14: The Hamiltons

A family is shattered by the death of their parents. The eldest brother David Hamilton (Sameul Child) is desperate to try and pick up the pieces, assuming all of the responsibility in the house. The Fraternal twins Wendell (Joseph mckelheer) and Darlene (McKenzie Firgens), on the other hand, just want to do whatever they want, to hell with the consequences. The youngest, Francis, is just starting to go through adolescence, an he doesn't really get the rest of his family. He's the only one who ever questions the morality of capturing people and torturing them for their sweet, sweet blood. Did I not mention that? They're also cannibals.

The core of the movie is the idea that Francis is an outside observer to all of these goings-on. He doesn't like the killing, but he loves his family too much to turn them in. He doesn't have any friends other than his family because the family is constantly moving from place to place. Eventually, he winds up getting really close to one of the victims they have locked in their basement. She keeps trying to convince him to abandon his family and his home by letting her out of the cage. The character of Francis is incredibly sympathetic, no matter what he chooses he is the only one who pays the price.

David Hamilton, on the other hand, is just generally unnerving. He is really flat, he is constantly trying to be the perfect older brother. No matter what he is doing, he always has the same posture, the same tone. He has nice conversations with the people he is murdering, as he is murdering them, and he gets upset that the conversation seems really one-sided. That's just rude after all, he was asking them a question. He gives off this vague sense of danger, you never really know what he could be thinking or doing. For all you know he could be ready to explode at any time.

You always know what the twins are thinking, because they are always thinking the same thing: Let's terrorize some people or have sex. It's hard to discuss one twin without simultaneously talking about the other. They are one and the same in a lot of ways. They give no thought to the consequences of their actions. They'll lure a kid from school home and viciously murder them, only for the kid to turn out to be the daughter of a police officer. They are the sole reason the family is constantly moving. They are predators, they enjoy the thrill of the hunt. Whereas David needs the control of someone tied down to get his work done, they enjoy a runner. The slight chance of them escaping is part of the fun. They are incredibly close, much closer to themselves than they are to anyone else in the family. They are very, very close. It's disturbing.

The Hamiltons is another After Dark Horrorfest film, and it really sold me on the idea of the Horrorfest. This film is pretty unorthodox. Watching a bunch of flawed but interesting movies Isn't a bad way to spend a day, especially if every once in a while you get to watch an excellent interesting movie. Even if you don't like the Hamiltons, you are unlikely to see anything like it for a while.