- Director: Alberto Corredor
- Writer: Christina Pamies, Bryce McGuire, Lorcan Reilly
- Stars: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, Ruby Barker
REVIEW
Communicating with the dead has always been a common theme in horror, especially where grief is concerned. Pet Semetary and Talk to Me are great examples of the myriad ways that this very real emotion will always go very wrong. Following up his successful 2017 short film of the same name, director Alberto Corredor throws his film Baghead into the ring, but can it go toe to toe with these horror heavyweights?
Iris (Freya Allen, The Witcher) has just been evicted from her flat and is unemployed, but she does have a cell phone and she just so happens to receive a phone call informing her that her estranged father has passed away and she is now the owner of a run-down pub in Berlin. When Iris meets with the solicitor, it’s obvious that he’s keen to take over the property, but since she has not a penny to her name, she’s simply happy to have a place to sleep and, therefore, thinks nothing of the fact that she has to use a very ancient looking pen to sign a very ancient piece of paper that says she now owns everything in the building. Ultimately, a late-night visitor, Neil, will help Iris learn all about the witch that is trapped in the basement of the building that she now owns.
When conjuring Baghead, you can speak with someone who is deceased, but the more you use Baghead, the stronger she becomes and the more she begins to use you for her own nefarious needs and the whole relationship becomes a question of who the real prisoner is. Iris’s father did leave a VHS tape explains this danger, but Iris can only think of getting out of her current financial situation and the hubris of youth leads her down a dangerous path that not ever her best friend can steer her off of.
Corredor utilizes light, or lack thereof, to create the appropriate spooky atmosphere and the dreary Berlin setting is perfect, but never explained: one has to wonder if an opportunity for some backstory was lost here. The original story featured an older protagonist, but upon being able to cast Allen, Corredor adjusted the story accordingly and while it’s an interesting concept to watch a young woman find some agency in the world, she’s still young and makes some truly eye roll inducing decisions that deter a little bit from the overall story.
Overall, Baghead is a truly serviceable horror film that fills all of the requirements: plucky protagonist, smart best friend, estranged family member with a secret, a secret society, a stranger with a secret, jump scares and a twist ending that leaves an opening for a sequel, but it’s unclear if the world will be clamoring for one.
Baghead will be on Shudder April 5, 2024.
Lisa Fremont
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