Whenever a filmmaker brings a lesser-known urban legend to the screen and spins an inventive story around folklore, I’m a fan. Kandisha does just that. In the process, it offers some of the best kills the genre has to offer thus far this year.

Directed and written by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, the duo behind Inside (2007) and Among the Living (2014), Kandisha follows a trio of friends, Amélie (Mathilde Lamusse), Morjana (Samarcande Saadi), and Bintou (Suzy Bemba), on summer break. They spend most of their evenings spray painting bypasses of their run-down neighborhood. In a depilated high-rise, they discover the word Kandisha scrawled on the wall.

Kandisha is a Moroccan urban legend about a woman whose soul joined with a demon after she was killed by Portuguese soldiers in the 16^th Century. The soldiers murdered her husband first and then her after she sought revenge.  She drives men crazy and/or kills them. After Amélie summons her because her ex assaults her, the trio gains more than they bargained for.

The demon, played by Mériem Sarolie, is mesmerizing. She sometimes appears phantom-like, stalking hallways and tracking her next victim. In later scenes, she’s an alluring seductress or a hulking monster with hooves. Her kills grow progressively more brutal as the male body count rises. Though none of the violence and gore match the level of Inside, there are two kills in the second half of the film that are quite nasty but also some of the best so far this year. Kandisha isn’t messing around! There’s also a botched exorcism scene mid-film that features a gnarly 360 camera angle.

There are some echoes of Candyman, too. The location resembles Cabrini-Green in that it’s home to a minority population, specifically working-class Arabs, and features graffitied walls that hold a powerful legend ready to be summoned. Further, Kandisha is conjured by repeating her name several times and painting a pentagram on the wall in blood. But this is a much more female-centered film, not only because of the gendered demon but also the trio of friends, who have a tight bond and endure one tragedy after the other.

Cinematographer Simon Roca, Bustillo, and Maury create an affecting atmosphere from the start, with wide, sweeping shots of the French neighborhood, before honing in on the towering building set for demolition where the girls eventually learn of Kandisha. The high-rise looms so large that it looks like it will swallow the friends. Other times, the apartment units feel claustrophobic, creating a sense that there’s no escaping the demon.

If I can find one main fault with the film, it’s that the demon isn’t all that layered. We do get her back story, but other than that, she only functions to destroy men, many of whom are undeserving of her wrath. I did wonder how the film would have been different with a female director.

That said, Bustillo and Maury tried something a little different than the New French Extremity movement they’re known for, and for the most part, they’ve succeeded. Kandisha is a well-paced film that shows restraint but also summons plenty of bloodshed by the second half. The hoofed demon is the real star of this feature. Say her name, if you dare.

The film premieres on Shudder July 22.

7.5 Out of 10