Australian filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay has two new feature films coming out this year—T Blockers and Bad Girl Boogey. Mackay’s first feature film, So Vam, is a coming of age, queer vampire story that also calls out bigotry and once again proves you don’t need a big budget to make a good movie. It’s especially impressive when you find out Mackay was only 16 years old when she made it. Written by Mackay and Benjamin Pahl Robinson and directed by Mackay, Bad Girl Boogey follows a group of teens who have to become amateur detectives when their friends start being killed by someone wearing a bizarre mask, who only seems interested in attacking trans or queer people.

The story begins with a group of teenagers performing a ritual on Halloween night in a run-down house that was previously owned by an old man rumored to have been practicing black magic. They draw a pentagram on the floor, light candles, and sprinkle salt to form a circle, and begin preparing for the ritual. Blair (Em Bleby) wanders away from the group and rummages around in a back room, finding an old box containing a strange mask. They are compelled to put the mask on and manipulated to brutally kill everyone in the house. Afterward, Blair rips off the mask and drops to the ground, sobbing, outside the house.

Many Halloweens later, we meet Angel (Lisa Fanto), a teen who has had a troubled life since the death of her mother and now lives with her aunt. After her mother died, people in town found out she was queer, causing some of them to act uncomfortable around Angel, as if they are punishing her for her mother’s lifestyle. Angel goes out dancing with her friends Lila (Prudence Cassar) and Dario (Iris Mcerlean), and when Lila is alone, someone wearing a hoodie and a mask attacks and kills her. Angel and Dario walk in to see the killer crouching beside Lila and then run away. Devastated over the loss of Lila and not getting much help from the local police, Angel and Dario embark on a dangerous investigation of their own to try and find the killer.

Horror has always been queer, but Alice Maio Mackay’s dedication to casting trans and queer actors in queer horror stories highlights the importance of queer storytelling, gives her work an authentic feel, and also serves as a form of activism. It’s impossible not to make a connection between movies like Bad Girl Boogey and what’s going on in the world when in reality, states are currently trying to pass bills that would take away the right of trans and queer people to literally exist, making it easy to imagine a serial killer targeting these same people out of pure hatred, and that’s pretty scary.

During their investigation into Lila’s murder, Angel and Dario find startling evidence that someone may have used black magic rituals to create a way to get revenge on queer people, and the rituals might be linked to more deaths than just Lila. They are horrified to learn that over the years, multiple killings have occurred that were seemingly fueled by hatred and homophobia and in each case the suspect was wearing an unusual mask.

Bad Girl Boogey is an intense, bloody slasher that features compelling performances, gruesomely creative kills, and profound commentary on the deadly consequences of allowing bigotry and hatred to go unchecked. The film also has a fun cameo from horror icon Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects). With the impressive work Mackay has done telling queer horror stories with small budgets, it will be exciting to see what she can do with a big budget one day.

Bad Girl Boogey just premiered virtually at the Chattanooga Film Festival. The film will be released in select theaters on July 7th, on digital platforms July 4th, and on DVD July 11th, from Dark Star Pictures.

The post ‘Bad Girl Boogey’ Review – Queer Slasher Provides Gruesome Kills and Profound Social Commentary appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Trim Season was written by David Blair (The Triangle), Sean E. DeMott (American Satan), and Cullen Poythress, directed by Ariel Vida (Vide Noir), and produced by Paper Street Pictures. Vida was the production designer for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s mind-bending films Something in the Dirt and The Endless, and if you’re familiar with the universe Benson and Moorhead have created, you will appreciate the imaginative and almost mythical Easter Eggs Vida incorporates into Trim Season.

Trim Season follows the twentysomething Emma (Bethlehem Million), who is struggling to pay her rent when she loses her job and then has nowhere to live. She calls her best friend Julia (Alex Essoe) for advice, who then offers to take Emma out on the town so they can have drinks, smoke weed, and try to forget about their problems for one night. While at a bar, the two women meet James (Marc Senter), an affable guy who tells them he is recruiting trimmers for a marijuana farm and offers Emma and Julia the opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. The women are skeptical at first because they just met James, but they are desperate for money and eventually decide to take the jobs as trimmers.

James takes Emma and Julia to a marijuana farm in the Emerald Triangle in California, which has a real-life history of Sasquatch folklore and strange disappearances and years of marijuana-related crimes. Along the way, they pick up Lex (Juliette Kenn De Balinthazy), Dusty (Bex Taylor-Klaus), and Harriet (Ally Ioannides), who have also been hired as trimmers. The women introduce themselves and their pronouns and discover Lex is the only one who has experience as a trimmer. She tells the group that the marijuana farms in the mountains usually hire girls because they are less likely to steal or cause trouble. Everyone is excited to have been promised good money and all the weed they can smoke.

When they arrive at the farm, they meet the owner, Mona (Jane Badler), an exquisitely dressed, mysterious older woman and her sons Christopher (Cory Hart) and Malcolm (Ryan Donowho), who also live and work at the farm. Christopher gives the new trimmers a brief tutorial in the trim house and gives them each a pair of scissors and gloves. That night everyone enjoys a lavish dinner and tries different strains of marijuana at Mona’s big house on the farm. Mona also tells the group that she cultivates a special strain for herself.

With Vida’s magnificent work with production design on Benson and Moorhead’s films, it’s not surprising that Trim Season punctuates its compelling storyline with electrifying dream sequences and Giallo-inspired visuals. The film also features remarkable, blood-soaked practical effects and arresting production design by Kati Simon. Ultimately, Trim Season is a suspenseful, uniquely crafted story highlighting pain and sacrifice that should spark some powerful conversation around women and gender. Mesmerizing performances, an innovative story, beautiful stylistic choices, and a little bit of witchy weed make Trim Season a must-see horror film.

