The Story:
Transsexual Bo Ancelin (Robinson Stévenin) works as a stage performer in a nightclub. She also has a number of transgendered friends who either work in the nightclub or on the street. And it's the ones who work on the street who are being killed left and right. A serial killer is freezing the victims bodies and then mutilating them over a course of days before dumping the bodies in what amounts to the gutter.

Bo also has other problems. She is supposed to take the witness stand against her father, a prominent doctor being accused of pedophilia. But the law fears no one will believe she was molested by him when she was a little boy because of her current lot in life. Then there's Johnny (Stéphane Metzger) an incredibly dark and sexy guy who moves into the apartment building across from hers. While there seems to be an attraction, Johnny, who is involved in selling his body (well worth the price, I'm sure) and drugs and all that good stuff, is sadistic, and does horrible things to Bo, like setting her up for a gay bashing, and beating her himself. Yet she keeps coming back for more.

Then there's the mysterious man with an eye-patch, stern, high cheekbones, and some nice big BJ lips (I might add) who seems to be stalking Bo's black tranny friend Maeva (William Nadylam). Yet, with all these dangerous men in her midst, it is Bo who is suspected of murdering her fellow tranny friends. Now it is up to her to prove that she is not a murderer.

Transfixed (what a great title) actually had me completely engrossed from the first moment. From camera work to the twists and turns to the tense score, I really felt like I was watching a Brian DePalma film. In fact, this film, ironically, reminded me very much in look and feel to DePalma's ode to transvestites, Dressed to Kill. However, this film wasn't nearly as suspenseful or tense as a DePalma film. There was more of a "what's going on here?" angle to it than a chilling angle, and nothing crazy in the way of murder scenes or gore (although there was one odd scene involving a thumb…). As for the transgender issue, while brazenly making the lead character a transvestite, and a hero, the film also managed to paint a very bleak picture of transgendered people. The characters, particularly Bo, came across as somewhat pitiful, unfortunately. I don't know if that will make the film the transgendered community's enemy, as Basic Instinct did lesbians, or if they will just be glad to see transsexuals in lead roles.

And finally, while this film will keep you watching and guessing until the end, it is the big reveal that's the problem. More than a "whodunit," this becomes somewhat of an "everyone dunnit." Nearly every main character in the movie has some dark secret that needs to be fully explained in a big monologue at the end of the movie by one character—it wasn't like you would have ever have been able to puzzle together the solution on your own. And even the explanation began to get really confusing. It was a heavy-handed ending to what, for the most part, was an engrossing viewing experience.

The DVD

Video:
As usual, Picture This! has done a fine job with its DVD. The film has a 2:35:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, with excellent color levels, natural flesh tones, and tight light/dark contrast. The print is almost spotless. There's a bit of edge enhancement, which creates softness and haloing, really only noticeable in close-ups. Most of the time, the image looks very sharp. This DVD is an excellent candidate for progressive scan viewing.

Sound:
You have a 5.1 surround option, as well as a 2.0 stereo. The sound quality is sharp and clear, with an excellent output level. The DePalma-esque soundtrack swells dramatically with nice ambience. In fact, the entire audio track uses the surround aspect more for an ambience than any extreme separation. The sound is mostly all around you rather than jumping all over the place.

Extras:
This is a pretty straightforward disc. You can turn English subtitles on or off. Although there was a problem with subtitles lagging far behind on my preview copy, I was informed by Picture This! that the error was corrected in the commercial release.

Other features are: 19 chapter breaks in scene selection, the original trailer from the film, trailers for 5 more films, and contact info for Picture This!

Final Thoughts:
Transfixed puts a transgendered character in the lead role of an engrossing suspense murder mystery that feels like a Brian DePalma film, although it lacks the amount of tension and does not juggle its twists and turns quite as cleanly. While it is a rather pessimistic perspective of transgendered people, it's still refreshing to see a movie in which they interact as real human beings, and not as showpieces on a stage.