20131028: Horror Review--The Hamiltons

The Hamiltons

1. Production Fundamentals; reception
1. American live action feature length film, 2006, rated R, 86 minutes, drama, horror, thriller.  Aspect: 1.85
2. IMDB: 5.1/10.0 from 6,118 audience ratings.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 'No score yet...' and 40% liked it from 6,480 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 2.9/5.0 from 102,604 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores.
6. Starring: Cory Knauf as Francis Hamilton, Samuel Child as David Hamilton, Joseph McKelheer as Wendell Hamilton, Mackenzie Firgens as Darlene Hamilton, Rebekah Hoyle as Samantha Teal, Brittany Daniel as Dani Cummings.


2. Setup, Plot
1. 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.


2. 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.


3. Conclusions
1. Slightly better than the British film Vampire Diary, with roughly the same premise: real vampires can be more ordinary than you think, but are still mighty horrible.
2. One line summary: Traveling family is so much worse than you think.
3. Two stars of five.


4. Scores
1. 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.


2. Sound: 8/10 More good moments than bad.


3. Acting: 2/10 Between passable and bad.


4. 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.