Director Emily Hagins gained instant fame in 2006 when she recruited all of her friends and family to direct her first feature horror film. The production and Hagins’ enthusiasm for the genre garnered the attention of film critic Harry Knowles (who cameos as a vampire expert) who took Hagins under his wing helping to fuel her film career. In 2009, Hagins then became the topic of the excellent documentary “Zombie Girl: The Movie,” a light hearted and entertaining look at Hagins relentless efforts to complete her feature length zombie film “Pathogen.” The documentary took festivals by storm and remains one of the more heart felt depictions of filmmaking ever produced. Now that we’ve played catch up, “My Sucky Teen Romance” is director Emily Hagins one step forward in to a much more legitimate career as a film director.
Hagins, a charming, persistent, driven, and creative young artist, has released a rather ambitious and interesting vampire film for horror geeks, and as a follow-up to her previous effort it signals Hagins is only getting better with each project she approaches. “My Sucky Teen Romance” is a big step up from “Pathogen” which was mostly amateurish, while this follow up has a gloss and professionalism that’s admirable and quite impressive. Hagins really has an eye on what she intends with this film and while it’s flawed in many respects, it’s still high in quality and better than most indie films I’ve seen directed by people twice Hagins’ age. “My Sucky Teen Romance” is not so much a horror film as it is a horror dramedy that satirizes what Hagins hates about vampires, while also providing her own take on the vampire lore. The ambition behind this project is admirable, and Hagins is bold enough to offer her own twist on vampires while winking to hardcore fans of the beasts on many occasions. I’m not sure if Hagins is a fan of “Twilight” but she does use it as comedy relief on more than one occasion.
In one scene the main villain Vince tries to get in to a hotel room with two swooning young girls by calling himself Edward and going on a poetic monologue about romance as they gaze in pure lust, and in one scene during a lecture about vampires one girl asks “Do vampires ever fall in love?” to which the expert (played by Harry Knowles) remarks “Are you fucking stupid?” To add to the fresh new angle, director Hagins even casts actual teenagers to boot. Played by the adorable Elaine Hurt, Kate is pretty much every guy’s dream girl. She’s very pretty, has a great personality, and happens to be a geek on all things horror and comics. She’s garnered the attention of local store clerk Jason who finds it impossible to speak to her. Who can blame him? During the local SpaceCON convention Kate and her friend Ashley come across one of Kate’s crushes Jason who attempts to profess his love for Kate before she moves away with her family. While talking, Jason, who has just turned in to a vampire, is pushed in to Kate and his vampiric fangs jab her in the neck.
This brief puncture transforms Kate in to a vampire over night and she must now figure out a way to stop her transformation before she gains a taste for human blood and becomes a full creature of the night. Meanwhile evil vampire Vincent is stalking the con and intends on transforming the vampire fans in to an actual vampire army. Can Kate’s friends keep her from becoming a predator of the night before Kate feeds? Folks like Elaine Hurt, Devin Bonnee, and Santiago Dietche bring in very strong performances and add a unique flavor to the story. Along the way Hagins finds time to turn her vampire in to a threatening and menacing but empathic kind of figure that teeters between Anne Rice and “30 Days of Night.” The vampires in the film only seek blood and lack the foresight of romance and sex. Especially Vincent the head vampire. Hagins manages to tell a quite interesting and engaging story of romance and creeps with little bits of comedy thrown in for good measure that I appreciated.
There’s a girl named Nancy Drew who is missing and thought dead, and I’m not sure if it was intentional but Devin Bonnée as villain vampire Vince bears a shocking resemblance to Robert Rusler in “Sometimes they Come Back.” Director Hagins, who writes the screenplay, has a chance to be self-indulgent, or imitate the writing of her favorite directors, but instead sticks to what she knows and develops a strong and believable dynamic between the characters. While it’s not completely a horror movie per se, it’s a very entertaining and light horror romance dramedy that succeeds in building interesting characters, real relationships, and strong conflicts I cared about. Hagins is able to pull in very good performances from her entire cast, and garners a memorable performance from her star, most of all. “My Sucky Teen Romance” mocks and pays tribute to the genre director Emily Hagins loves, and it’s very much worth the watch. I look forward to seeing Director Hagins progress even further as an artist and storyteller.