The Transfiguration (2016)

Another Vampire flick in the indie circuit has caught the attention of some cinemas, including the Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans, LA. I saw the theater was screening the film and thought "why not? I'm here, may as well check out an indie cinema outside of PDX"

With no real expectations or knowing of the film's plot I truly went in blind other than hearing it was about vampires in some way. The film follows a young boy who has an obsession with vampires, specifically vampire movies. He himself is carrying out acts of violence in their style as a result and after meeting a loving girl, begins to question his actions. As of late the majority of indie horror has been divided into two categories. Either trying to capture the aesthetic of the 80's horror boom or by being a free form, quiet slice of life-esk, piece with no real direction or story arc. While both of these types of films can work, they often do not for either a lack of originality or a lack of engagement.

Director Michael O'Shea's The Transfiguration is the latter of these two categories. The film is a lot of talking, and I mean a lot of talking. For those who saw Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, you'll notice a very similar vibe in the way the scenes play out and are paced. I don't want to compare this film to GWHAN too much, but we'll just say that this film is not nearly as stylized and as fantastical when things do actually pick up in its pacing.

Films such as Bone Tomahawk and Let The Right One In utilize this slow burn, raw, real style very effectively. You become sucked into this very grounded world and then when shit goes down you feel so immersed that the payoff is untouchable. The payoff is in this film but it is incredibly brief and does not tie in with its story well. While this payoff could have been spread over the third act to shoot a little bit of adrenaline into the films very slow pacing, O'Shea waits too long and loses his audience before his big surprise and as a result makes it less effective than it should have been.

The film is shot well enough, and the performances are certainly up to par considering the budget and age of the leads. Eric Ruffin (Milo) and Chloe Levine (Sophie) both do spectacular jobs in their roles as two very confused children trying to find their way. However, the other performances could have been aided by some better dialogue and better cutting in the editing room. The score to this film is a single keyboard hit for "ambiance" far too often and was incredibly frustrating to listen to after just coming off of Jim WIlliams' amazing score for Raw.

At the end of the day, The Transfiguration is a good movie. It's interesting and engages you despite its slow pace, the payoff is nearly enough to satisfy and the performances are worth taking note of. If you don't mind some indie tropes in the score and free form story arc, then I'd recommend this, however if you are looking to be on the edge of your seat biting your nails, you'd be better off just re-watching any of the vampire flicks mentioned in this film (which is just about all of them).