2007’s Teeth introduced mainstream audiences to the ancient myth of vagina dentata, but a new generation of female filmmakers is ready to sharpen that legacy. Their upcoming feature, Candy, is now in development — and it’s bringing the toothed-vagina trope back with blood, bite, and feminist fury.

Jessica Michael Davis directs the film from a script she co-wrote with Mindy McGinnis, adapting McGinnis’ own short story Vagina Dentata. The movie dives into darkly comedic, unapologetically feminist horror as it follows a young woman who chooses to have retractable teeth surgically implanted in her vagina.

What starts as an extreme act of self-defense transforms into something far more dangerous. As she embraces her lethal alter ego “Candy,” she becomes an avenging force with a growing appetite for power. Her mission for control quickly blurs the line between empowerment and obsession — and the bodies start piling up.

Davis previously teamed with McGinnis to adapt another short story into Betty Bites Back, which premiered at Cinequest and snagged the M. Night Shyamalan Award for Best Twist at LA Under the Stars.

McGinnis’ original story appeared in the 2019 anthology Betty Bites Back: Stories to Scare the Patriarchy, and Candy looks ready to continue that tradition… with sharper teeth.