The Transfiguration (2016) 1h 37m

I don't think anyone can say that they never emulated (even a tiny bit) a character they saw in a movie or on TV.  To this day it still takes effort to not act like Razor Ramon if I'm using a toothpick, and he was just emulating Scarface!  Also, as kids, I'm sure we all ran around with plastic vampire fangs cutting our gums, drool running from our mouths, as we mumbled about sucking blood.  There is a line that most of us don't cross though.  We don't begin to believe we are who or what we are copying.  So when someone blurs that line between reality and fantasy, we get something like today's film.

The Transfiguration focuses on Milo, a teenage boy living in project housing with his older brother.  He's an outcast, friendless, and referred to by others as "freak."  His primary solace is found in his collection of dubbed vampire flicks and online nature videos.  Eventually he befriends a girl named Sophie and she gets close.  So close that she finds out that his obsession with vampirism goes beyond watching it on the screen.

I wasn't sure where this film was going while I was watching it.  It took elements that I normally find frustrating while watching a movie and turned them into art.  There are long periods of just ambient noise of the world around Milo, and rather than push me away from the film it pulled me into his isolation.  I kept waiting for the real supernatural element to drop and when it didn't come I felt as though I lost my footing.  Stumbling to understand Milo's actions more and more.

 There's also a great scene which reminds me of Taxi Driver, when Robert De Niro takes Jodie Foster on a date and it's to the porno theater because he doesn't have the social experience to know better.  In this, Milo hangs out with Sophie and he puts on one of those PETA-esq videos of how a cow is killed and processed.  He has this flat affect while watching it whereas she is revolted and leaves him wondering what he did wrong.

This isn't a film for just anyone, and I wouldn't recommend it for a movie night with friends, but I will say if you have some free time and can actively watch this film, then do it.

I give The Transfiguration 4 Barnabas Collins portraits out of 5:

Midnight Meat Train (2008) 1h 40m

For years my mom kept talking up how good Midnight Meat Train was.  Previously I had watched about a half-hour of the film before falling asleep or doing something else.  You know, man stuff!  I find it fitting though that when I'm coming back in and really making a serious attempt at keeping up with this blog, the movie I would end up rolling would be this one.  I started this blog shortly after she passed away, partially out of our shared love of horror.  So this one is for you mom. *cue "Crossroads" by Bone Thugs n' Harmony*

Midnight Meat Train focuses around a photographer named Leon (Bradley Cooper).  After realizing a woman he photographed on the subway has disappeared he becomes obsessed with a series of missing person cases.  His obsession leads him to discover an underground cabal of murder in order to maintain a balance between the known and unknown world.

I think I might have made this movie sound way better than it actually is (sorry, mom).  Somehow a short story was adapted to an hour and forty minute movie (of course, Hellraiser was based on a short story too).  Mostly they did this by padding it with scenes of the train murders, which was probably smart.  Some of these kills were great and the CGI stuff of eyes popping out and arterial sprays made this much more interesting.  There were talks of Barker making this into a trilogy but, despite being a Clive Barker fan, I wouldn't watch this again, let alone two more films.  I've got man shit to do!

I give Midnight Meat Train 2 hotdog trains out of 5:

Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/30daysofplight or on Twitter @30daysofplight