To me, this movie is perfection.

Redundant and unnecessary.

Absolutely Brilliant!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The Hamiltons are a family of six who move around a lot. Mom and Dad pass away during the opening narration. The oldest of the three brothers more or less runs things, such as scheduling appointments and arranging moves. They moved six times in two years, for instance. The middle son usually works double shifts to pay for expenses. The daughter attracts girl friends to come and visit. The youngest boy is a maladjusted twerp with a hand-held low-end movie camera.Why is this horror? The family tortures human beings, drinks their blood, and sometimes eats their flesh. They keep captives in the cellar to have a steady supply of fresh blood. They also keep a spare monster in the cellar. One gets to see the monster at the end.-----Scores------Cinematography: 7/10 No real problems here, except for the occasional Blair Witch moment, when the director forces the hand held footage on the viewer.Sound: 8/10 More good moments than bad.Acting: 2/10 Between passable and bad.Screenplay: 4/10 Not much material, not much tension. Runs more or less like a documentary, but with zero facts. This would have been a better 20 minute short.

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

In my opinion, this is a "vamp" film. I saw this film as the first lineup for The Eight Films To Die For, part of the After Horrorfest from the year 2006. Watching it a 2nd time, I notice a few extra details but overall, this is the "other middle class side" of Interview With A Vampire, told from the life of a compassionate sibling. One would call this a horror drama, but the film is explosive with introspect, which is why I could call this film a "right of passage" for horror fans. Although, if may or may not be the "Citizen Kane" of vampire films, I do advise horror fans to take a look at this film; it offers some ideology for the genre.