Nordling here.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I know practically everyone involved with the making of this film. I've known Emily since she first showed up at BNAT one year, saw a zombie film, and it changed her life. I know Emily's mom, Megan - both Emily and Megan took me for Italian food one night when I was visiting Austin in 2009 and we had a fun time. I know Paul Gandersman, the producer. I know Tony Vespe, one of the actors in the film. Hell, there isn't a moment in the movie that someone doesn't walk by that I don't know. My boss is in the film. You need to know this going in. I even donated money to help Emily make her film. How you judge this review is entirely up to you. Just know this - this is an honest opinion of the film, and I feel that you need to know all of this up front. It wouldn't be professional of me otherwise. But this isn't some student project - this is a real film, it played at a real film festival, and a fairly prestigious one at that, and so it's completely fair to be reviewed by AICN and any other website who has connections with the filmmakers, as long as they disclose that.
Emily Hagins has more ambition than most people twice her age, and she's only 18. MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is her third film, having made a zombie movie (PATHOGEN), a ghost story (THE RETELLING), and been a subject of a documentary (ZOMBIE GIRL). She's grown up being steeped in films and filmmaking, and with her latest film, Emily has shown her maturity and voice as a writer and a filmmaker. And although I wouldn't say that MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is exactly ready for prime time, it's obvious that she's a gifted young woman and as she continues to build her talents, she could very well be a formidable talent in genre filmmaking.
The opening sets the tone, set in the 1950s as a James Dean rebel type hangs out at the local teen diner. A guy storms out and drives off, and a young woman sits on the bench, crying. The young guy sits next to her and asks if she needs a ride... and then the setup is quickly put in motion as we jump to modern day as Kate (Elaine Hurt) prepares to leave Austin for college. But Kate's a geek, along with her friends Jason (Santiago Dietche), Allison (Lauren Lee), and Mark (Tony Vespe), and so they want to go to one last geek convention together, Space-Con. This year's theme is vampires, and everyone seems to follow the TWILIGHT series, except for our heroes, who know better. Fellow geek Paul (Patrick Delgado) loves comics too, and likes Kate a lot, but a hold-up at the store he works at changes his life forever - he's bitten by a vampire (Devin Bonnee), who sees the opportunity to feed well at conventions like Space-Con. Once Paul and Kate meet, well, chemicals got to run their course, even in vampires, and Kate gets bit. As she begins to change into the Undead, Paul, Kate, and Kate's friends race against time to find the vampire that sired Paul and break the curse.
I don't want to oversell the film - the actors are amateur and struggle with the emotion and realism in the dialogue. I have to call out Tony Vespe, though - his Mark is a funny, natural character and Vespe does well with the role. But for the most part, the acting is stilted and tense, due to their lack of experience. Except for one particular cameo - Harry Knowles, who with his all-too-brief moment onscreen is a commanding presence, like Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN. His "Are you fucking retarded?" should be his catch phrase with every role he takes. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss. Ahem.
But Emily's script is funny and knowing - it takes the romance seriously. Kate and Paul are real kids - shy, nervous, not sure how to communicate through to each other, and it's not some fake, blown-out-of-proportion romance like TWILIGHT. Although the acting is too formal and not relaxed, there's nothing wrong with Emily's dialogue in this film. Emily also doesn't shy away from the gore - we get lots of blood spurts and guts, which I appreciated.
Frankly, if the film had a $15 million budget, professional actors, and some more drawn out action scenes, this would fit right in with any other studio release. The film has a small budget and it shows, but Emily's directorial style is snappy and has a sense of visual acuity. She knows how to set a scene and build the suspense. I don't want to disparage the actors too harshly. They just haven't had much experience yet, and they seem nervous, because this is a real film, with real setpieces. It's not just a bunch of kids screwing around with a camera. One sequence, where Mark sets up the rules of vampirism as he learned in a video game, is incredibly well executed, as the scene falls into 8-bit computer animation that explains the rules perfectly. The film has a kinetic flow that can't be faked - Emily has tons of talent here, and the editing by Shane Gibson hits all the right marks.
MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is just one stepping stone to, I hope, further films in Emily Hagins' career. She's learning on her feet here - her film school is love of film and getting your hands dirty and just making a film and not just talking around it. She's only going to get better. As Kate leaves Austin to experience the wider world, Emily will do the same and have experiences that only increase her abilities and talents. I look forward to what she does next. MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is a good effort, and it's a story with real potential - funny and heartfelt.
Nordling, out.
