User reviews

I have been waiting to see this movie for a few months now. It just recently got released to DVD so I picked it up. I'm a very tough movie critic, especially when it comes to horror films and even more specific: vampire films.

We have seen the extreme violent and evil natured vampires, and then there are the ones with some empathy and humane features. This film is the latter of the two.

The film isn't based mostly around the sole plot of the vampire, but more around the "vampire's" surroundings, interactions, thought processes, and interests. A select few will really resonate with this movie. If you were ever the different kid at school, it's almost a trip down memory lane. Milo is a selective talker and generally unafraid of bullies, whether at school or around his housing project, and takes it with stride. "It is what it is," he says to the other main character Sophie. Sophie is a bit of a polar opposite of Milo. She is more of an extrovert and not afraid to make the first move. Of course, this creates some friction between the two but that eventually will develop into what I think the movie is honestly about.

This movie isn't centered around his vampiric tendencies: whether they are real or not is for you to decide. It strives more for two people who don't feel they belong or exist in this world. One feeling that way towards the beginning and shifting to the other towards the end. The movie doesn't flesh out much of Milo's background or Sophie's, but I think that's the point. It would have been less interesting if you knew more about either. This isn't one of the best movies I've seen all year, but it has been this week's best by far.

The movie centers around the human condition more than anything, and how people learn to cope with it, or sacrifice to make something larger than themselves be improved or saved.

Don't get me wrong, this film is definitely a slice of life dealing with vampire elements, but it's also about two confused individuals trying to figure out things together. I liked the ending personally, it jumped into a moment of Milo's life and jumped out of it with two people's lives changed for the better or worse. It's completely up to you. This won't scare you, it's more of a drama/crime/mystery. But I loved it. I would honestly give it a solid 6 out of 10, which means I thoroughly enjoyed and will probably show it to someone or watch again myself.

It was a very blood sucking satisfying but, "realistic," as Milo says so much during the movie, reality. It is a more toned down Let the Right One In, but I would say it leans towards that type. So it's up to you if you are interested in a semi complex layered story that has to do with vampire elements.

I would rate it 6 out of 10, but I went with a 7 so it hopefully secures the solid 6 it deserves.

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.

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

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.

I quickly read through the synopsis for the movie when I found it in the horror section. The synopsis seemed like it could be an interesting enough movie, and had me believing that this would be a vampire movie of sorts.

However, this was not really the type of movie that I had expected it to be. And I am somewhat perplexed about how it ended up in the horror section, because this was not a horror movie at all; it was a drama with elements of horror at the very best.

Writer and director Michael O'Shea had come up with a somewhat mundane storyline and one that was rather slow paced as well. That meant that the storytelling wasn't particularly impressive and just trotted on at a very slow and dull pace, making for a less than impressive movie.

Milo's obsession with vampires and his constant watching of vampire movies, made for a fun game of trying to identify as many of the movies that he watched as possible, so it was a test of the viewer's knowledge of vampire movies in a way.

The acting in the movie was adequate, and it was nice to see new faces on the screen. I do enjoy watching new actors and actresses on the screen in movies, as they have no association with prior characters portrayed in other movies. However, the cast in "The Transfiguration" were struggling against the limitations of the script and storyline, and the movie was suffering from that.

"The Transfiguration" was a real struggle to sit through, because it was so slow paced and mundane. It took forever for the story to virtually go almost nowhere. This is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to for a second time around, because it was a battle to get through it the first time. And while the movie is running at an average length of 1 hour and 37 minutes it is so slow paced that it feels like way past 2 hours.

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.

If you're here for a vampire film then disappointment this way lies.

This is a wonderfully acted drama about a kid who just happens to be obsessed with vampires, to the extent that he kills and drinks blood.

The word "horror" shouldn't be anywhere near this movie because it's misleading.

The outcast orphan Milo (Eric Ruffin) is a lonely teenager that lives with his brother in a dangerous neighborhood. Milo is fan of vampire stories and movies and he randomly kills people to drink their blood like a vampire and steal their money. When he meets the depressed teenager Sophie (Chloe Levine), they become friends and spend their leisure time together affecting Milo.

"The Transfiguration" is a weird but interesting low-budget rip-off of "Martin" and "Låt den rätte komma in". There is something missing to rate "The Transfiguration" a good film, but it keeps the attention of the viewer until he last scene. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

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).

I didn't like it, there you have it. It is very slow and all about blah blah and in fact nothing going on except talking to his girlfriend and his brother watching TV all day long.

In the beginning you do have a bite so you know it's about vampirism but that's it. Around 1 hour 10 you will see an attack but even that is low on everything.

