As has been described elsewhere, THE HAMILTONS is sort of a mixture of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER and Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. A parent-less family of five, the Hamiltons kill and kidnap people, although we don't know exactly why until the end. The teenage boy, Francis, is the only one who seems to be having doubts about the family's exploits, which he documents with a camcorder.
There are several teen angst themes dealt with here: the lack of privacy, the frightening concept of one's place in the world, a first crush, longing for a better life, etc. The performances are all very good, too.
My biggest problem with the film, though is that a lot of the smaller sub-stories aren't tied up and left inconclusive. Oldest brother David is obviously struggling with his homosexuality. The twins begin challenging David's authority, even going so far as to hinting that they might kill him if he tries to restrain them. Wendell torments his brother Francis repeatedly. The twins kill with abandon and no care as to who the victims are and if their disappearances will start massive manhunts, and they don't! The main theme here seems to be that family blood is thicker than other people's blood, which is fine, but I wanted some conclusions to the story lines above, and I wasn't given any. This left me with an unsatisfied feeling of the film not being "finished", and as a result, prevented me from fully enjoying the movie as much as I might have.
There are several teen angst themes dealt with here: the lack of privacy, the frightening concept of one's place in the world, a first crush, longing for a better life, etc. The performances are all very good, too.
My biggest problem with the film, though is that a lot of the smaller sub-stories aren't tied up and left inconclusive. Oldest brother David is obviously struggling with his homosexuality. The twins begin challenging David's authority, even going so far as to hinting that they might kill him if he tries to restrain them. Wendell torments his brother Francis repeatedly. The twins kill with abandon and no care as to who the victims are and if their disappearances will start massive manhunts, and they don't! The main theme here seems to be that family blood is thicker than other people's blood, which is fine, but I wanted some conclusions to the story lines above, and I wasn't given any. This left me with an unsatisfied feeling of the film not being "finished", and as a result, prevented me from fully enjoying the movie as much as I might have.