Synopsis: A young woman inherits a dilapidated pub from her estranged father. There’s a catch though. She also inherits a dark secret within the basement walls. A shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to the dead. For a price.
Baghead is one of those films that has sat in my Shudder queue for quite a while. Just staring at me with that generic cover art and somewhat silly title. “Talk to the dead. Pay the price” it proclaims on the one sheet. It really didn’t speak to me at all but I still had to see it and judge for myself. After all, the reviews seemed overwhelmingly positive (at least on Shudder).
The story begins with Owen Lark (Peter Mullan) turning away Neil (Jeremy Irvine), who is begging to see the woman in the basement. He’s turning him away because he has a plan of his own. To burn down the pub and end its curse. Before he’s able to complete his task, Baghead (as the entity is referred to) turns the tables and ends poor Owen’s life. Cut to Owen’s daughter, Iris Lark (Freya Allen, The Witcher, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) being evicted and sneaking into her apartment to clear out her meager belongings.
Iris then gets informed via a phone call that her estranged father has passed away and she needs to settle his estate. So, long story, short? She signs the deed, inherits her father’s pub, moves in and slowly starts to learn about all that comes with it. Then Neil shows back up and convinces her to let him use the entity in the basement to say one last goodbye to his deceased wife. Things get out of hand. Iris’ friend dies. You see where this is going, right? It’s like Baghead was pulling the strings all along. Pretty cookie cutter horror tale for the 2020’s. Makes you wonder why she didn’t do this decades ago with a previous owner. But I digress.
I have to say, the premise behind Baghead seemed strong regardless of the name. Once I got into the film though, that’s where it stopped. The story was pushed aside for a repeating series of jump scares. Yes, there were still elements…a semblance of lore and a storyline. But that was all secondary to the entity pulling the same old routine. I’m your caring loved one. Now I’m your loved one with an evil side. Jump scare. Boo. Repeat.
The sets looked pretty good but the film had an overall blue tone that gave that fake nighttime look. Just gave an almost cartoon effect and pulled me out of it. The practical makeup effects looked decent but CGI was questionable at times. The one sole bright spot in this entire thing was probably Freya Allan. She gave a believable performance and really brought something to a rather boring script. I know she’s already pretty active but can’t wait to see more from her.
Look, maybe I’m not the target audience. Maybe the horror fan of today craves nothing but jump scares and cheap gimmicks like that. Me though? I prefer my horror to have a little more substance and be a little less predictable. Make me think. Creep me out. I’m not a fan of loud sounds and jump scares to raise tension. I damn sure don’t like a movie I can decipher and call the ending 30 minutes in.
If you’re like me, then you probably won’t like Baghead. But maybe there is an audience out there for it somewhere. If you want to judge for yourself, I found this streaming on Shudder. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.
1 out of 5
Grab your popcorn, kill the lights and join me again tomorrow as we continue our journey on this strange little trip down the 31 Days of Horror rabbit hole. See you soon…
