If you’re following Shudder, The Devil’s Candy arrived not long ago. This is a 2015 IFC Midnight release. 93/65% RT @80 min.
Pass for me, mashup of tropes that has no time to develop into a good story. The problem with this movie is the script. It’s an Amityville meets killer stranger concoction that doesn’t take the time it needs to build the tension that a haunted-by-evil new house story requires. It instead relies on the rhythmic fear induction of a crazy stalker-invader that harasses the family from the outside.
So neither formula ends up working exceptionality well. The heavy metal theme of the film isn’t even treated with any reverence, like Mandy or even Deathgasm. It’s just a dressing that ends up jettisoned from the story and character development until the cheap and throwaway guitar climax. Even the Satanic element is largely forgotten as the family deals with the direct physical threat.
And all that with a final shot that at least in one interpretation undermines the whole “it’s pretty cool and fine to be a heavy metal dad” subtext. In fact, one could easily interpret the film as low-key satanic panic. It’s hard to tell what the filmmakers intended. I wasn’t annoyed by this movie, just disappointed. I’m gonna go watch Mandy again.