Film Review – Zombie Girl: The Movie

Emily Hagins has loved movies for her entire life. Cinema has filled her soul, helped to form an unbreakable bond with her mother Meghan, and catapulted her artistic aspirations beyond mere passive observation. Emily Hagins is ready to make her first movie: the blood-and-guts zombie epic, “Pathogen.” It’ll take a large cast, citywide locations, endless hours of shooting, and a DeMille-like concentration on the finer points of storytelling. Emily is ready to achieve her lifelong dream. Emily is 12 years old.

“Zombie Girl: The Movie” would make an excellent double feature with Chris Smith’s “American Movie.” Both documentaries detail cinematic endeavors from artists unprepared for the challenge, battling incredible odds armed only with their excitement, genre fandom, and a few supportive types in the background. “Zombie Girl” has the gimmick of Emily, a gawky pre-teen raised on Austin, Texas film culture with the help of her mother. A fan of “Lord of the Rings” and Peter Jackson, and inspired by the 2003 Australian zombie film, “Undead,” Emily concocted a plan to compose her own splatter feature, using a camcorder, a boom microphone taped to a paint roller, and undying support from Meghan, who's thrilled her child is reaching for the stars.

Directors Justin Johnson, Erick Mauck, and Aaron Marshall were there to cover much of the “Pathogen” shoot, following Emily and her crew (OK, her mom and dad) around suburban Texas as the pre-teen gorehound constructed her ode to horror’s finest adversary. A tale cleanly conveyed by the filmmakers, “Zombie Girl” is an ode to childlike spirit and adult reality, capturing Emily and Meghan and they bicker and bond over months of filming. “Zombie Girl” is at its best when focused on their interactions: Emily shows ambition and independence (she’s a bit of a control freak), and Meghan is aware of limitations and parental duty. Over the course of this film, their relationship remains loving, but it periodically dissolves from parent and child to producer and director, with Meghan’s creative suggestions acting as razor blades raked across Emily as she fights to preserve her own vision for “Pathogen.” Johnson, Mauck, and Marshall are incredibly fair to both parties, concentrating more on the strain of film production and how it effects even the smallest of shoots. I’m sure even Spielberg had to deal with second-guessing parents at one point in his early years.

“Zombie Girl: The Movie” (which contains wonderful title design work from Deborah Allison) does hunt for significance in Emily’s educational experience, exploring the rise of young filmmakers blazing their own trail with point-and-click filmmaking tools. There’s also, for better or worse, plenty of Austin personalities who articulate Emily’s determination with a touch too much camera-aware enthusiasm. The peanut gallery comments are valuable, but they remain secondary to the “Pathogen” shoot and the overall joy of the documentary. Watching Emily perfect shots, arrange her schoolmate extras (often dripping with fake blood), and emotionally react to the roller coaster ride of filmmaking is where the true heart of this engaging movie lies.

B+