Once upon a time, there was a little flick called "The Blair Witch Project." This film portrayed a group of actors fumbling around in the woods, fighting off an invisible entity that was out to get every last one of them.
Flash forward to 2008 and we have a somewhat similar film called "Baghead," an overly ambitious film out to create a different kind of horror, yet not straying from the scary-person-in-the-woods-out-to-get-everyone-in-the-cabin concept.
The film starts out with a group of fledgling actors setting out to create a screenplay that will catapult them into stardom. So, they shack up in a cabin in Big Bear to escape their trivial lives in Los Angeles.
The motley crew of actors are Matt (Ross Partridge), a good-looking guy and bona fide ladies man with "Elvis hair," Chad (Steve Zissis), Matt's brother, who's portly and insecure around women and relies on his sense of humor to get attention, and Catherine (Elise Muller), Matt's old flame and an aging actress who has quick wit and a confident persona. Then there's Michelle (Greta Gerwig), the object of Chad's infatuation, a naive and flirty actress with a cute-as-a-button face.
Michelle is also the muse behind the whole "Baghead" idea.
One night, during a drunken slumber, she dreams of puking outside the cabin, only to be disturbed by a man with a bag over his head. Matt believes this is the idea they have been waiting for. What could be scarier than a man running around in the woods with a bag over his head?
"Baghead" has more twists and turns than the road leading to Vegas, fooling viewers into believing there is a man with a bag on his head. Then it's a joke. Then it's real. Then...well, let's stop the spoiler there.
The romantic relationships are complicated as well, especially with the growing flirtation between Michelle and Matt. The flirtation continues as the actors drunkenly brainstorm ideas by writing them down and passing them to the person next to them. All is fun and games until all this is complicated by the man with a bag on his head.
Is he real or is he a fake?
There are some jumpy moments toward the end, and the story turns from funny to serious in a matter of minutes. Getting stuck in the middle of the woods at night would be scary enough in and of itself without the prospect of a killer who masks his head with a bag.
Though the Duplass brothers try to fuse funny with the scary, unfortunately, the film falls short at the end. The film would be better viewed at home on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, rather than paying a $10 admission fee with an $8 bucket of popcorn on your lap. "Baghead" is a must see when it can be rented.
Movie: Baghead Director: Jay and Mark Duplass Distributed by: Duplass Brothers Productions Grade: C
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