Shudder Secrets: Baghead

Imagine, for a moment, that you had the opportunity to talk to deceased loved ones. Would you do it, even if major risks were involved? That’s the question posed in director Alberto Corredor‘s Baghead, based on the 2017 short of the same name. While the film warrants some comparisons to Talk to Me because of similar concepts, Corredor has a pretty cool creature at the center of his film that allows characters to interact with the dead, sometimes with dire consequences. The film also gives much more breathing room to the witchy monster from the short.

While Corredor’s film sometimes doesn’t go far enough, its general premise and setting are major positives. And though the execution sometimes falters, it’s really the monster that carries this film and makes the Shudder exclusive worth at least a one-time watch.

A tavern, a monster, and conversations with the dead

Baghead stars Freya Allan as Iris Lark. She inherits a 400-year-old, run-down pub from her father, Owen (Peter Mullan), who mysteriously passes away, though we’re given hints of his death from the opening sequences. Reasons for his demise surface a bit past the halfway point. Iris, an unemployed 20-something with a rudderless future, doesn’t just inherit the pub. She gains control over a creature in the basement named, well, Baghead.

Baghead is generally an eerie-looking creature, with a burlap sack over its head and a hole for one eye. Its body twists, contorts, and crackles. Those who interact with Baghead can make a gamble. Offer the fiend an item from a deceased loved one. Then, the creature will allow communion with the dead. Pull off the sack, and the person underneath is indeed the dearly departed. However, there’s severe danger in interacting with the Baghead for more than two minutes. Consequences can be fatal.

This concept is somewhat similar to Talk to Me. Characters in that film can interact with the dead by going through a ritual and holding onto a creepy hand. If their grip lasts more than a certain amount of time, they face danger and even death via possession. Between the two films, Talk to Me is a more effective and creepier feature, though Baghead still has its positives, including its setting. The pub’s shadowy and cobwebby basement, where the creature lurks, ups the scares and establishes tone and mood.

Making money off of another’s grief

Where Baghead differs from Talk to Me is in its exploration of quick financial gain. Iris learns that her dad made a whole lot of money by attracting customers who wanted to interact with Baghead. One character in particular, Neil (Jeremy Irvine), paid him thousands to commune with his deceased wife, Sarah (Svenja Jung). Iris continues the tradition, though to be fair, Neil approaches her. He’s determined to learn if Sarah cheated on him and if so, why. In another interesting plot twist, the creature doesn’t always tell the bereft what they want to hear. In fact, Baghead can be quite nasty sometimes, even when disguised as the departed.

This very concept of profiting off of grief is incredibly interesting. The problem is, however, that’s it’s never fully explored. Iris seems a bit too quick to jump into this money-making scheme, despite the dire consequences. She would have been a more interesting and fully realized character if she grappled with this moral quandary more. Yes, I get it she’s unemployed and can use Baghead to make money fast, but it all feels too one-dimensional at times.

Baghead isn’t quite the monster you think she is

In crafting a feature-length film, the writers and director fortunately had the chance to flesh out the film’s real star. We learn that Baghead was a powerful woman/witch who eventually usurped a patriarchal male order. They punished her by burying her in a wall, which is now the basement of the tavern. She wants to escape that imprisonment and unleash vengeance upon the world. Over and over again, Iris is warned to never allow Baghead to cross that barrier.

Some of this backstory is a bit predictable and shallow. That said, it at least gives the monster a reason for being so threatening. It also makes her a morally ambiguous character. Sure, it’s terrible that she wants to kill. That said, can you blame her after what was done to her? It’s another example of repressed female agency and power.

Overall, Baghead certainly has a cool creature design and spooky atmosphere. That said, its scares never quite go far enough. I kept waiting for Corredor to go a little bit further and a little bit further. That never happened. Still, the burlap sack witch and interesting premise steal the show and save this from being an otherwise generic horror film.

Baghead streams on Shudder beginning April 5.