The new horror flick from the land down under, Bad Girl Boogey, has gotten its release date. The LGBTQ+ slasher flick has garnered acclaim during its festival run, pulling in a positive response at its premiere at the Popcorn Frights Film Festival with additional screenings at Monster Fest and Salem Horror Film Festival. It is now set to be released on digital platforms on July 4 with a DVD release following on July 11. The film will also screen in select theaters starting on July 7.
Check out the official trailer for Bad Girl Boogey below.
Bad Girl Boogey is directed, produced, and co-written by transexual filmmaker Alice Mai Mackay, who was just seventeen years old during the production. Ban Pahl Robinson co-wrote the screenplay with Mackay. The cast includes Lisa Fanto (Love, Guns & Level Ups), Iris Mcerlean (T Blockers), Chris Asimos (Danger 5), Toshiro Glenn (The House That Hungers), Lewi Dawson (Satranic Panic), and Kate Bonney (Something’s Not Quite Right). There’s also a featured voiceover cameo from horror legend Bill Moseley (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Devil’s Rejects).
Per the synopsis, the film follows “Angel whose mother was brutally murdered one Halloween night, when blood was shed by a deranged killer wearing a parasitic mask cursed with black magic and bigotry. Sixteen years later, when Angel’s best friend is slaughtered by a killer with the same mask, they must overcome their personal struggles, fight their fear, and find the masked killer before he, or it, slaughters everyone they hold dear.”
“I am thrilled to be unleashing my sophomore feature Bad Girl Boogey with Dark Star Pictures for its North American release,” Mackay previously said in a statement when the film was acquired by Dark Star Pictures for its U.S. release, per TheWrap. “I can’t wait for it to connect with its audience of horror-loving queer misfits who I hope will have as much fun watching it as we had putting it together.“
Bad Girl Boogey’s Inspirations
“The main stylistic inspiration for me was to combine the styles of Gregg Araki and Rob Zombie, to blend it all into a coming-of-age queer slasher drama,” Mackay said of the film in an interview with Horror Obsessive. “To have those colorful, gory, and depraved moments, but for the film also to be vulnerable character-driven, and just focusing on these queer teens and the turmoils they go through.”
The filmmaker added, “I think I’ve always been drawn to those colorful campy kinds of films, like growing up with John Waters, Gregg Araki, Wachowski Sisters, Rob Zombie, Party Monster—all those kinds of filmmakers have really stylized work that have beautiful visuals. Especially Araki, who started out with no budget work but still had a real colorful essence. These filmmakers all had a major effect on me growing up.”
Bad Girl Boogey will see its digital release on July 4 with the DVD release coming on July 11, and the film starts screening in theaters on July 7, 2023.