"B-" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

Unlike the "Blair Witch Project" (1999), "Baghead" actually delivers some rather interesting surprises in the end. Anyone who saw "Blair Witch" understands that while it cleverly built up some genuine suspense, it never contained any type of payoff. Much to its credit, "Baghead" does not make the same mistake.

The plot in "Baghead" concerns two couples who decide to spend a weekend at a cottage on Great Bear Lake to write a movie script that will star the four of them. While all four long for movie stardom, they are consigned to the fringes of Hollywood's moviemaking world.

The downside of "Baghead" is that our four wannabes are basically a bit dippy. Once at the cottage, they basically spend their time getting drunk while engaging in sophomoric banter. It's not like any of them are unlikable people, it's just that you really wouldn't want to be trapped on a transatlantic flight with any of the four sitting next to you.

But just when you start to fight an inner voice that is castigating you for wasting money on a movie ticket, this tiny independent film shifts into a higher gear. Was that really a guy with a bag over his head in the woods, or was it a practical joke? If it was a practical joke, who took the battery out of their truck, stranding them? Is it possible that a bag wearing serial killer is gradually closing in on our lightweight quartet of increasingly frantic friends?

"Blair Witch" reached the same emotional pinnacle, and then the air leaked out of the entire enterprise quite rapidly. Here, however, "Baghead" grabs a hold of you and takes you on a terrifying chase through the dark woods. Our goofy group is clearly in mortal danger. Or are they?

This summer's wonderfully funny but morally flawed "Tropic Thunder" was a movie about the making of a movie based on a best selling book. "Baghead" is a movie about the making of a movie while our protagonists are writing a script for a movie.

If this description of "Baghead" leaves you completely perplexed, it is meant to do so. It is an intriguing little film about pedestrian characters that will gradually suck you into its grasp, whether you want to or not.

It's a fun, scary little romp. I can only applaud its directors/writers, Jay and Mark Duplass, as "Baghead" is a fitting testament as to why those of us who love the cinema must make sure that there is a place for independent filmmakers like themselves.