Review - Zombie Girl: The Movie (2009)

While at the Zombie Outbreak Film Festival I had the extreme pleasure of watching a movie made my a 12-year-old girl named Emily Hagins named Pathogen and then, right after, I had the pleasure of watching Zombie Girl the Movie… a documentary about the filming of Pathogen. By the end of the documentary, I could not contain myself, I leaned over to my friend and I told him that we have to make a movie. Something about that film made gave me inspiration and it had to have been one of the best documentaries that I had ever seen in a long time. There was nothing wrong about it and it was truly heart filled.

I want to get first talk about why this documentary had so much heart to it. It showed the relationship that Emily had with her mom and her dad through out the whole filming of Pathogen and it gave me a very happy feeling. Her parents helped he out so much and supported her the whole way and I could not believe it. Most parents would only say “sure, do whatever,” but they supported her the whole way. It wasn’t just bias towards the good times she had with her mom but also the times when they go on each others nerves and it really humanized the family. The documentary even gave a little history of Emily and her mom and how she had miscarriages and how Emily would always grab the camera… this made me happy to see somebody so enthusiastic about film.

The movie perfectly captures the hardships and the passion that Emily had while filming and throughout the whole movie there were complications such as reshoots, the cast being late or even getting a cast. I really felt for her and I could empathize with her because of all the problems she had to encounter. I also really like that the story also focused on how Emily was 12 and how she tried to direct a movie… such as, when she was filming the office scene she kept rolling after the scene was over and she didn’t say cut… I loved it!! Also, the beginning of the movie she stated that she never sues shot sheets or anything. It really captures the fact she was an amateur and yet she dished out an amazing zombie movie.

Something that I also really liked about this was the passion that drove Emily and this movie really showed it. It showed how she wanted precise clothing, precise props and how she wanted everything to go as planned… but also was really opened to other collaborative suggestions. Her passion fueled her and I think that was something that I could sense off the bat and it was intense. She was a born filmmaker!!

Overall, this documentary captured everything perfectly and it was such a simply documentary but so inspiring. Honestly, right I could not wait for the movie to end so that I could talk to my friend about making our movie… it just kicked me in the ass and pushed me to go that extra mile. The little titles with the decapitated dolls, hanging stuffed animals… right down to the passion, Zombie Girl the Movie was beautifully made. Congrats Justin and congrats Emily!!!!

For my Pathogen movie review, check out BuyZombie.com

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