THE DEVIL'S CANDY: Profile of Director Sean Byrne

If the name Sean Byrne, director of The Devil's Candy, sounds familiar, there's a reason why.

Byrne's first feature, The Loved Ones, screened at Midnight Madness back in 2009 where it won the People's Choice Award. It was also a huge critical success, both with horror fans and more highbrow critics like Variety's Dennis Harvey who said it "transcends mere torture porn in its deftly controlled mix of empathy, grotesquerie and sardonic humor."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves, Dennis. For those who don't already know, here's the plot of The Loved Ones.

That's gotta hurt.

High school student Brent has become super emo since his dad was killed in a car crash. When classmate Lola asks him to the prom, he politely declines, since he's already going with his girlfriend Holly. Bad idea, Brent. Taking the events of Carrie one step further, all of the truly terrible things that happen to people in The Loved Ones don't even take place at the actual prom. See, Lola and her dad have a way to ensure sure the word "rejection" isn't a part of her would-be boyfriends' vocabularies... literally. They kidnap, torture, and disable the vocal cords (syringe + bleach = silent screaming) of every guy who says no to her and then keep the poor fellows locked up in the basement.

With such an auspicious debut, the horror community has been salivating for another taste of Sean Byrne's particular flavor of cinematic psychosis. (Not like we were going to kidnap him and keep him in our basements or anything, mind you.) So it's great that he's back at the Festival this year with The Devil's Candy. Here's the scoop on what this movie is about:

A struggling painter is possessed by satanic forces after he and his young family move into their dream home in rural Texas, in this creepy haunted-house tale.

"Why yes I do look like Franco Nero in The Visitor!"

It's a short and (not-so) sweet synopsis, but as Byrne explained to Midnight Madness blogger Robert A. Mitchell, "the fun is in not knowing!" (If you haven't read that interview, you can do so here.)

My fave quote? " I hope it creeps like death, sends chills then attacks the throat. I hope it feels like hell has risen."

Prepare your throats to be attacked when The Devil's Candy hits the screen!

THE DEVIL'S CANDY Screening Times:
Sun, Sept 13, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Tue, Sept 15, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sat, Sept 19, 1:15 PM SCOTIABANK 14