The Hamiltons (2006)

What a beautiful movie!

Am I Missing Something?

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The fact that The Hamiltons opens with a pretty young woman (Brittany Daniel) bound and gagged in a basement desperately trying to free herself and escape, let's us know right off that there is something far more wrong with the title family then dealing with the death of their father and mother. And while the Butcher Brothers play this horror out to an extent like a family drama, this is far from your average family. The story is told through the eyes of Francis (Cory Knauf) the youngest of four siblings who is not only trying to deal with the death of his parents but, his role in this very unusual and very homicidal family. Then there is David, (Samuel Child) the oldest and the one who is trying to keep the family together when not bringing home strange men for evenings that end in screaming. Next are Darlene (Mackenzie Firgens) and Wendell (Joseph McKelheer) the twisted twins whose lack of restraint keeps this family on the move. And, finally, who (or what) is "Lenny" that needs to be kept locked up in a cell in the basement and evokes fear even in these four. So just who are the Hamiltons and why do they keep captives and corpses in their basement? The Butcher Brother's answer all your questions and by the closing frames you may be delightfully chilled by the answers. The directing duo (Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores by name) approach this material in a straightforward, no frills manner and it works as if we're watching some twisted and blood soaked Lifetime drama about a struggling family… one with real skeletons in their closets, so to speak. The cast are all fine. Performances range from good to adequate. The real standout is Rebekah Hoyle as Samantha, one of the Hamilton's captives who overcomes her horror and fear to try to manipulate the troubled Francis into letting her go and running away from a family he doesn't appear to fit in with. There are some disturbing moments and blood flows when the Butchers decide it's time to bring their slow burn to a boil. The Hamiltons is not a traditional horror film but, that's what I liked about it. It kept me guessing and creep-ed out and then got downright chilling in it's final revealing act. A refreshingly offbeat low budget horror from a directing and writing team to keep an eye on.

SPOILY SPOILERSI'll admit to being a dyed in the wool horror fan, even the worst of the worst horror I enjoy on some random scene.I loved this movie, judging by the posting boards I'm in a minority but something here really appealed to me.I thought it was torture porn which (when done right) is very good, not my favorite genre but still good. I realized this was not the case when following the abduction of the two girls at the beginning we didn't go immediately to a blow-torch or chainsaw.There are some subtle hints about what's really going on plus some red herrings, witness Darlene's awkward holding of the knife and fork and when Francis throws the breakfast that David cooks in the trash.Other weird things that add to the mystery are 'Lenny'; a feared thing in the basement that needs to be fed but is so loved that Darlene, who is not a compassionate kind of girl, sings tenderly to. David who is really trying to keep his whole family together despite his paternal kindness, (cooking breakfast, trying to chat to Francis about school, scolding Darlene for being late, trying to protect Francis from Wendell) but kills the men he brings home and buries under the house and the aforementioned Wendell and Darlene, twins who are..ahem!...still wrapping their legs round each others heads, if you catch my meaning, they also like to indulge in murder and sexual manipulation.I saw some stuff that made me falsely assume cannibalism, the fact that David and Wendell worked at a slaughterhouse, that Francis refused to eat the roast at dinner and vomited when the others did, some of the tools in the basement and when Francis tells us in V.O at the beginning that Wendell went to jail for biting off a mans ear in a parking lot.The style is like a movie diary in some parts as it's being filmed by Francis as a class project and in the usual 'third wall' fashion for the other parts. The theme is that Francis is a square peg in a round hole, not unusual for most teens. He has a skateboard, likes metal, smokes weed etc etc, he has two older brothers, one who he thinks is lame and one who beats him up for being a 'pansy', he isn't close to his sister as they have nothing in common, he also avoids 'Lenny'.He is not pleased at the girls Wendell has tied up in the basement and tries to connect with one of them by feeding her and asking her about her life. The other girl is dragged away a few times and eventually doesn't come back, the girl Francis is helping begs him to let her go as she fears she will soon end up facing the same fate as her friend.We are only told what is really happening by David who drags her away while Francis, who has been weakening by degrees through the movie, is asleep. As David is telling the girl what the problem is the twins are upstairs killing Darlene's friend Kitty, This scene was when I thought I had really nailed what was going on, I remembered as Wendell kidnapped the girls the moon had been full and as Darlene and Wendell lowered a bloody and dying Kitty into the bathtub with yips and whimpers I changed my mind from cannibals to werewolves, finally after the girl from the basement is rescued by Francis who bashes David on the head to save her we get the REAL story, Davis comes to find Francis who is crying as the girl lays dead and we see the blood on Francis' mouth and his fangs.David explains that he too was like Francis and tried to resist but he accepted, as Francis must, that they need to drink blood. Lenny is actually a younger sibling, they are feral and indiscriminate until they learn self control, now he is old enough to leave the box and as Kitty's uncle is a sheriff The Hamiltons must now become The Thompsons and move yet again.I loved it but as a drama rather than a horror movie, not a lot of action and gore but plenty to think on, even after the twist is known.The acting from all is excellent, Samuel Child is awesome as David and Mackenzie Firgens as Darlene gives some much needed estrogen and as a female I'm thrilled that she was portrayed properly, no fuzzy pink bunnies and no cliché where she was the one with a conscience (for as Stan Smith said 'only women have feelings, they come from their ovaries')So there it is, a modern day twist; vampirism as a hereditary blood disease passed from parent to child, please don't let people put you off, if you enjoy movies where the focus is on the acting rather than the blood and the story rather than the sensationalism then see it

Don't waste your time or money on this film. This is quite possibly one of the worst films that I have seen in a long, long time. Aside from it's complete and utter predictability, there were flaws in the acting, the camera work, the script and the overall plot.The Butcher Brothers made an attempt at including a few twists in their storyline with a big twist at the end. However these won't come as any surprise to anybody with half a brain (if you don't guess they're vampires then that's 10 points from Gryffindor). Plus, there were so many things left unexplained. You have no idea how the parents died, why the twins were incestuous or why the youngest brother had such an obsession with filming (the 'film project' excuse is obviously bullsh*t).Some of the camera work looked like it had been taken out of a high school film project - and no, I'm not talking about the shots recorded from the youngest brother's camcorder. The characters had absolutely no depth to them, and the acting - oh the acting. This film left me with so many questions, the biggest one being: why the hell was this film made?

Hamiltons,is one of the movies featured in the after dark horrorfest 2006.The movie is about a family which actually appears strange ,and they are hiding a secret about their existence.Into the movie and you will notice one thing for sure that the family is not normal but what are they and what they want ?Nothing much is explained or implied,so you have to keep your senses out and enjoy whatever is being shown.But still if you are a horror movie fan like me then you will be impressed with some of the sequences and amount of gore in the movie.Overall,there isn't much to say about this movie apart from the fact it gives you a good company when you want to spend a lonely night..!!!