PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Dark Star Films is relasing Bad Girl Boogey proudly, and loudly, just in time for Pride season! The film stars Lisa Fanto (Love, Guns & Levels Ups), Prudence Cassar (Satranic Panic), and Steven Nguyen (Jupiter).
The film was directed and co-written by Australian trans-gender filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay (So Vam – 2021 – read our review here, who was only 17 years old at the time. Mackay has become quite renowned for her abilities as a filmmaker.
What did we think of this new queer horror film? Read on for our review!
The Setup
Bad Girl Boogey touts itself as a ‘Queer film’, as many of the characters are queer and/or non-binary, and the mask itself holds the darkness and cowardice of bigotry within it. A longstanding darkness, as the mask was used in the murder of main character Angel’s mother during a black magic ceremony on Halloween night, a decade before the events in the film. This is the blood-filled scene which opens Bad Girl Boogey.
Bad Girl Boogey follows a circle of friends trying to uncover who is responsible for the brutal murder of their friend Lila, played by Australian actress Prudence Cassar, and other gruesome murders within their town.
My Thoughts
Bad Girl Boogey follows the same recipe that most of our favorite classic slasher films do – creepy masked killer, black magic, angst ridden teenagers, but begs the question-is the mask a metaphor for something deeper?
I found Bad Girl Boogey lacking in character development, however, with punk rock and gothic visuals, all was quickly forgiven.
The film has received rave reviews from such film festivals as ‘Popcorn Frights Film Festival’ and ‘Salem Horror Film Festival.’ You can add us to the list. The queer community and spooky season tend to go hand in hand so, if you like a little bit of spooky mixed in with your pride celebrations, check out Bad Girl Boogey,
Bad Girl Boogey will be released in the U.S and Canada in select theatres July 7th, 2023, on streaming platforms July 4th, and on DVD July 11th. We are so excited to see what Bad Girl Boogey does North of the equator, and are always eager to to watch any film which pushes the boundaries of the normative (is this not exactly what horror is about?)
Happy Pride Month, everyone! 🙂
