Baghead (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – A young woman inherits a run-down pub and discovers a dark secret within its basement – Baghead – a shape-shifting creature that will let you speak to lost loved ones, but not without consequence.

My Take – It is indeed quite a difficult time to stand out in the Horror landscape right now where a plethora films are released every month. With every new filmmaker trying (and sadly mostly failing) to bringing their own set of approaches and story-lines to win over the audience.

In such a competitive field, on one side we have films like Talk to Me (2022), which does a good job of delivering jump scares, being atmospheric, and leaning into its unique concept. Something which qualifies it to be recommended to any aficionado of the genre.

On the other side, we have this debut feature from director Alberto Corredor, who expands upon in his acclaimed 2017 short, written by Lorcan Reilly, to sadly tepid results.

Indeed, the film has an innovative concept, but the script written by Christina Pamies and Bryce McGuire (Night Swim) soon gives way to some really awful story decisions and then ventures into half-hearted attempts at jump scares and scenes that have been done better before.

Admittedly, the film manages to brew up some creepy moments as well as deliver an intriguing, not to mention fearsome antagonist. Yet, despite several decent plot twists toward the end, the film still doesn’t go quite as far with its premise as it could have. Ultimately making the whole experience feel simplistic and uninteresting.

The story follows Iris Lark (Freya Allen), a young woman who has nothing going on in her life, except a supportive best friend, Katie (Ruby Barker). With her financial troubles catching up, Iris is shocked to learn that Owen (Peter Mullan), her estranged and widowed father, has died and left her ‘The Queen’s Head’, a centuries-old dilapidated pub in the will.

Trying to uncover her distant connection to her late father and milk her inheritance to solve her problems, Iris ends up signing a peculiar ancient deed, through which she not only inherits the mysterious pub but also unwittingly a mystical hag-looking creature (Anne Müller) that lurks in the basement. For years, her father has exploited and profited off the supernatural tricks the entity could provide.

By paying two thousand cash, the recipient could hand it a remnant or belonging of the person they want to resurrect. Wait for a screaming transformation, remove the bag, and the creature can reunite a customer with their lost loved one for two minutes.

While Iris thinks she has found her calling in taking ownership of the pub and the creature, despite warnings from Katie, a distraught visitor Neil (Jeremy Irvine) begins a chain of events far more shocking in theory than practice.

Without a doubt, the film starts out strongly and sets up a moody atmosphere. With consistent cinematography, director Corredor effectively captures darkness and tension, creating a fitting horror atmosphere. The use of effects and sound enhances the intensity, especially when confronted with the presence of creature.

However, a few swirling ideas in the film that may have worked on paper don’t necessarily translate well to the screen. Being confined to a handful of drab rooms for most of its runtime, the narrative struggles to use its limited surroundings to frighten. The cinematic tactics used to shock and unnerve end up getting on one’s nerves. Something always feels known, even if it attempts the unknown.

Also, by focusing on the troubles of the human story the film ends up neglecting its main villain. The creature itself has a somewhat tortured backstory. It seeks emancipation from misunderstood imprisonment, despite being a creepy visage. Her contorted, bent limbs protrude outward at unnatural angles, and her rasping, wheezing breath signals her approach from within the gloom of her wall cavity.

The way in which she crawls around corners and out of crevices by draping her long limbs around surfaces before crab-walking in a painful, twitching hunch is so much fun to watch.

But she could easily have been one of those villainous, supernatural characters whom we grow empathy towards, the script chooses to focus more on Iris’s grief, loss, and regret, which considering her underwritten character, never feels earned. And when the story reaches its poorly paced final act, despite a good last minute twist, the viewer is left in as much of the dark as Iris has been for 94 minutes.

Performance wise, Freya Allan is solid enough and does what she can despite little characterization that has her fluctuating between a youthful opportunist and a resentful daughter. Ruby Barker and Peter Mullan provide convincing performances, doing what they can to provide brighter entertainment to such a dimly lit production.

Jeremy Irvine, a woefully underrated actor, is suitably creepy and does too good of a job even when the writing fails him. Anne Müller is wonderful as the titular character. On the whole, ‘Baghead’ is a flawed horror that fails to capitalize on its potential concept.