A personal favorite. I’m really surprised by the low audience score for this film. It’s definitely not your usual horror movie, and if you’re in it for scares, gore, or action (of which there is little, little, and almost none, respectively), you’re going to be disappointed. This ain’t “Saw”. It’s just as much a coming-of-age family drama as it is a horror film, and it’s got as much heart as an afterschool special. In theory, that could go either way, but in this case, it’s so well put-together, and ticks along so smoothly, that it adds up to as very satisfying and rather unique, if homespun and small-scale, film. It doesn’t aspire to be more than it is, it just tells a good and original story with near-complete economy and a skill that belies its overall amateurish production values. If a horror classic such as “The Shining” is a banquet, then “The Hamiltons” is a deli sandwich— but the kind of satisfying, delicious deli sandwich that keeps you full all day, the kind you walk away from thinking, “Wow, that guy really knows how to make a sandwich.” There’s a reason the scant few professional reviews describe it as “satisfying” and a “gem”. It has a few truly original narrative twists to it and manages to completely avoid genre cliches, except to subsequently turn them on their heads. It unfurls essential story details slowly and deliberately over the entire course of the film, without ever giving away any more of what’s to come than essential to the plot, or useful to provide some subtle entertainment to those noticing the clever foreshadowing on 2nd or 3rd viewing. By the end of the movie, all loose ends are tied up logically and realistically, and it really doesn’t have a single plot hole. How many other horror movies can you say any of these things about? I’ve watched this a handful of times now, and I always enjoy it.
