The first half hour or so of Baghead is pretty standard Mumblecore fare. Four friends, two guys and two girls, decide that in order to seize their own movie business destiny they’re going to go to a cabin in the woods and write something for themselves. There are various romantic connections between the three. One guy loves one of the girls but is too afraid to say anything. The other guy is also attracted to that girl but has a history with the other one and they seem to still be occasionally sleeping together. It’s all complicated and everyone has trouble expressing themselves.
It’s that first half hour that actually winds up being the weakest part of the movie. It’s filled with most of the usual tropes of the Mumblecore genre and, while I’m usually a fan of that stuff, it doesn’t quite gel for me.
After that, though, when they’re at the cabin and they start seeing a mysterious figure appearing outside wearing a paper bag over his head, the movie kicks into gear and becomes quite entertaining and enjoyable. After leading you down several paths the resolution is real and doesn’t at all feel like a cop out, even if it’s something that you might be able to predict early on.
In talking about the movie to FilmCouch’s Paul Moore, I said that maybe my problems with the first part of the movie stemmed from my knowledge that there was something different coming and I was anxious for the movie to get there. If, like me, you can get over the hump you’ll probably enjoy this unique take on the horror genre.
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Chris Thilk