First off, I'm a big fan of regional genre filmmaking - I'm talkin' all those areas outside the usual film production hubs, but mostly areas that don't normally see any movie-making at all, examples that directly jump to mind are folks like Larry Buchanan and his wild Dallas drive-in flicks, Herschell Gordon Lewis and his Floridian folk art gore epics, Doris Wishman and her idiosyncratic (also) Florida sexploiters, George Romero and his political Pittsburgh zombies, Bill Rebane's Wisconsin weirdness - I love the scrappy can-do attitude of local productions, there's a magic there, so of course I love seeing my own city represented in film, and writer/director Aaron Lee Lopez is one of the best and most interesting of the San Antonio filmmakers - what's cool is that he's managed to create this little local teen movie niche universe with flicks like this one and TEENAGE GIRL: VALERIE'S HOLIDAY (2019), TEENAGE GIRL: FIRST WHEELS (2020) and TEENAGE GIRL: SKIP DAY (2022), part comedy, part drama, always lighthearted and fun (and always positive) with a hefty crossover mix of the same familiar faces (and that vintage red Mustang) showing up in most all of 'em - this newest Lopez joint (which I saw during its theatrical run at City Base Cinema) is loads of fun just like the rest of his filmography, and so if you enjoyed his other films you'll also totally dig this one, and if you haven't seen any of those films BUT you like '80s John Hughes joints and old Sam Raimi horror comedies, then you'll totally dig this zany good times horror comedy series too (regardless if you're a regional film nut or not) - can't wait for TEENAGE VAMPIRE 3!
