Baja (film) (Alternity)

Baja is a 1989 American horror film. Set in the US state of Baja California in the fall of 1907, in the small town of Upperton on the Pacific coast, the film follows a series of disturbing events plaguing the town just as Charles Bardmann – an out-of-work journalist from San Diego – moves into town with his wife, Alice, and three children, Mark, Simon, and Katy. Baja is considered a classic of the horror genre alongside the likes of Jaws and The Exorcist and set a record for a Ben Corrin-based film, with a total domestic gross of over $425 million, and eventual international total of nearly $1 billion.

Plot
Charles Bardmann (Crispin Glover) – an out-of-work journalist from San Diego – moves his family to the small town of Upperton, Baja California in July 1907, where he takes up the job of local general store manager. A series of mysterious events rapidly escalate even as Bardmann and his family settle in, with townspeople being brutally murdered by an unknown and vicious assailant who shows no mercy. Soon, other, less explainable events happen, with Upperton residents reporting the appearances of mysterious people who shouldn’t be in their homes. Though unnerved, Bardmann continues his work as manager of the local general store, and earns enough to get himself and his family by surprisingly well, while also earning him a good measure of respect among townspeople.

Unfortunately, this all comes to a shattering halt when Bardmann’s youngest son, seven year-old Mark, drowns while swimming with his mother and older brother Simon. Mark is solemnly buried a few days later, with many of the townspeople turning out to pay their respects to the Bardmanns. Still mourning their loss, the family tries to resume their normal routine with only limited success, Mark’s death still lingering over their heads. A week later, Bardmann thinks he sees Mark on the way home from the store, but dismisses it as wishful thinking. The next morning, he wakes to a scream from Katy, to find a seemingly rabid cat under her bed, at which he grabs his old rifle and kills it. Upon burning the cat’s corpse on a bonfire in the backyard, Bardmann is visited by his neighbor, Victor Schenk, who tells Bardmann this has happened over two dozen times in the past several years. While listening to Schenk, Bardmann thinks he sees Mark again, and points him out to Schenk – who actually sees Mark, too.

Dumbstruck, the two race after the ‘wishful hallucination’, but lose the trail in the desert on the eastern fringes of town. Out of breath, Bardmann asks Schenk: “Wishful thinking, huh? Either we’re both going crazy now, or something else is going on around here.” Later that day, Bardmann takes the day off work to visit old ‘Migs’ Miguel - a native of the region - at his home in the rundown area of town. Miguel tells both Bardmann and a late-arriving Schenk that he is part Oaxin, a Native American tribe that all but vanished centuries ago, but survived by intermarrying with arriving Spanish in the early 1700s. Miguel also claims that the town is built near a sacred Oaxin burial ground, and that with recent expansion in the region and arrival of industry, the spirits of the Oaxin, both good and evil, have been disturbed. These restless spirits and demons, Miguel says, are responsible for the mysterious occurances in Upperton.

To be continued...

Cast

 * Crispin Glover as Charles Bardmann
 * TBA as Alice Bardmann
 * TBA as Victor Schenk
 * TBA as Mark Bardmann
 * TBA as Katy Bardmann
 * TBA as Simon Bardmann
 * TBA as Miguel

Sequel
In the summer of 1995, Paramount finally confirmed rumors of a sequel to the hit film, titled Baja II, set in February 1942, thirty-five years after the events of the first movie. It was released to theaters on April 25, 1997, and has so far grossed around $400 million domestically.