The Transfiguration

although this is categorised as horror on IMDb and Netflix, i would argue that this film debut by writer/director Michael O'Shea is really more of a psychological thriller. it's a very slow-paced, but highly compelling, philosophical character study

Eric Ruffin gives a great performance as the leading character, who appears to be autistic: he has a special interest in vampires, aversion to eye contact, reduced affect display, selective mutism and a seemingly limited understanding of social norms, though there's clearly something else at play, driving the strange compulsions which are one of the primary focuses and key mysteries of the film

Larry Fessenden, actor and director of Habit (one of my favourite vampire movies), makes a cameo appearance. the script and dialogue are well-written and inspire analysis and meditation. i enjoyed this quite a bit and look forward to seeing what else O'Shea comes up with in or has in store for the future

I think if I hadn't read a few reviews (even if they were not marked as containing spoilers!) I would have enjoyed the movie more. I think it tries to play with the uncertainty of not knowing who or what Milo is in reality, but reading everyone's specific comments about it kind of spoiled it for me. I guess is too late to warn anyone, anyway... Still, it's quite a simple story, a serial killer boy and his motives and obsessions. Good acting, somehow interesting characters to certain point, but very little development on them and the story itself. On the downside, the very slow pace makes it feel longer than it is. Also, (on the technical side) the shaky hand-held camera got me annoyed 15 minutes into the movie, it literally NEVER stops shaking in ANY shoot of the movie, which I think is definitely not a good thing, cinematography style should look for a balance and use different styles for different situations. Still, not a bad movie or confusing like many were saying in their reviews (what's confusing here?), but definitely NOT A HORROR movie! It's a violent drama, but there's no horror here, so if that's why you're after, look somewhere else.

Almost a modern reimagining of George Romero's Martin meets Let the Right One In - both of which are referenced by name in the film - this goes real deep into childhood trauma and poverty through the lens of being a young Horror movie fan. I think a lot of Horror fans relate to the genre to deal with the trauma of the world, to some degree, and this is a moving exploration of that (as well as themes of self-loathing and social isolation).

Milo (Eric Ruffin) is a quiet black teen obsessed with vampires in the New York City hood. He gets bullied by the local kids. He is haunted by the death of his mother and lives with his older brother. He is befriended by Sophie (Chloe Levine) who lives with her abusive grandfather. One day, Milo is approached by a young white couple from out-of-town looking for drugs.

At about the point of the white boy, I was expecting the big turn. Certainly, I wasn't sure it would go down that road. When that happened to the white boy in the basement, I was hoping that road be forgotten and the story would go down the more logical road. The police, the gang, and the brother could combine to be a harrowing realistic tale. Nevertheless, this is very solid indie with an interesting twist. Chloe Levine could be a future star. Milo is a little too quiet to truly know.

Watch Martin (1977). It's a far superior movie and it's pretty obvious The Transfiguration borrowed very heavily from it. The transfiguration is very very slow and I'm someone who doesn't mind a slow burn, but it needs to burn. Worth watching, but definitely see Martin before this.