Let’s make bad decisions.
Baghead is a British horror film that follows a young woman (Iris) who inherits a pub from her estranged father. The only rub is that there is a demonic creature in the basement that can allow people to talk to their dead ones for two minutes. However, the creature wants to be free, and Iris is the only one who can set it loose.
As soon as Iris moves into the pub, a man comes and wants to speak to his dead wife, and is willing to pay a lot for it. Strapped for cash, Iris decides to use the creature’s power temporarily to make enough money to pursue her dreams.
The general idea of the story is interesting. It reminds me a bit of Talk to Me in that people are always wanting to play with things beyond their control or understanding. This sort of story is fair game for many horror films, and the themes can work.
I don’t know why, but I couldn’t connect with this film in a meaningful way. Iris, as a main character, is simply an idiot. Her friend Katie seems smarter (but does little to stop the dumb things from happening). Iris is willing to take Neil’s money to “talk to the woman in the basement” with little to no protest. Why would she be so willing? Why would this be a thing?
Even more odd is that Iris’ father tries to kill the creature and ends up killing himself at the start of the film. Are you telling me that the police didn’t bother looking into the basement? Nothing? How is this a thing?
Suspension of disbelief is important to horror films, but this one just doesn’t provide enough guardrails to keep things from just seeming weird. There are too many coincidences and leaps of logic for this to work.
As said, the plot ideas are interesting enough but the film fights with you to enjoy it. You’ll never stop asking questions about how or why this is all coming together, which is unfortunate. I found the film to be frustrating more than anything else.
Horror works best when people are trapped or drawn into something they cannot escape. Here, we have it said that she is trapped but we aren’t shown that to the same extent. It is impossible to break away from the idea that this is all due to character stupidity more than a curse or rationale.
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