After watching this movie for the first time I had a quite few mixed emotions. My first motion was annoyed, the movie just did not satisfy me enough in what I was expecting, and it seems as a waste of time, then I was relief it finished, but then I thought about it, and I realize that the movie is not as bad as it seems, first of all I realize it was a drama instead of a horror, it has comedy, an enigmatic villain, and there are parts where it keeps the audience intrigued, of course the resolution let you with a sour taste in your mouth, since it fools you in a wrong way. Baghead has just one word to describe it: Cheap. Which is not necessary a synonym for bad on the contrary you get a lot for what its worth. Do not expect any special effects, or astonishing performances, but you might get some suspense, and a lot of laughs.
The movie flow is slow, most of the movie is the four main characters talking in the cabin about writing a movie and the situation they are facing emotionally and professionally, which might upset the audience who expected more action out of it. Nonetheless, as the movie advances and the Baghead shows up the audience get to know the characters, their fears, frustrations, goals, and ambitions. Without knowing if Baghead is real or imaginary, he ends up being a secondary character that the four of them get to face in their own way, and it is in this confrontation where their real selves comes out. This is what makes this movie great, that it is not the bad guy itself, but the actions of the characters to face their situations. This plus the perfect timing the director have in showing us the Baghead, and the used of conventional horror movies situations like the Cell phone with no signal or the broken car keeps the audience guessing and enjoying the flick.
As I stated before there is not much to say about special effects or acting wise for this movie even the sound everything is kept real, which is a good thing. The performance by each actor is convincing in depicting real people with real emotions, and believable reactions that anybody could relate to anyone of them. Visually it looks like it is shot with a regular camera, without the nauseated feeling other films make, this adds a more real sensation to the movie.
Baghead is a movie that have an exclusive audience, and has to be appreciated for what it is. I think the purpose is not to scare you with gore or meaningless killings nor to make you laugh with pointless humor, but to show you a scary side of people and real situations, so if you expect to see a bloody or a classical horror movie this is not for you, even if you want to see a horror parody full of crude humor like Scary movie you will definitely not enjoy this one. This is for people who think outside the box, who enjoy dramas, and a special kind of suspense. The Duplass brothers shows us that we do not need to see gore, sex scenes, or to make a horror movie, sometimes you only need five people and a paper bag to create a somehow scary movie. I recommend this movie to people who enjoy independent films, with an open mind and an exquisite sense of humor.
Review By Milo
Release Date: December 27, 2008
