The Devil's Candy (2015)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2015
	Director: Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones)
	Actors: Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Kiara Glasco, Pruitt Taylor Vince (Jacob's Ladder, Identity, Constantine)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 30.01.2016, Cinema du Casino, GIFFF2016, Official Selection
Synopsis: Jesse (Embry) and his wife and daughter buy a new house and move into it in spite of the tragic events that happened there. After a while the house starts to affect him while the son of the former owners lurks around.
Review: Nothing less than the best movie I have seen at the Gérardmer Fantastic Film Festival. First thanks to the original topic of possession which seems to become trendy again, and welcome, hopefully surpassing zombies and dead spirits in the house. Then because of the Metal spirit and soundtrack. Last but not least thanks to strong original (yet natural) characters: who came up with the idea of this family in which the father is a Metal fan painting artist entertaining a special relationship with his daughter through music?? Ethan Embry brings a lot of authenticity to this man, reminding of Charlie Hunnam playing Jax in the Sons of Anarchy TV-series but in better. In the cast is also present Pruitt Taylor Vince, a man with a disturbing look that he uses here as he did in Identity, but beyond his trademark look he also has an incredible presence and capacity to portray psychopaths. I cannot tell too much about the story but I found that it was greatly put into a perfect mix of images and sounds/music to produce the desired effect: at the end of the projection I was in a kind of trance induced by its strong content. Don't worry, nothing serious and I quickly snapped out of it, but it has been a long time since I was affected like that by a movie. Long live Genre! The movie does contain some few things to complain about, that I attribute to the relative inexperience of the director Sean Byrne, but they are eclipsed by many qualities like for example the absolutely realistic reactions of the characters, something I complained about after watching February for example. I am starting to think that Texas is a good place to look for original independent no-concession genre movies, like Cold in July or Red, White & Blue. I definitely got to see Sean Byrne's previous The Loved Ones. The Devil's Candy won the public price at the Gérardmer Fantastic Film Festival, not a surprise to me.
Rating: 9 /10