Home Movie (2009)

Directed by Christopher Denham. Starring Adrian Pasdar, Cady McClain, Amber Joy Williams, Austin Williams. [R]

The found-footage horror movie gimmick is used more plausibly than most others here, playing out as a series of home movies recorded by a standard nuclear family unit (father, mother, son, daughter) that’s far from standard in behavior. The parents mean well by giving their children space and studying child psychology and trusting in the platitudes of Bible verses to steer them right, but savagely biting classmates until they’re expelled from school and crucifying the family cat on Christmas ought to be more than enough evidence these kids ain’t right. Tight and unsettling, director Denham shows us what we need and little more; the characters may be thinly drawn, but less is more for the demon seeds in the house, as the suggested unknowns are even more disturbing than the animal carnage and creepy gazes we get brief but unblocked glimpses of. The horrific payoff only works if you’re able to suspend disbelief in what little kids are physically capable of. Written by the director. The child actors playing the sicko siblings are real-life brother-and-sister.

66/100