Got a bad situation in your life? Why not summon a demon to help resolve your problems? It’s a great idea... until the entity you’ve called upon reveals it’s got an agenda far beyond your worst nightmares. This is the awful realization that hits the trio of friends in Kandisha, the latest horror film from Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the French filmmaking duo behind 2007's notoriously brutal Inside as well as 2017's Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel Leatherface.
Though there’s a French-language Kandisha trailer floating around in the world already, io9 has the exclusive debut of the version with English subtitles for you today. It shows how a carefree summer break turns dark (for reasons that are all too human) and then utterly terrifying (because DEMON). Check it out!
There appears to be more than a smidge of Candyman in Kandisha, as Amélie, Bintou, and Morjana (Mathilde Lamusse, Suzy Bemba, and Samarcande Saadi) hit upon the idea of calling upon Aicha Kandisha, a vengeful figure from Moroccan folklore (“a girl who’d spook any playa,” according to the trailer), to hand down some well-deserved punishment when Amélie’s ex-boyfriend attacks her. Kandisha proves to be as ruthless as advertised—and as it turns out, won’t be satisfied with taking just one victim. The friends must enlist expert help to stop the killing spree in its tracks, so if you had “séance that looks like it goes alarmingly awry” on your supernatural-horror scorecard, all points go to you.
Bustillo and Maury already have another horror movie on the way; titled The Deep House, it’s about a haunted house that’s located underwater (twist!). It just premiered in France but was picked up for stateside distribution by Blumhouse. But first: Kandisha, which also stars Walid Afkir, Sandor Funtek, Félix Glaux-Delporto, and (as Kandisha herself) Mériem Sarolie, arrives July 22 on Shudder.
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