For an ode to pretentious, up-your-own-ass, "artistic" indie s**t, there's nothing quite like the opening minutes of Baghead. The protagonists are at a film festival, where the film "We Are Naked" is having its world premiere. It's shot in grainy black-and-white, the dialogue is ludicrous, and just before the end-credits roll, the lead couple take off all their clothes and have s*x. On their feet. In the front yard.

That's pretty much the comedic highlight of Baghead, the newest addition to the DIY "mumblecore" movement. (Humpday is actually newer - it played at Sundance last month - but it won't see theatrical distribution until later this year.) Most Mumblecore movies have a shaky-cam shooting style, micro-budgets and loosely plotted narratives about life after college. The acclaim these films have garnered (not to mention the distribution deals they've struck with indie outlets like Magnolia Pictures) should be inspiring for fledgling young filmmakers everywhere.

Most of them are comedies; Baghead is the first mumblecore to throw horror elements into the mix. After they attend the after-party for "We Are Naked," actor friends Matt, Catherine, Chad and Michelle decide to write their own movie. They retreat to a cabin in the woods to hash out a screenplay in two days. This is plausible - Park Chan-Wook wrote the script for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance in less than 24 hours - but believe me, it's a challenge. It's especially hard when you're hanging out with your friends, there's a ton of s*xual tension in the room, and a masked maniac is on the loose.

Oh yes, this is one of those masked maniac movies. At least, we're led to believe it is. The denouement of Baghead has been described (by Roger Ebert) as "one of stunning underwhelmingness," but for a while there are some genuine scares. Michelle (played by the lovely mumblecore starlet Greta Gerwig, from Hannah Takes the Stairs) first spots a mysterious figure in the woods while she's losing her lunch. Whoever it is, they've got a bag over their head, an idea that Matt latches onto and immediately incorporates into their script. Despite this sudden burst of inspiration, the writing doesn't go very well, mainly because of Chad's attraction to Michelle, Michelle's attraction to Matt, and Catherine's general annoyance with all three of them. Oh, and of course, that baghead person in the woods.

Baghead isn't my favorite mumblecore movie - the last 10 minutes are basically risible - but it has some of what I like about this genre: naturalistic dialogue, lived-in performances, and comedic situations arising from loose s*xual mores. The genre was inadvertently launched by New York filmmaker Andrew Bujalski, whose films (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation) show an almost uncanny ability to capture the way people in their twenties talk to each other. But my favorite mumblecore movie is still Dance Party USA, which, along with Peter Sollet's Raising Victor Vargas, remains one of the best coming-of-age pictures of the decade. Seek out all of these titles immediately - and give Baghead a chance, too, just don't expect to come away satisfied by the ending.