Available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK, or rent or buy on digital, is the horror movie, Baghead. The film – which debuted in UK cinemas earlier in the year – stars Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, and Ruby Barker, and follows the story of a young woman who inherits a pub with a dark secret.
In the movie, when Iris Lark’s estranged father passes away, she finds herself inheriting his former home – a rundown pub which needs a great deal of attention. The place is dark and dilapidated, and not very inviting, but after a day spent dealing with her father’s affairs, Iris decides to stay the night at the property.
During the middle of the night, Iris is woken up by a noise. When she investigates, she meets a strange man who has broken into the pub.
The man offers Iris £2,000 in cash to gain access to the basement, so he can speak to his wife. Acting rather frantic, the man then ups the offer to £4,000, claiming he needs to see her.
Iris dismisses his request and tells him there is no one in the basement, but she agrees to give him access the following evening. She figures he must want some kind of cheap scare from the spooky confines of the pub, and she’s happy to go along with it for the money.
When the man returns the next day, Iris takes him (along with her best friend) down to the basement, where they are met by a ghoulish being with a sack over its head. The ghoul is some kind of shapeshifting entity, which can take the form of the deceased, once the bag is removed.
The entity can change appearance and essentially provide contact with the dearly departed, but this contact should only last for two minutes. Anything beyond this is dangerous and could lead to the entity becoming too strong and giving it the power to escape its prison.
Directed by Alberto Corredor, and based on Corredor’s 2017 short film of the same name, Baghead is a supernatural horror film built on atmosphere and a potentially interesting premise, but not much else. The concept of the shapeshifting entity isn’t bad, and the film looks good for the most part, but it lacks any real creative flare, the script clearly needs another pass, and it all falls apart in the execution.
To be quite frank, the story isn’t strong enough, nor is it as interesting as it aims to be. The cast do what they can with what they are given, and there is decent angle about communicating with the dead, but the dialogue is poor and the whole thing feels like it is dragged out beyond its limitations.
Taking a short film and reworking it into a feature-length picture can be tricky, and as proved here somethings can fall short. There’s not enough material to meet the runtime and it all feels padded.
On the plus side, the set decoration is solid and purely from a visual stand point the aesthetic works well. Even if there are problems with the story, the film captures the right atmosphere and mood, which counts for something and pushes the picture beyond its low budget trappings.
Unfortunately this low budget does impact the overall offering. You can tell there’s not much money in Baghead because the cast are few and far between and the film is confined to limited locations.
Of course, it’s important to point out that low budget doesn’t mean bad, and limited funds can often increase creativity (especially in the horror genre), but alas, not here. The film doesn’t look cheap, but its shortcomings are quite telling.
The film isn’t low rent, but it does play out like a direct-to-video title from the late ‘90s/early ‘00s. It’s watchable and you can feel everyone pulling in the same direction, but it is patchy and just doesn’t quite work as intended.
Baghead isn’t a particularly bad film, it’s merely uninspiring. It does have occasional moments, and things pick up in the final act, but it’s not going to excite anyone.
Watchable but ultimately forgettable, Baghead is a late-night beer and pizza kind of film. One eye on the TV, one eye on the pepperoni, and a swig of booze when the interest levels dip.
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