Fantastic Fest 2025 – Frankie Ray‘s performance as the hair stylist Mick in writer/director Kyle Misak‘s horror comedy Bad Haircut is one of the most memorable roles I’ve seen in any film this year. Ray’s character is all kinds of weird with a dash of scary. The character is a major highlight of Misak’s generally strong film.
Other than Ray’s eccentric villain, the film also stars Spencer Harrison Levin as college student Billy. Early in the film, he’s harassed and berated at a party by a jock named Harper (Michael Bonini). This incident encourages Billy’s friends, especially the handsome and popular Sonny (Beau Minniear), to assist Billy with a makeover of sorts. They’re determined to help him act and look cool. So, they take him to meet Mick, the cheapest barber in town. Despite how outlandish Mick is from the outset, Billy’s friends don’t find anything odd. They simply believe Mick will give Billy the best haircut and begin his transformation into someone hip who isn’t the butt of every joke at the next college kegger.
From the outset, Mick really steals every scene that he’s in. He’s dramatic, flamboyant, and wildly absurd. He’s funny and incredibly off-kilter. When Billy’s friends leave for a bit, Mick kidnaps Billy, and then he discovers that Mick has imprisoned a college woman, Sam (Nora Freetly). He keeps her caged in a secret room, dresses her up in Dorothy outfit, complete with ruby red slippers, and eventually insists she go on a date with him. He also continually calls her Dorothy and also labels Billy Brad, after Brad Pitt. It’s clear that Mick isn’t living in reality and instead imagines his life as some Hollywood film.
This film contains no supernatural horrors. Mick remains the main threat through and through, complete with a silent henchman named Wimp (Martin Klebba), who constantly aims a gun at Billy, making escape for Sam and Billy nearly impossible. Though Mick generally comes across as ridiculous, it doesn’t take away from the threat he poses. He has a twisted sense of reality, worsened by his own loneliness and desperation for love and affection. In that regard, the threat he poses remains grounded in reality, despite his colorful and sometimes cartoonish personality. It can’t be understated just how much Ray succeeds in this role. There are moments where he’s terrifying, especially when he kidnaps Sam. Then a second later, he’ll make the audience laugh. It’s a fine balancing act.
In terms of tone, this film leans into comedy more than horror. The opening party sequence and the closing minutes, which again feature a party, reminded me of teen comedies from the late 90s and early 2000s, such as Can’t Hardly Wait. Like some of those movies, Misak’s film has an everyman type character in Billy who isn’t popular, yet we find ourselves rooting for him and he generally has a happy ending. Misak’s feature may veer into comedy more than horror, but overall, the film merges genres successfully.
Bad Haircut is one heck of a fun time. Ray’s Mick is a true standout performance, an off-center villain who wishes his life was a Hollywood movie. This feature is a wildly entertaining blend of horror and comedy that strikes a sweep spot. Overall, it’s one hilarious journey.
