The Devil's Candy (2016)

MODEST SPOILERS Anyone as old as me will remember TV's "Laugh In" and comedian Flip Wilson's oft repeated line "The devil made me do it!" It became, like "Sock it to me" from the same show, a Buzz Phrase for the time. "The Devil's Candy" certainly fits into "the devil made me do it" category as far as character motivation. Here the devil makes one character kill and another paint dark disturbing pictures of which they have no memory of painting. But rather than cliché us or bore us with the same old "call a priest" which we have seen a million times, the story plays out as a very human drama of one man dealing with what doctors would call a mental illness, and another dealing with an obsession that is costing him his family. Yet do not think the film is without chills. Indeed it has some extremely disturbing and violent scenes! However these are done with a modicum of gore and blood so they are not gross out horrors; rather than true horrors as they let you in on what is happening just enough to worry your mind. The film also makes a subtle statement about how we as a society fail to treat mental patients with violent pasts. Acting all around is top notch. Ethan Embry, Shiri Appleby (nice to see after not having seen her in a while), Kiara Glasco, and Pruitt Taylor Vince never once drop the ball; bringing us fully into their worlds.