Bloody Frickin Mary

Bloody Frickin Mary is a horror-comedy written and directed by Chad Hendricks. The film follows virtuous Mitzy (Aniyah Thomas), whose boyfriend Bobby (Joshua Newkirk) spreads lies about their sex life to improve his status among his friends. As if that weren’t low enough, he is sleeping with Mitzy’s friend Chi Chi (Pao Portillo), which his friends try to cover up to save their friend group from any drama.

On this particular night, Mitzy is having a slumber party while her parents are away. She, Chi Chi, Biggie (Whitney Carroll), and Powder (Gwenett Henderson) decide to play Bloody Mary. Immediately after saying her name three times in the mirror, nothing happens. So, the friends smoke weed, play board games, and eat cereal. Then Ricky (Bernard Countryman Jr.), Mike (Clayton Miller), and Ronnie (Adonijah Malone) show up without Bobby and accidentally scare the girls half to death. However, before long, Bloody Mary (Holly Evers Hughes) begins to pick off the revelers one by one. Who will survive, and who will be a victim of what was supposed just to be an urban legend?

Bloody Frickin Mary opens with a prologue in which a TikTok personality says Bloody Mary into the mirror and is killed on the livestream. While a preview of things to come is a time-honored way to start a horror flick, here it sucks. The actress playing the TikTokker, Annie Morales, is terrible. She’s not natural; every line sounded like she learned it just before filming the first and only take.

“…Bloody Mary begins to pick off the revelers one by one.”

Since this isn’t the best introduction to this story, imagine the surprise in store when the four friends show up, and the actors are great. Their chemistry feels natural, and each performer inhabits their respective role with ease. Thomas is the stand-out, so it makes sense that she is the lead. The scene where she learns of Bobby and Chi Chi is played with real heartbreak and shock. Hughes is a terrific supernatural baddie with a high-pitched voice and creepy body movements. The makeup on her is killer, too.

Bloody Frickin Mary also works on the humor front. While some jokes go on too long, such as the diarrhea of the first victim, most land very well. Bobby’s attempts to speak Spanish are funny, as is the way Biggie and Ricky quote their favorite movie together while watching it. A joke about “letting the weed air out” of a car ends with a terrific punchline.

Bloody Frickin Mary does not start out well. But, the poor initial impression quickly fades away as the main characters and plot are introduced. The cast excels at the horror and comedy elements, especially Thomas and Hughes. The makeup is effectively creepy and creates a nasty villain in all the best ways. Overall, while flawed, this a fun take on well-tread frightening ground.

You can watch Bloody Frickin Mary on Tubi.