Exclusives
Opening Scene From ‘The Transfiguration’ Carries ‘Martin’ Vibe (Exclusive)
L.A.-based Strand Releasing shared with Bloody Disgusting the opening scene from Michael O’Shea’s atmospheric New York tale The Transfiguration, which world-premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and just screened at the SXSW Film Festival to a string of positive reviews.
Dealing with love, loss and vampires, The Transfiguration stars Eric Ruffin as a 14-year-old misfit who gets bullied at school and immerses himself in the world of vampires to escape his solitude when he returns home. The opening scene sets the tone, immediately reminding me of the George A. Romero classic Martin; is this kid a real vampire or does he just think he is? The footage also has a bit of dark humor that should make you chuckle…
The Transfiguration marks the feature debut of writer-director Michael O’Shea, and stars Eric Ruffin along with Chloe Levine (Savage Youth). It was produced by Susan Leber, whose credits include Debra Granik’s Sundance prize winner, Down To The Bone, and Ti West’s feature debut, The Roost.
The film’s key crew includes cinematographer Sung Rae Cho (Graceland) and sound designer Coll Anderson (The Host, Martha Marcy May Marlene).
Those hyped out of SXSW won’t have to wait long as The Transfiguration opens in New York on Friday, April 7th at the Angelika Film Center, and Los Angeles on Friday, April 21st at The Nuart Theatre.
A gnarly infection threatens to claw its way out of a moving camper in the first trailer for Shudder’s claustrophobic Hellcat.
The feature debut of writer/editor/director Brock Bodell, who previously edited the Fantasia title Ultrasound, makes its debut on Shudder on August 14.
In Hellcat, “Lena wakes up in a moving camper trailer with a horrifying wound. She’s warned by the driver that they have one hour to get to a doctor, or she’ll succumb to an unimaginably awful fate. As the pain sets in and reality begins to fray, who should really be afraid?”
Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters) leads the cast that also includes Todd Terry (“Breaking Bad”), Liz Atwater (The Other People), Jordan Mullins (The Bikeriders), and James Austin Johnson (“Saturday Night Live”) in a voice role. Bodell also produces alongside Andrew Duensing and Nate Eggert.
Hellcat made its world premiere last summer at Fantasia. I wrote in my review, “Hellcat is a bit of a Trojan horror that defies easy classification, by design. Bodell’s sneaky debut feature is occasionally too sparse in its worldbuilding in its bid to preserve the mystery, but not enough to detract from the thrilling road thriller that transforms into a completely left-field type of horror we don’t get nearly enough of. The stripped-down tribute to a classic horror staple catches you off guard in more ways than one, marking Bodell as one to watch.”
In other words, there’s a lot more than meets the eye to Hellcat‘s simple infection setup, delivering plenty of surprises along its bumpy road of horrors.
Check out the trailer and poster below and add Hellcat to your watchlists asap.
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