Paul Magne Haakonsen Sitting down to watch "The Hamiltons" without knowing what it was about, aside from it being a horror movie, might have been somewhat of a gamble. And it was a gamble that I lost most horribly."The Hamiltons" is amongst one of the most boring and uneventful of horror movies that I have ever had the misfortune to suffer through. Yet I managed to stick with the movie to the very end, in a vain hope that it would step up and become better. Suffice it to say that it just never happened.The story in "The Hamiltons" is about a deviant family that is constantly moving around, unable to fit into society. And the family harbors a dark secret, a bloody secret kept deep within the confines of their basement, and a secret that runs through their very veins.It should be said that the acting in the movie was adequate, but the actors and actresses just were very restricted by the script, storyline and directing.I mentioned that the movie is very uneventful, which is no understatement. And it also proved to be very anti-climatic. Especially when Lenny was revealed, it was just a cruel joke that didn't work on any levels.Directors Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores tried hard to set this movie up for something grand, but the idea just never flourished into whatever they were aspiring on the screen. They are adequately named The Butcher Brothers, because they really did butcher this movie.I am rating "The Hamiltons" a mere two out of ten stars. This is a movie to give a wide berth.

jaguiar313 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.

Petrea 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?

p-rohal This was one of the films from the After Dark Horrorfest and like most of them it was incredibly poor. The film is painfully slow. It might have worked as a 30 minute short but as a feature film it bored the hell out of me. The film tries to set up this mystery as to what it is they are doing and why they are doing it but by the time it was revealed I had already lost interest in the story.Also, the acting in this film is incredibly poor, especially the older brother, who at times is laughable. This film was obviously made on a low budget but I can forgive the low production values. You work with what you've got, lots of great films have been made on a tiny budget (night of the living dead). However, what I can't forgive is a lack of talent. The writing and acting were downright horrible and if that's the case then the budget is irrelevant because the film is going to suck. They were clearly trying to make this an art house film but instead they just made a stinker that will put you to sleep before the first hour.