fail to make an impact on me after decades of horror consumption. This one got me. This is the most screwed up horror movie family since the Sawyer clan of Texas. Between the graphic violence, queasy sexuality, and punishing intensity, I imagine everyone will have at least one point in this movie that makes them gasp, groan, or in my case let out the occasional, quiet "fuck..." 

The Loved Ones takes the nightmarish "dinner scene" from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and extends into damn near an entire act. Scenes of brutality sometimes go on long enough that I went from appreciating the audacity and effects work to feeling genuinely uncomfortable. Not just visual effects either, the sound design sometimes keeps the horror going even when the camera looks away. The movie also draws out the non-horror scenes, following the other characters during Brent's captivity. Those parts build towards the climax and emotional pay-off in ways that don't become clear until later. This is also a darkly funny movie (Lola's song, LOL), sometimes making you laugh during the most upsetting scenes, but the humor never deflates the tension. There is a scene where Brent has escaped and is hiding in a tree. Dad and Lola are throwing rocks to get him down, but then she seems to completely forget about the abduction and just gets really into the rock throwing. It is an oddly funny and off-kilter moment even for this unique character. It is followed immediately by them hammering steak knives into Brent's feet to prevent another escape attempt. 

This was a tough one, but worth the watch. It is extremely dark but doesn't feel like empty nihilism or try-hard edge lord shit. There is a brain, and a heart buried under its bloody exterior.

Bummer/possibly hopeful end note: The Loved Ones debuted in 2009, by 2010 it had mainstream releases worldwide. The Devil's Candy debuted in 2015, but didn't get wide distribution until 2017. Byrne has not had a movie released since. I saw comments that he gets script doctor work on other projects but can't get his own movies made. That's pretty damn depressing considering how strong these two movies are. The good news is that he currently has a project called Dangerous Animals on IMDB that is listed as in post-production. Unlike his first two movies, he is not credited as a writer, but the premise sounds like it could be fun. And it stars Captain Boomerang himself, Jai Courtney, so it's guaranteed a wide release eventually, right? Right?

Good luck Sean Byrne, I'm rooting for ya!