“Devils Stay” is an occasionally chilling genre thriller primarily of interest for depicting a Korean Catholic exorcism and its aftermath.

A teen girl wrenched about violently, floating in the air as Latin rites and expulsion prayers are said over her, a “Devil” possessing the child and assaulting a handsome young priest, the clash of medicine and superstition, the tropes of this corner of horror cinema are trotted out, one by one.

But this time the fighting priest is also a martial artist.

We open on the aftermath of an exorcism. A teen girl (Lee Re) has died, and her father (Park Shin-yang) is distraught.

It turns out her dad is a heart transplant surgeon. Shockingly, young So-mi was “not the same” after surgery he carried out that saved her life. His colleagues whisper that they shouldn’t be saying this, as “we’re doctors,” after all. But that child is “possessed.”

We accept that even as we see that her doting dad, convinced that “she moved,” “she cried,” and “I heard her” seems like the possessed one. He’s done everything he can — perhaps taking shortcuts — to save her life. Now he refuses to accept her “death.”

But is she really gone? The scratched and battered young priest, Father Ban (Lee Min-ki) seems to think so, and that further efforts will only bring the Devil’s spawn to life.

The narrative jumps back and forth between the fictive present and earlier events — the priest’s prep, Dad’s star-gazing with So-mi, and their shared love of the star Polaris — with the “mystery” of how all this came to pass slowly unraveling.

There’s not a lot here that this horror sub-genre hasn’t shown us before, but Park takes this father figure over-the-top in ways not often seen. And a priest who kicks (and punches) ass? That’s kind of new.

Rating: unrated, graphic violence

Cast: Park Shin-yang, Lee Min-ki and Lee Re

Credits: Directed by Hyun Moon-Seop, scripted by Kim Kyoung-Taek. A Well Go USA release.

Running time: 1:35