Baghead

Sometimes i feel that we don´t talk about certain director´s very often and remember what they did for the horror genre. Films that they made that were not only loved by fans but also managed to keep a legacy for many generations ahead. One of those director´s that i have in my mind at this moment is the director known as Stuart Gordon. If you don´t recognize the name for some reason i can tell you some of the classics that he directed. Let us begin with the 1985 American comedy horror film Re-Animator based on the 1922 H.P. Lovecraft serial novelette "Herbert-West-Re-Animator", one of the best Lovecraft inspired movie adaptations ever made so far. I highly recommend you buy Re-Animator on blu ray or double DVD release and check out the wonderful special features. Let us continue with the 1986 sci fi body horror film From Beyond was also inspired by a story of H.P. Lovecraft. Just one year later he released his horror film Dolls, a film that´s worth checking out if you love doll horror films. It was in 1995 when he directed the horror film Castle Freak when he moved in a completely different direction than in his previous films. Castle Freak have clear influences from H.P. Lovecraft but also some influences from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, i would say Frankenstein as well. A family moves into a castle in Italy where they discover that in the cellar a deformed human being have been locked up for a very long time. I actually enjoy Castle Freak for being an old school monster kind of horror film, the deformed human design is cool and i do like the background story surrounding why this creature was locked up. Also nice to see legendary horror actor Jeffrey Combs and actress Barbara Crampon in this film. I suggest you pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray, it is definetely worth having in your physical film collection. A remake was made in 2020 and i have not seen it yet but i plan to at some point. Speaking of locked inside the cellar a horror film called Baghead came out earlier this year that sounded like a similar idea as Castle Freak with some differences. I decided to pick up a physical copy from the UK and give it a chance. Is this a horror film you should pick up as well or is Baghead a film that doesn´t have much to offer at all?

Iris ( Freya Allan ) is homeless and penniless. When her estranged father Owen Lark ( Peter Mullan ) dies, he leaves her with his shut down bar that´s been struggling for a long time. At least Iris have a home for now and she signs the papers to take over the pub. Once she signed the contract it also includes a secret downstairs that she is now forced to deal with, that is a part of the history of this old building.

Since a lot of horror movies lacks of interesting plots i have to say Baghead manage to do something different than most ordinary horror releases. I wouldn´t call this a rip off Castle Freak since there are some big differences, but i can understand if they were inspired by such a film while making Baghead. One of the most interesting details is the fact that the lady that stays locked inside the basement is controlled by the owner of the pub. Once the main character Iris ( played by actress Freya Allan who gives a performance that matches her character ) signed the contract taking over the pub she also got control over this creature as well. The scenes where you clearly see the creature only listen to Iris almost makes you think of how this is almost like the 2016 film Colossal where actress Anne Hathaway´s character Gloria is able to control a monster, although Colossal is not a horror film so there are some differences here as well. Let´s get into some of the details i appreciate about Baghead. I would say that the Baghead creature itself is quite interesting, it can shapeshift and channel between the dead which makes some interesting scenarios. For example a scene where the creature swallow a ring and transform into another woman who killed herself 20 years ago. This gives Baghead another depth connecting with the past while you can see that this entity also use the situation to use people who can´t control it. The horror scenes in general are ok for the most part, perhaps not as scary as i would have liked this film to be considering i like the idea of controlling the creature. I have to say the performance of actress Anne Muller as Baghead is the highlight of this film, she really did a good job with body movement and body expressions while wearing the bag mask. Ok, so let´s get into one of the problems with this film. You don´t really connect with some of the characters in this film, it just feels like they didn´t really put much effort making certain characters interesting at all. After i watched this film i could barely remember any other characters other than the creature and the main character. I also feel that this film could have been even more darker, especially where the entity should have used the human mind even more for it´s own advantage. In the end i would say that Baghead is still enjoyable enough if you do enjoy films such as Castle Freak. Director Alberto Corredor ( who also directed the shortfilm Baghead ) have made a film that actually makes an effort to do something interesting in the horror genre, telling a story that at least tries to be different. If you are a true fan of the horror genre pick up a physical copy as well, Baghead proves there is still hope for this genre.

Rating: DDD