Charming yet Underwhelming Queer Slasher Bad Girl Boogey (2023) Uncovers the Mask Behind Hate
Title: Bad Girl Boogey
First Non-Festival Release: May 12, 2023 (Limited Theatrical Release)
Director: Alice Maio Mackay
Writer: Alice Maio Mackay, Benjamin Pahl Robinson
Runtime: 80 Minutes
Starring: Lisa Fanto, Prudence Cassar, Iris Mcerlean
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Angel (Lisa Fanto) is having a rough time at home after coming out, but her life is about to get far worse. Through the decades, a rash of serial slayings targeting queer people in her city have resulted from the sinister energy behind a mysterious mask found in a dead man’s house. This mask has the terrifying quality of possessing its wearer and using them to carry out horrific acts of violence. Now that the evil has once again been resurrected, it is up to Angel and her friends to stop the killer before they end up in the next body bag.
Bad Girl Boogey pays homage to the slasher films before it while injecting an energetic yet disorganized approach to its queer themes.
A double prologue leads into a more general story of a group of friends at the center of the mysterious killing spree in their city targeting queer youths. The idea behind this premise is compelling enough, but the individual webs spun in this mystery fail to tie together in the end. Infusing a confusing timeline with a glut of important characters, Bad Girl Boogey doesn’t take the time to fully flesh out its key players. The rules behind the haunted mask also waver. Its supernatural properties ebbing between controlling and consuming to easily manipulated make a once formidable foe seem fickle in its power. This might lean into the commentary behind the film’s thesis, but it appears to be more plot-driven.
Diving into the social malaise of anti-queer sentiment, writer/director Alice Maio Mackay continues to explore the ways in which homophobia and transphobia promote violence. The supernatural element of the cursed mask in Bad Girl Boogey operates both as a surface level boogeyman figure to taunt and torment the teens and also as a strong metaphor for the ways that “masking” can allow hatred to fester, leading to violence. Since this mask only amplifies the wearer’s hatred, it coaxes them into surrendering to their base impulses. Bad Girl Boogey takes this a step further by showing what the aftereffects of succumbing look like and what work is needed to repair the damage done. It’s affirming to see an unabashedly queer film explore the spectrum of choices that follow aggression, allowing for restoration to be possible without expecting forgiveness for a perpetrator.
Unfortunately, there are many moments throughout the film that show a lack of follow through in the material. Rough editing rushes scenes from point A to point B, oftentimes not giving the story enough time to breathe. It’s especially glaring when the action quickly cuts into the tension, making it harder for the film to truly become affecting. Lacking the atmosphere necessary to pull of the many cinematic moments, the kills feel rushed and anticlimactic. There are moments where Mackay’s patience pays off but they aren’t as frequent as needed to truly build suspense.
Its more glaring mistakes are easier to forgive when appreciating the vision attached to the slasher. Awash in some truly disturbing psychedelic imagery, Bad Girl Boogey succeeds in creating memorable moments when it sticks to its more dream-like sequences. Montages of hands erupting from corpses and serial killers wallowing in blood provoke as much as its bored 80s stock bully character. A fan of making a point through color, Mackay intentionally brightens up the queer character’s lives with a vibrant color palate to contrast against the dull, ordinary colors of real life. This gives Bad Girl Boogey a bit more visual depth while evoking the nostalgia for the age of 80s slashers and Italian horror.
There’s a unique vision behind Bad Girl Boogey that is aching to come out which makes the result feel underwhelming. Its novel premise and well-meaning commentary on homophobia and transphobia make for a compelling watch. Bogged down by poor editing and a story that isn’t fully fleshed out detracts from the experience. Mackay continues to show promise for the craft, as her work gets better with maturation. This queer slasher may not fire on all cylinders for everyone, but it if you are looking for low-budget indie charm, Bad Girl Boogey may be up your alley.
Overall Score? 4/10
