A Cheesy Nuggets production. Produced by Paul Gandersman, Megan Hagins, Jerry Hagins, J.J. Weber. Executive producer, Emily Hagins. Directed, written by Emily Hagins.
With: Elaine Hurt, Patrick Delgado, Santiago Dietche, Lauren Lee, Tony Vespe, Lauren Vunerink, Devin Bonnee, Harry Knowles.
Surprisingly appealing in its exuberant amateurishness, "My Sucky Teen Romance" is a micro-budget horror-comedy tailor-made for teen geeks who are sufficiently self-aware to laugh at themselves. Written and directed by 18-year-old Austin, Texas, resident Emily Hagins, whose status as a promising auteur prodigy might be effectively exploited in promotional campaigns, pic should find a receptive aud as a homevid release, especially if DVDs are hawked at sci-fi/fantasy conventions like the one where most of Hagins' plot unfolds.
Kate (Elaine Hurt), a bespectacled, college-bound nerd, is pleased to run into Paul (Patrick Delgado), a shy but dreamy supermarket clerk, at Austin's annual SpaceCon. Unfortunately, Paul recently has been turned into a vampire by Vince (Devin Bonnee), a cocksure bloodsucker who sports a '50s greaser look and, in several scenes, pointedly resembles a key figure in the "Twilight" franchise.
When Paul accidentally bites Kate, her buddies -- including Jason (Santiago Dietche), a self-proclaimed vampire expert who's kinda-sorta sweet on her -- must find a quick cure before Kate, too, joins the ranks of the undead. Trouble is, it's a bit difficult to detect a real vampire at a convention where so many attendees have donned capes and fake fangs.
Peppered with a wide variety of wink-wink pop-culture allusions to everything from Nancy Drew to "Nosferatu," "Romance" proceeds at a peppy pace, and often plays like a live-action episode of "Scooby Doo." Several in-jokey touches -- including a funny cameo by Ain't It Cool News editor Harry Knowles, and Jason's "Badass Cinema" T-shirt from the Alamo Draft House -- will amuse anyone familiar with the Austin film-geek scene.
Performances overall are uneven, but Hurt is quite appealing as Kate -- cute enough to wow hormonally inflamed boys, but also spunky enough to invite empathy from femme viewers.
Production values are minimal, but that actually enhances the impression that Hagins and her players completed the pic during a single burst of let's-put-on-a-show enthusiasm. "My Sucky Teen Romance" is actually Hagins' third completed feature; she directed her first, "Pathogen," at the tender age of 12, an achievement examined in the 2009 documentary "Zombie Girl: The Movie."
Camera (color, HD), Jeffrey Buras; editor, Shane Gibson; music, Christopher Thomas; production designers, Blair Robbins, Damon Denys; costume designer, Amanda Haight; sound, Isaac Hammons, Christopher Palmer; associate producers, Peter S. Hall; assistant director, Lina Green. Reviewed on DVD, Houston, March 26, 2011. (At SXSW Film Festival -- Lone Star States.) Running time: 76 MIN.
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