Film

The Devil's Candy

Name: The Devil's Candy
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2016
Cast: Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Kiara Glasco, Tony Amendola

A possessed painter in rural Texas becomes a conduit for something ancient and hungry. Sean Byrne's film is a sensory assault—discordant sound design, nauseating colour grading, frames that feel wrong. It's visceral, unsettling, and committed to the idea that evil isn't theatrical but mundane. For viewers who want horror that crawls under your skin rather than jumps at it.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy slow-burning horror where dread gathers around a family's everyday routines in an isolated house, and you respond to mood more than shock.

Skip it if you need brisk pacing and plot momentum, since this one lingers on atmosphere and takes its time getting to the point.

What it asks of you: Patience first: it runs about eighty minutes and spends much of that time letting unease seep in through small domestic details, so settle in and let it build.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Hereditary2018

Family horror that treats supernatural dread as emotional devastation. Ari Aster builds unbearable tension through inheritance, guilt, and the idea that some things are passed down. Visually stunning and genuinely disturbing.

But Very long, very bleak, and the supernatural elements take time to fully emerge. If you need action or clear answers, this will frustrate you.

The Witch2016

Period horror about faith, paranoia, and the violence lurking beneath puritanical surfaces. Robert Eggers' debut is formally precise and deeply uneasy. It trusts silence and suggestion over gore.

But Slow-burn to an extreme, with a deliberately archaic script that some find impenetrable. The payoff is philosophical rather than cathartic.

Possession1981

Andrzej Żuławski's masterpiece: visceral, operatic possession horror that's almost abstract in its commitment to chaos and anguish. Isabelle Adjani is extraordinary. Nothing feels safe or rational.

But It's a 1981 Polish film that's deliberately fragmented and surreal. Clarity is not the goal. Also extremely violent and sexually graphic.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Devil's Candy

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Mandy2018

Both films use color, sound, and visual distortion as the primary language of possession—less about jump scares and more about the sensory overload of being invaded. Both see their protagonist as an instrument.

Panos Cosmatos' film is possession horror stripped of plot: pure sensory experience, color, sound design, and Nicolas Cage descending into vengeance. It's experimental and hypnotic. Watch it with the sound loud.

But Not a story in any conventional sense. It's an avalanche of style that requires you to surrender to mood. If you need narrative coherence or a clear antagonist, this is abstract noise.

The House of the Devil2009

Ti West's slow-burn satanic thriller nails the dread of the 1980s. It's patient, stylish, and builds to something genuinely nasty. The final act will wreck you if you've stayed with it.

But Almost nothing happens in the first hour. If you're looking for scares, you'll spend a long time waiting. Some find it a slog.

A Dark Song2016

Liam Garrigan's film about grief, faith, and occult ritual feels like a prayer. It's hypnotic and sad in ways horror rarely attempts. The relationship between its two characters is genuinely moving.

But Extremely slow and meditative. There's no plot as such, just ritual and suffering. If you need narrative momentum, you will hate this.

The Deeper You Dig2019

John Poewitch's found-footage chiller about a daughter and mother after a car accident. Genuinely unsettling and inventive. Shot on an iPhone but feels vast and wrong.

But The found-footage gimmick can feel gimmicky. Low budget means the scares rely on suggestion rather than craft. It's also deeply sad, not fun-scary.

Come True2020

Anthony Scott Burns' sleep-study nightmare captures the aesthetic of body horror and psychological unease without relying on gore. Hypnotic synth score and genuinely surreal imagery.

But Vague about what's actually happening and why. If you need the film to explain itself, you'll leave frustrated and annoyed.

We Are Still Here2015

Ted Geoghegan's haunted house film is old-school and lean. Vengeful spirits, practical effects, a sense of place. It scratches the itch for straightforward supernatural horror done well.

But Not particularly original or deep. It's competent rather than visionary. If you're sick of haunted house films, this won't convert you.

Saint Maud2020

Rose Glass's debut about a religious carer and her hospice patient is psychologically twisted. Ambiguous in its horror, formally playful, and the final image is unforgettable. Unsettling in unexpected ways.

But The horror is mostly internal. Not much happens. The religious elements might alienate viewers who find faith narratives tedious or triggering.

Bug2007

Like The Devil's Candy, it's about normal people in a space (home, room) becoming vectors for forces they don't understand. Both films see possession as a kind of infection—external but felt as internal decay.

William Friedkin's chamber piece about paranoia and infection spirals into paranoid intensity. Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd in a locked room, losing their minds. It's claustrophobic psychological horror that builds to total breakdown.

But Mostly dialogue and two people in a motel room. No action, no relief. It's deeply unpleasant and designed to make you uncomfortable, not to entertain.

The Woman2011

Both films are set in rural Texas/America and explore the idea that evil is domestic, inherited, and normalized. The horror comes not from the supernatural but from what ordinary families are willing to accept and enable.

Lucky McKee's film about a family that captures and 'civilizes' a feral woman is transgressive horror that's actually about patriarchy and violence. Brutal, unflinching, and genuinely challenging. It asks uncomfortable questions.

But Extremely graphic violence, sexual assault, and animal cruelty. It's designed to repel as much as fascinate. Bleak ending, no comfort, no redemption.