The Hamiltons tells the story of the four Hamilton siblings, teenager Francis (Cory Knauf), twins Wendell (Joseph McKelheer) & Darlene (Mackenzie Firgens) & the eldest David (Samuel) who is now the surrogate parent in charge. The Hamilton's move house a lot, Franics is unsure why& is unhappy with the way things are. The fact that his brother's & sister kidnap, imprison & murder people in the basement doesn't help relax or calm Francis' nerves either. Francis know's something just isn't right & when he eventually finds out the truth things will never be the same again...

Co-written, co-produced & directed by Mitchell Altieri & Phil Flores as The Butcher Brothers (who's only other film director's credit so far is the April Fool's Day (2008) remake, enough said) this was one of the 'Films to Die For' at the 2006 After Dark Horrorfest (or whatever it's called) & in keeping with pretty much all the other's I've seen I thought The Hamiltons was complete total & utter crap. I found the character's really poor, very unlikable & the slow moving story failed to capture my imagination or sustain my interest over it's 85 & a half minute too long 86 minute duration. The there's the awful twist at the end which had me laughing out loud, there's this really big sustained build up to what's inside a cupboard thing in the Hamiltons basement & it's eventually revealed to be a little boy with a teddy. Is that really supposed to scare us? Is that really supposed to shock us? Is that really something that is supposed to have us talking about it as the end credits roll? Is a harmless looking young boy the best 'twist' ending that the makers could come up with? The boring plot plods along, it's never made clear where the Hamiltons get all their money from to buy new houses since none of them seem to work (except David in a slaughterhouse & I doubt that pays much) or why they haven't been caught before now. The script tries to mix in every day drama with potent horror & it just does a terrible job of combining the two to the extent that neither aspect is memorable or effective. A really bad film that I am struggling to say anything good about.

Despite being written & directed by the extreme sounding Butcher Brothers there's no gore here, there's a bit of blood splatter & a few scenes of girls chained up in a basement but nothing you couldn't do at home yourself with a bottle of tomato ketchup & a camcorder. The film is neither scary & since it's got a very middle-class suburban setting there's zero atmosphere or mood. There's a lesbian & suggest incestuous kiss but The Hamiltons is low on the exploitation scale & there's not much here for the horror crowd.

Filmed in Petaluma in California this has that modern low budget look about it, it's not badly made but rather forgettable. The acting by an unknown (to me) cast is nothing to write home about & I can't say I ever felt anything for anyone.

The Hamiltons commits the cardinal sin of being both dull & boring from which it never recovers. Add to that an ultra thin story, no gore, a rubbish ending & character's who you don't give a toss about & you have a film that did not impress me at all.

The Butcher Brothers deliver a story of a family (The Hamiltons) who must travel from place to place because each time they move something goes wrong and the police show up. Could it somehow be related to the women that they tie up in the cellar? The youngest brother begins to to think this family tradition is something that must end.

In many ways there's nothing new to this movie. I'm sure if you think about it, you can find a film where a family member does bad things, the family protects him or her and when caught they move on. Sadly, the first thing that comes to my mind is Stephen King's "Sleepwalkers" (although some comparisons could be made). So in that respect, nothing shocking here.

But, I still felt there was something -- I don't know what -- special about this film. I think it might be how the plot was more focused on the family relationship and dynamics than with the horror aspects. Yes, there are girls tied up in the cellar. But the main focus is how the brothers relate to each other with the parents being deceased. Sort of like a dysfunctional "Party of Five" (although I guess "POF" was never that functional).

There is a bit of sexuality here for those who need it, including some scenes of two women getting friendly. The gore is very modest, mostly just a trickle of blood here and there. But these things the film lacks are made up for in the strength of the characters. The lead (the older brother) is not a great actor compared to the rest, but it still comes off as mostly believable.

The 2006 After Dark festival wasn't known for its quality films (though I enjoyed a few of them). This was one of the better ones. Give it a spin if you're looking for a character-driven low budget film. While nothing near the masterpiece that "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" is, this will provide the viewer an inner glimpse of the mind of a killer. And his family.

After the death of their parents, the troubled teenager Francis (Cory Knauf) and the corrupt twins Wendell (Joseph McKelheer) and Darlene (Mackenzie Firgens) are raised by their older homosexual brother David Hamilton (Samuel Child), who sold the farm that belonged to the family. However, the sensitive and confused Francis feels misfit with his siblings and misses his parents; he spends most of his time using a camcorder to film a supposed school project. When Wendell abducts the drifters Dani Cummings (Brittany Daniel) and her friend Samantha Teal (Rebekah Hoyle), he brings them to the cellar of his house. While David daily tortures until he kills Dani, Francis sneaks in the cellar and befriends and feels sympathy for Samantha. When David is ready to kill Sam, Francis rescues her and discloses the tragic secret of his evil family.

"The Hamiltons" is a manipulative tale of an ordinary suburban American family that has a secret. This low-budget movie brilliantly develops the character Francis, performed by Cory Knauf and alternates between a sadistic movie and a family drama in a slow-pace misguiding the viewer. However, the unexpected final twist makes the difference of this original story, when the secret of the siblings is disclosed. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Anjos da Morte" ("Angels of the Death")