Trim Season premiered at Chattanooga Film Festival this past weekend.

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Tearsucker was written by Sam Brittan (Redlands), who also plays a stalker named Tom, directed by Stephen Vanderpool (War Cake), and stars Allison Walter (SlashFM) as Lilly, a woman recovering from an abusive relationship. Lilly works from home and leads a solitary life, only attending Zoom meetings, and goes to the park each day to eat her lunch alone. Lilly is obviously depressed. One night, while facetiming with her best friend Deb (Danielle McRae Spisso), Lilly seems especially down and Deb suggests she consider reviving a video blog she used to have, as a way to process how she’s feeling. Lilly decides to take her friend’s advice and records a video of herself talking about how she’s having trouble coping with her life and previous relationship.

Lilly is pleasantly surprised when she receives numerous encouraging comments on her video and notices one comment from someone named Tom, who offers support if she needs to talk. Shockingly, Lilly doesn’t make a connection when she accidentally bumps into a friendly man named Tom the next time she’s at the park eating lunch. He just happens to be there to eat his lunch as well and once the two of them start talking they seem to have a lot in common. When Tom says something funny and Lilly laughs so hard, she cries, he offers her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Lilly tries to take the handkerchief with her so she can wash it before giving it back to him, but Tom insists it’s fine and quickly grabs it from her. She doesn’t really think anything of this interaction—in fact she’s rather smitten with Tom. She also doesn’t see him hungrily licking the handkerchief after she leaves, and after she’s already invited him to join her again for lunch in the park.

From the synopsis, one might hope Tearsucker would be a satire. What else could a movie about a guy who humiliates and insults women until they cry and then gets off by literally sucking their tears possibly be? Unfortunately, this movie takes itself and its misogynistic message all too seriously, and in the worst way possible. Lilly appears to be an intelligent woman, but the fact she ignores tons of red flags from Tom’s behavior and the inane things he says makes her character look like an idiot. Sadly, not even Allison Walter’s exceptional performance as Lilly can save this movie. To make matters worse, Tearsucker is dreadfully written. Tom uses a lot of phrases that could be considered cliché and some of the dialogue is frankly laughable. Lilly initially appears upset when Tom tells her he relates to androids because they’re empty on the inside, but five minutes later, she asks him for a hug. None of this makes sense.

The main takeaway from Tearsucker can be summed up by Whoopi Goldberg’s character from Ghost, “You in danger, girl.”

Tearsucker premiered virtually at the 2023 Chattanooga Film Festival. It will be available to rent/own on digital, as well on DVD, starting on July 7, 2023, through Freestyle Digital Media.

The post ‘Tearsucker’ Review – Disappointing Stalker Story Becomes an Essay on Misogyny appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Written by Barry Keating (Killer Mermaid) and Patricio Valladares (En las Afueras DE la Ciudad) and directed by Valladares, Invoking Yell is shot VHS found footage style and has an authentic 1990s feel, from denim jackets to the camera and recording equipment used by the band. In addition to the obvious rivalry between the women, the film also touches on the misogyny in the music industry, with one of the band members joking about designing her jacket with a drawing of a uterus on the back.

Andrea (María Jesús Marcone), the self-appointed leader of the band, has known Tania (Macarena Carrere) since they went to church together as children. Ruth (Andrea Ozuljevich) had to borrow the camera equipment she’s using to shoot the band’s first music video from her father who is a journalist, and Andrea makes no effort to hide the fact she doesn’t like Ruth and only let her come along because she has the equipment they need. Andrea suggests the trio travel to a cabin in the woods, that only she has been to in the past, to work on their demo tape and make the music video, because she claims there is paranormal activity at the location. Andrea convinces her bandmates that if they record the voices of spirits and mix them with their music, it will give Invoking Yell a distinctive sound, which she calls “depressive, suicidal black metal” and help them achieve fame.

Once they arrive at the cabin, Ruth begins filming, as Andrea gives them a tour of the surrounding property. Andrea talks to the camera as she describes the grim history of the area, including a bus crash and a questionable fire in a nearby building that she says left demons and other spirits behind. While filming Andrea and Tania discussing the history of black metal music, feeling like outcasts, and Andrea’s morbid ideas for the band’s music video, Ruth complains about repeated technical difficulties and the increasingly erratic behavior of the camera and audio equipment. Andrea jokes that their demo tape will be cursed.

The abandoned buildings in the wilderness and overcast skies are especially effective in creating a simple, but foreboding atmosphere for Invoking Yell and conjuring feelings of dread in the viewer as the story unfolds. María Jesús Marcone gives a remarkably sinister performance as the controlling Andrea, who clearly has anger issues and may also have hidden motives for luring the other women into the woods.

When it finally gets dark, the women build a fire, drink wine, and put on heavy black and white makeup in preparation for their music video. While Ruth films them, Andrea and Tania light candles and arrange skulls and Andrea pulls a large book out of her backpack. She shows her bandmates La Biblia de las Brujas (The Witches Bible) and tells them they are going to perform a ritual to summon souls, which will require some kind of blood sacrifice. Then she takes out a knife, cuts open her hand, and slowly drips the blood over the candles and skulls. They came to the woods to make a demo tape with hopes of becoming the first famous all-female black metal band from Chile, but none of the women could have imagined the lasting effect this night will have on their lives.

Elements of the supernatural and occult rituals and riveting performances make the final act of Invoking Yell shocking, anxiety-inducing, and genuinely horrifying. Fans of found footage will especially enjoy this film and since the camera work is not the overly shaky style that makes some people feel sick, even those who aren’t huge fans of the subgenre should find something to like in this nightmarish tale.

Invoking Yell premiered virtually at the 2023 Chattanooga Film Festival, which is offering a hybrid fest experience again this year.

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