Film Review
Baghead
Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Jake Duplass, Mark Duplass
Principle Actors: Ross Partridge, Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig, Elise Muller
Length: 84 minutes
Rating: (PG)
Released: July 25^th 2008 

Reviewed By: Robert Waldman (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada) 

Attempts to rekindle the spirit of films like The Blair Witch Project can be hit or miss affairs. Use of hand held cameras with jerky movements to create a sense of urgency have been tried in the past with intermittent success.  Last year the scary Paramount thriller Cloverfield exceeded all expectations and became a monster hit.  Out to snare youthful audiences looking for a few perfectly timed jolts is Baghead, the newest scary fare from Sony Pictures Classics now freaking folks out at Tinseltown (on Pender, free parking). 

Tandem writer/directors Jay and Mark Duplass sure have lots of energy. Baghead is already a critically acclaimed entry earning rave reviews at various film festivals around the globe.  Budding filmmakers will get a kick out of the movies main theme:  have a bunch of amateurs try to make a movie. Sure, we may have seen this story before but thanks to four very accomplished hot young actors Baghead has a certain scary voyeuristic appeal to it bound to click in with fans of genres like The Blair Witch. 

All four of the twenty-something folks want is to create a movie.  Fame or fortune clearly is in the eyes of the group who make tracks to the great outdoors when a family cabin gets freed up.  Big Bear California is where the group beds down but once in this secluded enclave danger seems to be only a stone's throw away.

Two boys and two girls can lead to friction galore especially when those romantic pangs kick in. Average guys will be able to relate to Chad, whose unkept appearance stands in stark contrast with handsome Matt.  Main squeeze Catherine uses her stunning good looks and acting chomps to drive the story forward while tomboyish Michelle seems more content to drink herself silly.

Over the course of a few hours this team begins to brainstorm ideas for a movie.  Sooner, rather than later, reality begins to copy art as a series of dangerous moments occur. Just who is trying to scare whom becomes the driving force in this 84 minute movie that takes a long time to set the parameters in motion before heading into the danger zone. 

Earnest efforts to create great works on film are hard to quantify.  Not enough scares and a rather less than eventful finale that comes across a touch contrived make Baghead a rather uneven film that lacks real tension to scare folks off.  That said, the film does do a good job creating four diverse characters who do show some real emotion teeing off of one another.