Just watched it through the end to see if there's something explained. Nice to see his collection of vampire flicks and him talking about it with his girlfriend but overall, not my thing.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5

OK yeah, this isn't a vampire movie. I just wanna clarify that one can, and should, ignore the title graphics showing the main character casting a Nosferatu shadow.

With that out of the way, this isn't a bad film by any means. There's pathos, and some humor here and there. It calls strongly upon the reality-sucks school, which isn't among the styles of filmmaking that I enjoy a lot, but if you're into that then do see this. The actors have done a great job, and I think this movie is every bit as deserving as certain other "cult" classics, if not more so. I gave this one -1 for the reason that I probably wouldn't watch it again, however I'd recommend it to anybody who likes a slightly more intellectual film experience. I watched it around the same time I was re-visiting the series Dracula from 1991, and I mean... sun and moon, night and day. If your brain needs a rest real bad, check out the Final Destination franchise, for example, and skip 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 enjoy Independent films, however the pacing for this particular film was excruciatingly slow and the main character so deadpan and without emotion that at times I felt the need to fast forward in order to get on with the next segment. The soundtrack used during the so called "tense scenes" really had a 50s B movie quality to it, adding to the impression that it was a low budget exercise. No real punch line or moral with the ending and while I did watch it all the way through, the story didn't have any depth to it, the characters were uninteresting and I simply can't recommend it.

Seen at he IMAGINE film festival 2017 in Amsterdam. The story flows all the time and keeps your interest, but overall the dramatic developments are minimal, and the atmosphere embedding the two main topics, violence and social commentary, does not provide for anything new that we haven't seen already in many other movies.

The only novel element is that Milo is a vampire, this time not someone who has to avoid daylight, and he also does not sleep in a coffin. Milo lives a more or less normal life with his older brother, who has apparently nothing more to do than watching TV all day long. Milo marks days on a calendar that he has to go "hunting". We saw a handwritten book with rules of engagement, e.g. that the victim must come instead of chasing him, but that was only a small fragment of a heavy stack of paper. We also see him several times bite randomly chosen victims, after which he is always somewhat nauseas, seemingly inherent in the process. How he became a vampire, is left in the dark (no pun intended), and what we see of his brother does suggest that is not something that runs in the family.

We see less of Sophie, not even her house from the inside, when she e.g. lets Milo wait for her door when she has to pick up something, very different from her having access to Milo's house and even stays in his room for a few days. Not clear what it all means, if anything. Both walk outside the house like a couple, e.g. holding hands, but there is no sex involved as far as we see, despite of sleeping in the same bed and kissing each other frequently.

All in all, if it really was the intention of the film makers to leave us confused, just as confused as both main protagonists are with respect to the world around them, this movie is a success however without a silver lining. It does not make us any wiser through the added elements of social commentary nor does it about violence or NYC's atmosphere, being important topics as suggested by the movie's website but I missed all of it.

While I get this movie is edgy and unique, it's extremely slow. It boils down to a kid with mental issues living in the ghetto trying to be a vampire and eventually hooking up with a girl who has other mental issues which are sexual in nature while his are more homicidal. Its not very exciting or supernatural as you may be lead to believe. I give it one star due to being boring and a waste of my time. I will say that it's possibly small targeted audience that is into psychological dramas may enjoy it a lot more than I.

I thought this movie was great, I wish the brutal and gory scenes had a bit more realization and acting in them but the plot and screen writing for this film is fantastic.. I felt emotionally drawn to the teenager at the end of the movie and despite him beeing a serial killer i actually felt bad for him at one point. This movie did a great job going into depth of his past and what causes him to kill.

Pensive, deliberate, and more of a quasi-horror than anything else. Kid is obsessed with vampires and kind of would like to be one. Meets fellow outcast. Things happen, some of it good. Might be a little too abstract for some audiences. Compelling characters and some standout performances by Ruffin and Cherches, and it's hard to believe this is O'Shea's directorial debut.

Don't think that you're going into just another horror movie with this one. If you're into psychology, you will love the transfiguration. I was engrossed the entire time. A perfect portrayal of a warped mind. The story was very disturbing but told beautifully.

The writer-director was obviously heavily influenced by the Swedish film Let the Right One In. The story is reversed this time around with a boy as vampire and girl as best friend. The girl seems much more mature and years older than the boy. The Swedish movie is far superior to this one. The kids are fine but the boy sleepwalks through the film. I would recommend the Swedish import and even the American remake with Chloe Grace Moretz. It is one of the few remakes that actually works. The Transfiguration is a pale imitation.