Lane Hughes stars as Daniel, a young man who has become addicted to over-the-counter drugs after his girlfriend breaks up with him.  He swallows whole packages of pills and cough medicine to help dull the pain.  At the same time, we learn that Daniel's home is haunted by the ghosts of two brothers who commited suicide there after murdering a woman in the backyard. We're left wondering whether his house really is haunted or whether the apparitions are just an effect of all the pills Daniel is popping.  Regardless, Daniel must break free of the ghosts that haunt him or step over the edge into madness.

Loosely based on events in his own life, Lane Hughes co-wrote Pop Skull with E.L. Katz (Autopsy). There are some familiar elements, like the "loutish-but-means-well" friend (Brandon Carroll, Home Sick) who tries to help Daniel through his tough time and the friend's girlfriend (newcomer Hannah Hughes) who of course starts to fall for the sensitive Daniel just before he hits rock bottom, that expose Pop Skull as perhaps not having the most original of plots, but it's the way the story is filmed by Wingard that makes it visually unique. 

The viewer really gets a sense that he's tripping along with Daniel, experiencing a kaleidoscope of images and scenes that melt together and mess with the mind, all while leading to a cohesive idea as we come down from our high.  The DVD includes an "interview" with Hughes and Wingard in which they sit in front of a camera in somebody's garage and shoot the breeze about anything and everything, a slew of deleted and alternate scenes with intros by the two, five short films and one music video directed by Wingard, and A Minute of Your Time, which is a short film by Jim Ether that influenced the visual style of Pop Skull.  Throw in a refreshingly self-deprecating audio commentary from Wingard and Hughes and you've got yourself a pretty nice experience.  Unless, that is, you're prone to epileptic seizures, in which case you'd better steer clear of this one.  Really.

6-1/2 stars out of 10.