Baghead

Jay and Mark Duplass

BY Brendan WillisPublished Aug 8, 2008

When a group of aspiring filmmakers head to a secluded cabin to write a horror movie, things inevitably go awry. Thankfully, filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass (aka the Duplass Brothers) don’t go awry in Baghead, as the film boldly defies genres, creating an unusual and entertaining mix of comedy, scares and interpersonal drama.

Tensions mount in typical horror movie fashion as four friends flesh out a script about a man with a bag on his head terrorizing a cast of characters, to be played by the writers in the eventual film. When they start taking turns scaring each other dressed as the titular Baghead, nerves begin to fray and the lines between fiction and reality blur. As Baghead stalks his prey, the would-be filmmakers learn what horror really means.

Though the trailer for Baghead leans heavily on the horror aspects of the film it is not a horror movie. The scary portion of the story is a sort of backdrop for an entertaining character study and is secondary to the humour and drama. Strangely, the tension and fear that mount as Baghead begins terrorizing the four cast members would qualify this film as one of the most subtle and successful horror films made in the last few years, if the film resolved itself in a horror movie fashion. Instead, it becomes a quirky, indefinable film that can only be described as indie.

Baghead is an uniquely enjoyable film that will appeal to audiences looking for something a little out of the ordinary, but horror movie fans looking for blood and scares will want to wait until the DVD.
(Mongrel Media)

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