{Fantastic Fest 2025} Frankie Ray Gives a Bad Haircut

There are questions you ask yourself when a movie like Bad Haircut kicks off. First, is the jock we meet at the beginning actually 40 years old? Second, is the sidekick supposed to be a greaser from a different movie entirely? If so stay golden Pony Boy. And third, which is a bit reliant on the second question, are we really about to argue that Rebel Without a Cause was the first teen comedy? Sounds like a question for Fantastic Fest Debates! It also may be one of the hotter takes you’ll find at Fantastic Fest this year, and it’s exactly the kind of left-field energy that makes Bad Haircut such a blast.

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On the surface, the movie is a send-up of the teen party films of the 90s, complete with snappy one-liners, needle drops, and a cast of fresh-faced actors who lean into the absurdity with genuine heart. The first act truly does feel like the set up for 10 things I Hate About You comedy. But this isn’t some nostalgia cash-grab. Director Kyle Misak infuses the familiar formula with an edge that those movies never had. This is a comedy first, but it’s also a thriller, a horror flick, and at times, something that feels like a Coen Brothers fever dream in small-town America.

The whole bit turns on the character of Mick the Barber, played by Frankie Ray. If you don’t know Ray, you’ve almost certainly seen him in a B-movie somewhere. His resume includes Jurassic Galaxy and On the Brain, which sits at a glorious 70 percent one-star rating on Letterboxd. The man has been putting in the work, and Bad Haircut is the payoff. He doesn’t just chew the scenery here; he swallows it whole and asks for seconds. Every second he’s on screen is ridiculous and magnetic, whether he’s delivering cutting threats or just fiddling with his scissors like they’re holy relics. He is a ballerina with sheers and a very heavy five o clock shadow. In short he is an absolute joy to watch.

When the movie shifts gears in the second act and morphs into a horror-thriller, Ray becomes the anchor. The laughs don’t disappear, but the stakes get sharper, and the barbershop turns into a claustrophobic nightmare. The pacing does wobble when we get bogged down in Mick’s backstory, but the absurdity is still laced with enough tension to keep things moving. Think The ’Burbs if it had an even stranger, sillier sequel.

The young cast deserves a lot of credit, too. They bring the same chaotic joy you’d expect from a teen comedy, but they sell the darker moments without winking too hard at the camera. Their authenticity makes the whole ride feel weirdly grounded, even when things spiral into the absurd. It’s that balance that lets Bad Haircut work as both parody and horror homage.

By the final act, the movie is firing on all cylinders. The gore is goofy but effective, the comedy sharp, and the tone perfectly pitched between satire and suspense. None of it would land without Ray bringing his absolute A-game. He’s the bloody beating heart of the film, and it’s impossible not to grin while he goes off the rails.

Bad Haircut may not be a perfect trim. There are some shaggy bits as it figures out what genre it really wants to be. However it’s a hilarious, sharp, and oddly nostalgic cut that fits right into Fantastic Fest’s love of the strange and the bold. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a John Hughes flick got trapped in a Sam Raimi nightmare, this one’s for you. Could this film be any more perfect for a audience at Fantastic Fest 2025. I really don’t think so.