Timing is important in the movie business. In 2017 director Alberto Corredor made ‘Baghead’ – a multi award winning short film about a shape-shifting demon-witch who can summon the dead. Six years later he would direct a feature film version of this story, but unfortunately this delay would bring about two problems. The first of which is that another film with a similar concept would make it to cinema screens first. The second is that the other film—Aussie possession horror ’Talk to Me’—would turn out to be much better than ‘Baghead’.
There’s an intriguing premise here, but the awkward script and low-budget production hamper it at pretty much every turn. Freya Allan plays Iris, a young, down-on-her-luck student who inherits a property from her recently deceased father (Peter Mullan). The property comes with a catch however, and it’s a bit of a big one. A demon resides in the basement, and as the owner it’s your responsibility to keep it there. Thanks Dad!
There’s a big exposition dump about halfway through that explains all of this, but all you really need to know is that the demon wears bag on its head and can summon the dead on request. A tantalising power for those who are consumed by grief, like Neil (Jeremy Irvine) who is desperate for one last encounter with his wife. He pays Iris a small fortune to let him speak to the demon, but if you open the door to the other side for too long there are bound to be consequences. Which of course there are.
More than any other issue with the film, the main problem with ‘Baghead’ is that it truly lacks a sense of place, which is something of an essential component for horror cinema. The creepy old pub Iris has inherited should be able to establish the world we are in, but for inexplicable reasons (outside of co-production financing) the film is set in Berlin, but without ever actually feeling as if it is in Berlin. And the gothic pub never looks like anything other than a studio set. From the outset the whole thing feels contrived and inauthentic and you just can’t buy into it.
It also treads a lot of very familiar ground that we have seen in so many horror films in the last decade, where it’s all just a metaphor for confronting grief and loss. The film briefly toys with the idea of Iris renting the demon to the recently bereaved in order to make some fast money, which might have been interesting, but then quickly retreats into predictable haunting territory. It’s a shame, as there is definitely the kernel of something here, but with so much plot and backstory to juggle it just never comes close to working on any level. The script is clunky and dreary, visually it looks like something you’d see on TV, and it’s about as scary as an episode of Doctor Who.
The Blu-ray release comes with no special features.
Cast: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan Director: Alberto Corredor Writer: Christina Pamies, Bryce McGuire, Lorcan Reilly (short film) Released By: StudioCanal UK Certificate: 15 Duration: 94 mins Release Date: 8th April 2024
