Baghead

If John Cassavettes had lightened up and made a horror movie, it would probably look like this digital filmmaking experiment, which gained kudos at the Sundance Film Festival but saw minimal business in theaters. Written and directed by the Duplass brothers (The Puffy Chair), the film follows four aspiring filmmakers who trek to a desolate mountain cabin to brainstorm film ideas but find their creative vacation disrupted by a strange intruder. Long stretches of seemingly improvised dialog about moviemaking and relationships aren’t most horror fans’ idea of a good time, and creeps with bags over their heads aren’t necessarily high on arthouse patrons’ lists, but this film is worth a look for both distinctly different audiences.

Shelf Talk: The most commercially viable example of the “mumble-core movement”—a low-budget, improv strain of American indie filmmaking—Baghead has a small but dedicated following. The title is definitely out there among the cinephiles.