Reel Review Roundup

Baghead (M)

Directed by: Alberto Corredor

Starring: Freya Allan, Jeremy Irvine, Ruby Barker

Review by: Julian Wright

What would you do if you found a creepy old witchy woman who can channel the dead in your basement? For down-on-her-luck Iris Lark, it’s a chance to make big bucks fast.

Iris (Freya Allan) has no money and no home when she inherits a rundown pub after her estranged father, and pub owner, Owen Lark (Peter Mullan) dies.

Not only is it a temporary place to crash, on night two, grief stricken Neil (Jeremy Irvine) comes knocking with wads of cash wanting to clear the air with his dead wife via the creepy woman living in the locked basement.

As if basements weren’t creepy enough! But Iris sees dollar signs.

Of course, there are dire consequences that come with speaking to the dead.

This film ask a giant leap of faith of the audience, when in one single scene, Iris reconciles a crazy local, a witchy tenant, supernatural occurrences, a possession, and a lot of rules about her downstairs resident.

It is an intriguing set-up, that feels like it needed an extra beat or two to sink in.

Regardless, the atmospherics are on point and even the most hardened horror buff should get a few jolts out of it.

There are echoes of the recent Talk To Me, though where that explores flirtations with the dead as an addictive adrenaline rush, this is more about the need for closure with loved ones. Although the closure that Neil seeks offers us a delicious twist.

And there is a surprising amount of emotion weaved into this little chiller that, at first, comes off simply as a haunted pub flick.

This entry was posted on February 23, 2024 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.