Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Z is for Zombie: P is for Pathogen

P is for Pathogen
USA, 2006

The Zombies: Romero Ghouls.

The Source: Nanotech in the drinking water.

The Result: The bestest zombie movie ever made by a twelve-year-old girl.

I honestly believe this is how most tweens would react to a neighbor being devoured by zombies.

When nanotechnology developed as a cancer cure contaminates a suburban town's drinking water, the inhabitants suffer some rather unfortunate side effects. 

Pathogen is the first feature film from Emily Hagins, who was only twelve when production began. I first heard about it when the documentary on its making, Zombie Girl: The Movie, hit the festival circuit a couple of years back. Intrigued by the idea of a pre-teen girl producing her own zombie flick, I ordered a copy directly from the filmmaker herself.  It's been sitting in my to-watch pile for a while, and I'm glad I finally got around to viewing it for my current project.

I don't want to set unrealistic expectations.  This is a film written, directed, and edited by a twelve-year-old using a minuscule budget, an amateur cast, and ambient lighting.  But there's definitely talent on display here, and despite all limitation Ms. Hagins has managed to create some nicely framed shots and a very effective opening credit montage.

More importantly, though, Pathogen is a lot of fun.  There's a conversation in the movie that's essentially this:

SCIENTIST: "Hey, have you seen my slides with that hazardous nanotech
                on them?"
ADMIN: "Nope! But I wouldn't worry about it! Just go home and relax!"
SCIENTIST: "Oke-doke!"

I exaggerate only a little. We've seen and groaned at variations on this conversation in a thousand different horror films.  Pathogen just distills it down to its purest form.  Pathogen distills all zombie movie conventions down to their purest form, whether it's survivors standing around slack-jawed while others are being eaten or the guy who just won't open the damn door while his friends are being attacked on the other side.  Pathogen plays out like a kid relating the highlights of a horror show to a hushed crowd on the school playground.  It's spooky, innocent fun.  It's what Halloween is all about.

"Bieeeeeee-berrrrrrrr!"

Pathogen may not have scared me, but it certainly impressed me.

3.5 Ghouls