REVIEW: ‘Bad Girl Boogey’ offers social commentary alongside slasher kills
Photo: Iris McErlean and Lisa Fanto star in Bad Girl Boogey, which is now available on VOD. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures / Provided by October Coast with permission.
Bad Girl Boogey, the new horror film from writer-director Alice Maio Mackay, is a solid entry in the slasher genre, featuring a unique story, effective special effects and, most important of all, social commentary — all wrapped up in a quick-moving, 80-minute feature.
Lisa Fanto plays the main character of Angel, whose mother was brutally murdered when Angel was a child, and now, many years after that initial trauma, her friends and other locals are dropping one by one. What connects the mayhem is a masked killer who is mysterious and deadly, and whose victims are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. In the forefront of this Australian horror movie is a running commentary on acceptance and inclusion for the queer community, offering a metaphor on how people continually face bigotry and violence for being who they are, and how they overcome fear and marginalization.
The actual horror elements are effectively staged by Mackay, who also produced the movie and co-wrote the script with Ben Pahl Robinson. There are numerous bloody scenes where the knife cuts deep and causes painful, painful death (one brain sequence is particularly headache-inducing).
Even with these horror tropes in place, the lasting memory of this slasher flick is its willingness to actually say something about the world. This is not mindless, numbing violence for entertainment or shock value. Following Angel and this group of friends is an important journey because their conversations, their jokes, their fears and their triumphs offer a larger message about society today, and those who face marginalization and why. It’s about survival, in more ways than one.
Mackay, who was a teenager when making the film, is a talent to watch. There’s an obvious skill factor in these 80 minutes, and it’s no wonder that the movie was well-received on the film festival circuit. Now it’s available on VOD courtesy of Dark Star Pictures.
P.S. Horror legend Bill Moseley offers his voice talents in the film.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Bad Girl Boogey (2023). Directed by Alice Maio Mackay. Written by Mackay and Ben Pahl Robinson. Starring Lisa Fanto. Running time: 80 minutes. Unrated. Rating: 
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