In 2008, the brothersMarkandJay Duplassunleashed the classic horror-comedyBagheadinto the world. In addition to being one of the first films to starGreta Gerwig, this indie gem is significant in how it has endured as a playful and unique genre work that wasn’t afraid to poke fun at itself.Alberto Corredor’s dour horror filmBaghead, while sharing a name, not only has regrettably nothing to do with that prior film, butis utterly lacking in even the smallest sliver of genuine self-awareness. An expansion of his short of the same name,Bagheadis written byChristina PamiesandBryce McGuire, who can’t manage to give this story substantive scares. Instead, it feels like a film defined almost entirely by narrative padding.
Baghead (2023)
A young woman inherits a run-down pub and discovers a dark secret within its basement - Baghead - a shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to lost loved ones, but not without consequence.
While it has a supernatural figure that is initially interestingly designed, and some creepy scenes that make use of them, the spell it is attempting to cast gets inexorably broken. You’ll just wish you could cover your head with a bag, so you can take a nap. Even as it feels like it is flirting with ideas similar to those that were explored in recent films like the smash horror hitTalk to Me,it is without any of the same spirit behind it to make it work. It’s one of thosehorror films that is more defined by missed opportunitiesthananything truly subversive or explosivebefore descending into just playing out more like a superficial car crash. Even when it does, there is little weight behind any of it.
This all revolves around Iris Lark, played byFreya AllanofThe Witcherseries, and the upcomingKingdom of the Planet of the Apes, whohas inherited a haunted pubin Berlin that has seen much better days. An opening scene starts things off to an already rocky start when we see her father, Owen (played by the always appropriately gravellyPeter Mullan,of everything fromChildren of Mento the seriesWestworld) interacting with something in the basement. He records a video that feels like both a warning and a final goodbye before we see him running up the stairs as some rather iffy fire effects consume his body. When Iris is informed of his death, she is largely uninterested in the whole thing, as she has been estranged from her father for quite some time. However, as she is having hard times in her own life, she moves on in. She then discovers the titular Baghead (Anne Müller),who can connect people to those who have passed on. Baghead takes on their form but, if you talk to them too long, things start to go awry.
This sounds like it could be a sturdy enough premise for a horror film, butBagheadproceeds to explain everything so incessantlythat it starts to feel like the entire thing is just about throwing exposition and lore at you. You’ll come away knowing everything there is to know about why this is happening, with one baffling moment near the end grinding everything to a halt just to explain the history of the creature—which never manages to be remotely scary. Rather than having information come out naturally as characters discover the answers as they try to piece together what they need to do to survive, there is a complete lack of confidence the film has in the viewer to go along with it.
Restraint is not a word that is in this film’s vocabulary,as it gets bogged down in so many rules that it never seems willing to take the leap to break them. What could be some potentially unsettling reveals surrounding the supporting characters are buried under generally lackluster filmmaking, and even more tiresome storytelling that never stops adding on unnecessary explanations of everything that is unfolding.
Nowhere is this more felt than with Katie, played byBridgerton’sRuby Barker, a one-dimensional character who mostly exists to be a friend to Iris and who does some investigating of her own when the film needs to fill in more of its background. It’s a thankless part that only grows more and more so the longer the film goes on, leaving little sense as to why she was there, except to supposedly move the plot forward. Then again, Iris herself is not the most well-written character either. However, Allan at least gets something approaching an additional dimension to work with and some potentially engaging scenes alongside Mullan. The trouble is these are so sparing and minimal that they too just end up falling flat. Instead,we get back to more of the constant explaining the film remains hellbent on doing. It is so excessive that it makes the recent robotic excuse for a horror film,Five Nights at Freddy’s,seem downright efficient and eerie by comparison.
Most disappointing is how the central design of Baghead is not too shabby, yet becomes drained of any impact the longer the film drags on. You can practically see a film that, were it not so caught up explaining itself, could have captured this being in a terrifying way. We get increasingly clunky visual effects, with one scene near the end involving hands really not working, though it all feels like one big misstep even from the jump. Thereare masterful works of horror that have proven less can be more. Despite some of its promise,Bagheadis not one of them.
Baghead is a horror film that drowns its promising premise and well-designed creature in mountains of exposition.
