The beginning of October is an exciting one, particularly for fans of all things spooky. The Halloween season is here, but did you know the first of the month is also National Hair Day? The crossover of these two notable days in one all converges with the upcoming Hulu original film, Bad Hair. It’s a 1989-set horror film that might inspire one to push back appointments with their hairstylist a month or so.
Ahead of Bad Hair streaming exclusively on Hulu later this month, the company has released a first look at Dear White People writer/director Justin Simien’s vision for his first horror movie. Check out the trailer below:
Is Bad Hair about to make pulling a Britney a trend? We can’t exactly hide from our hair… and now that’s terrifying. As the new trailer introduces, the upcoming movie follows Insecure’s Elle Lorraine, who is an executive assistant at a company not unlike MTV in its heyday of viral television music videos. Her boss, played by Vanessa Williams, encourages her to go to her hairstylist (Orange Is The New Black’s Laverne Cox). But once she gets her new hairdo, something definitely is about to go wrong.
The trailer perfectly makes use of Bell Biv DeVoe’s "Poison," reminding me of the recently clever use of Destiny Child’s "Say My Name" for the new Candyman, which is sadly no longer coming out this season. As the Bad Hair first look unfolds, a number of big names are revealed as the supporting cast. SNL’s Jay Pharoah, Kelly Rowland, Usher Raymond, James Van Der Beek and Lena Waithe all have roles in the Hulu film.
Elle Lorraine’s character changes her hair to fit in at work, leaving her eyes glowing and with some kind of power over her. The forces at work here seem to be that of the “moss-haired girl,” who it looks like she will come face to face with during Bad Hair. The movie seems to be following in the footsteps of many recent horror projects targeting topics on race as subjects for their protagonists' fears to confront, and Bad Hair teases leaning toward satire, while also looking like it will be both scary and funny too.
The film’s writer/director, Justin Simien, broke out as a filmmaker in 2014 with Dear White People, which has since spun into a Netflix series. The fourth season is expected to shoot soon, depending on how they figure out how to safely shoot it. Simien said the season has been written and has proven to be “more relevant” now since protests pertaining to the death of George Floyd than the time it was written.
Bad Hair hits Hulu on October 23, along with a slew of horror films available on the platform during the streaming service’s Huluween. Check out what movies and TV shows are coming to Hulu this month, and maybe stick with a hairdresser you already trust.
