Transfiguration

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.

Genre: Drama / Horror- Release date: 21 April 2017 Cert: 15 A young boy Milo (Eric Ruffin) lives on a housing complex in NY, where he is bullied by his peers. His taste for blood and love of horror movies presents a lost soul. What is unclear is how, if at all he became a vampire. Milo finds the equally lost Sophie (Chloe Levine) and they form a relationship which is threatened when she discovers his dark secret. Sophie's character gives the lonely Milo someone to talk between plotting his next kill. There is the mention of an absent mother, subtlety hinting this may be the root of his "abnormality" and question if he is a vampire not just a deeply troubled boy who needs help. Director Michael O'Shea leaves you to make up your own mind. Ruffin's acting convinces us that there is some substance to this story. Stars Eric Ruffin and Chloe Levine. Director: Michael O'Shea. Written by Editor alt-Africa.com @alt_africa

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.

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.

This intriguing little film tries to merge various genres into one. What we have is the story of a young black boy living in a one parent household (actually it's his big brother as his guardian) who fantasises to help get him through the days in an otherwise hard life on a violent gang led estate. The dark side is that the boy has an obsession about vampires, which leads him to copy his 'heroes'.

The film references lots of vampire movies, and you can see the labels of the videos he watches to get him up to speed on the genre. However, as he begins to kill to ape his heroes, it is uncomfortable. His other escape turns out to be a lovely girl who moves into his building, and he is finding a life beyond his fantasies, but it begins to have an impact on that relationship.

This is a low budget but intriguing movie. The odd critic has tried to say it's a copy of Let The Right One In, but it's not. It's a different take on the idea and merges other ideas in.

It's thoughtful, emotional and very well acted by the young crew. It stood out, but sadly has gained little attention. Disappointed to see the reaction to it by some, but it's a nice simple gem. Give it a go. It's worth it.