By George & Josh Bate
Horror movies can make anything scary. In 1975, Jaws forever changed what it’s like to swim in the ocean. A few years later, John Carpenter made the most mundane of suburb neighborhoods a haven of terror in Halloween. A Nightmare on Elm Street fostered fears of going to sleep at night. Get Out brought a new dimension of fear to visiting your spouse’s parents. David Lynch even made ceiling fans terrifying. At this year’s Fantastic Fest, filmmaker Kyle Misak makes Sweeney Todd look tame as he transforms going for a haircut from a routine activity to something deeply unsettling.
Bad Haircut follows Billy (Spencer Harrison Levin), a college student struggling with his self-esteem. After a particularly embarrassing encounter with some girls at a party, Billy’s friends Sonny (Beau Minniear) and Dee (RJ Beaubrun) take him to get a haircut to boost his confidence and charisma. The barber of choice for this haircut is Mick (Frankie Ray), an eccentric and bizarre man, who forces Billy into a night from hell that progresses from odd to disturbing to downright horrifying.
Kicking off with an intricate one-take sequence at a college party, Misak’s debut feature quickly introduces our lead Billy as a loser in desperate need of a makeover and soon after plummets him into Mick’s barbershop. The entry point into this story is admittedly odd, given that Billy’s seemingly cool friends Sonny and Dee somehow have some kind of preexisting brotherly bond with the unusual Mick, raising questions as to why they would recommend Mick in the first place. But once it settles into the barbershop and isolates Billy and Mick from everything and (mostly) everyone else, Misak’s film grips and doesn’t let go to the very end.
Bad Haircut is as effective as it is as a horror film and dark comedy largely due to the performance of Frankie Ray, who very likely delivers a career-defining turn here. Ray’s Mick is a mix of Nicolas Cage’s Longlegs, Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow, Ted Levine’s Buffalo Bill, Mark Duplass’ serial killer from Creep, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, and even a few characters from Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses, but, despite this amalgamation of parallels, harbors something truly singular. Enchanting perfectly describes Ray as Mick, chewing up every inch of the scenery with a wild, uncanny, and tonally cognizant performance. It is simply impossible to not be entranced by every line, facial expression, and body movement of Mick. One second, Mick is as scary as horror movies get. The next second, he is hilarious, bopping to ‘Ms. New Booty‘ while rocking a wild blue tuxedo and top knot. And the next, he is pitiful in a strangely emotional manner. All of this speaks to just how deftly Ray and filmmaker Misak navigate a tricky tone that ensures an oddball performance doesn’t dampen upon the thrills. Instead, the performance and tone work seamlessly together and foster a truly memorable horror movie villain.
As the film progresses and Mick gradually takes over more and more of the film, layers of his psyche are unraveled that make him far more than just a creepy horror movie villain. Come the end, Ray leaves the viewer with a palpable discomfort, in more ways than one, as we’re left to reckon with a character simultaneously horrible and somehow strangely likable. Mick lays at the center of Bad Haircut, featuring in virtually every scene after the introduction and serving as the driving force of the plot/conflict. If Mick doesn’t work, Bad Haircut simply doesn’t work. Thankfully, this is not the case.
Opposite Mick is Billy, fondly referred to as Brad for his likeness (???) to Brad Pitt by Mick. Billy takes some getting used to as the handling of college students’ behaviors and dialogue comes across as rather inorganic and even forced at the start. Perhaps intentional in evoking the same kind of response in the audience that Billy evokes from those around him, actor Spencer Harrison Levin makes Billy a tad annoying at first. He has exaggerated facial expressions, freaks out when there’s nothing to freak out about (yet), and, overall, doesn’t seem to handle situations very competently. However, as the movie progresses, so does Billy as the disheartened college student matures, hardens, and becomes surprisingly more confident during his time trapped with Mick.
And it’s while trapped with Mick that Bad Haircut really embraces its identity as a horror film and becomes a worthy inclusion in this year’s Fantastic Fest lineup. The discrepancy between the panicked Billy and nonchalant Mick creates unnerving viewing, as do the depths of Mick’s villainy as details about his past crimes are revealed. The twists and turns of the story, while mostly predictable, prove compelling nonetheless, especially as the stakes and tension continue to rise over the course of the runtime. Intelligently and critically though, Misak never overexplains Mick, instead leaving enough mystery about how he became the way he became to retain the character’s scariness. Without delving into spoilers, upon watching Bad Haircut and learning bits and pieces about Mick, it is difficult to not wish for a prequel film (à la Pearl) about his origins.
Along the way, and in typical horror movie fashion, characters make a number of baffling decisions that will have you yelling at the screen. Every time characters (mostly Billy) made these choices, a bit of frustration inevitably creeps in, although there’s an undeniably immersive and even enjoyable experience from watching horror movies in which characters don’t always make the right decisions.
Fortunately, by the end, these frustrations are easy to overlook given the charming and endearing note the movie concludes on. It’s not a tear-jerker or gut-wrencher necessarily, but, rather, a more understated, poetic ending that you don’t often see in horror movies like this.
On a final note, Bad Haircut‘s pitch-perfect usage of licensed music warrants commendation. Needle-drops are commonplace in movies nowadays and, unfortunately, often drag down otherwise great projects (look no further than Dexter: Resurrection or Karate Kid Legends this summer). But Misak and his team utilize music in a way that rivals that of James Gunn’s masterful use of licensed music in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. When certain songs play in the film, particularly near the end, they resoundingly elevate the drama, emotion, and humor. Aspiring filmmakers should look to Bad Haircut to see how to perfectly incorporate music in a manner that benefits, rather than impedes upon, their movies.
VERDICT: 8/10
Bad Haircut does for haircuts what Jaws did for swimming in the ocean. Largely due to a stunning, unsettling, and career-defining performance from Frankie Ray as the bizarre and eccentric barber Mick, filmmaker Kyle Misak’s debut feature deftly tows a tonal balance for a movie that elicits terror, laughs, and empathy in equal measure. Due to the strength of Ray’s performance, Mick, who quickly has risen to be among the apex of our favorite horror movie antagonists in recent years, makes Bad Haircut the kind of movie you can’t take your eyes away from, even when the plot becomes a bit predictable and characters make frustratingly baffling decisions. Spencer Harrison Levin, meanwhile, plays opposite Mick with a performance that becomes more compelling throughout the film, correlating with his character Kyle’s progression in confidence. Closing out on a charming and even endearing note, Bad Haircut finishes strong and exhibits a masterful use of licensed music that rivals that of James Gunn’s work on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. If you thought haircuts were frightening before this movie, think again. Sweeney Todd, eat your heart out.