Invocando Al Demonio

I love a good demon or creature feature, and seeing demons from different parts of the world and from different cultural legends is always enjoyable. Kandisha isn't particularly scary, or unique. But it's worth a watch. Some of the kills were fun and gory, but a lot was CGI which is a shame.

I especially liked how the demon is perceived by different characters at different moments. A lot of the movie is predictable, but it's not so predictable that it's off-putting. Good ending, but there are some plot holes and unexplained events. Plus some weird editing and transitions that mess with the pacing.

All in all, it's not bad. Similar movies Antlers (2021), The Canal (2014), Pumpkinhead (1988), and His House (2020). But to be honest, all of those movies are better than this one.

Well never heard of her? Me neither ... well I have now and so have you in a way (even if it is only by reading this). But it seems like she is someone you can call upon. And I was thinking about rating it a bit higher ... not becauser of how the character act and react to certain things, but how it works without compromise and takes no prisoners ... something the characters seem not to entirely care about at times ... and then really care about.

But then came the ending ... and that I did not like at all ... it sort of makes sense, but it also makes no sense at all. It may well break the movie for you. It is nice to see a female cast in the main roles and them going at it. That may also be an issue for some I reckon, but it would be a shame and you'd be missing out on some really horrific (great) special effects too ...

A girl abused by her ex-boyfriend summons an ancient demon to exact revenge, but the revenge gets out of control.

Interesting scenario that begins in the multi-ethnic high-rise community of a French city, with plenty of cultural tropes thrown in, from graffiti artistry to inter-racial banter to a variety of American music. Fast dialogue, so the sub-titles are on full duty during the first act.

Unfortunately, this is horror-by-numbers, with zero psychology, as a creepy curse comes out of the past to affect modern urban dwellers. All been done before to better effect, the model being Candyman, which the movie actually references. The demon has some interesting reveals, particularly when the hoofs come out, but a big set piece is spoiled by poor editing at 1:09, in which the poor actors have to REACT! Without any suspense built into the event.

The only thing that could have stirred it up for me is if the final scene had been fast-forwarded into the middle of the second act - now that would have been interesting: set a demon to catch the original demon.

The production quality is good, but with such uninspired material I got the impression everyone involved lost conviction as the inevitable conclusion approached. You may know how to put a movie together, but a good horror needs some soul.

Overall: Starts out energetic, but ends up flat as a jumper's corpse on a pavement.

Maybe it could have ended 3 minutes before, maybe it's sometimes predictable and not that innovative.

But when this film works...oh boy, it really works! There is a particular scene (1:09) that is absolutely fantastic, not only in terms of horror (probably the best death scene of the year, even better than that one on Fear Street) but also technically with a dolly zoom shots done with an efficiency that I don't remember in horror since Jaws.

Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are, again, very good building young characters - like they did in Among The Living -, feels credible, feels realistic and you have a good background story with some social themes on it.

They are also masters of gore. No doubt about that. When they don't show you a death on screen, you know that the next one will compensate that and they definitely did that here.

I liked the entity, it's creepy, it's different, doesn't tell/show you more than the necessary and also loved the scenario, reminding a lot - as the legend itself - Candyman.

That's the sad part because the made after Inside are just generic or cliched and was hoping they finally learned. The story is just weak and plenty of plot errors or plot holes. Either way still watchable but don't expect much.