A couple of naive, enthusiastic parents gradually admit there's something creepy about their twin children, so they try to fix the problem through their opposing beliefs. Will it go the way they hope?Interesting found footage horror. All the acting is fine - the tension between the parents probably should have come earlier and more subtly - camera not too shaky, and the pace is good. We have the usual woodland isolation, camera lights peering through the dark, ordinary people going off in a huff, and the startling discovery of scary things. But it's not The Blair Witch Project.The extra strength is that it raises issues of faith and science, and the question whether one is more effective than the other, but without giving an answer. Also there's a clever switch of the point of view in the climax. The weakness is the film-makers shied away from delivering real frights, every time just fading out or not carrying through. Which is a pity. And full throated screaming is always effective in this genre, but too restrained this time.Overall, not enough scares to make it more than interesting, but I'm sure this would make a great full-production horror.

Horror films are one of my favorite genres, unfortunately it is a rare case to find a decent one. I enjoy realistic and disturbing horror films. Not the ones that try to ride out on big breasted women running from demons that jump out on the screen every 15 minutes. This film is short, and to the point. From the very beginning there is a sense of tension that continuously builds until the brutal ending. I rarely leave a film of this type with a disturbed mind, but this movie certainly did the trick. The acting is perfect from some moderately unknown names. Adrian Pasdar was enjoyable to watch as he played a key role in the tension and the relief occasionally. The hand-held film effect may seem to be overdone, but this film utilizes it differently and even mentions at times how stupid it is to be filming their own horrors. I strongly recommend this film.

Filmed in the cinema verite style becoming so popular lately, "Home Movie" affords its viewers an interesting perspective. In some ways, while watching the siblings, I recalled the brothers of "Funny Games"--psychopathic game-players out only to fulfill their own sadistic desires.In a sense, that's very much what this film is about.For those versed in some psychology, it quickly becomes apparent (within the first ten minutes of the film, I might argue) that the movie's twins are displaying classic, if incredibly overplayed, symptoms of APD--antisocial personality disorder, or, if you will, sociopathy/psychopathy. (The two differ in minute ways but the difference is rather negligible when reviewing a film.) In a very telling throwaway line, the mother can be heard shouting to her husband, "They're not psychotic"--which, indeed, they aren't. Psychopathy vs. psychosis is the difference between Ted Bundy and Ed Gein--or, for the horror movie buffs, it's the difference between Hannibal and Leatherface. Psychotics cannot tell reality and are often unaware of rules--psychopaths know the rules. They simply do not care.And that is what we are presented with, here--two children who simply do not care about the established rules, who display a distinct lack of empathy, conduct disorder, manipulation, and, later in the film, the ability to flip the 'charm' switch on-and-off at a whim. I would like to point out, though, that the symptoms are over-dramatized--no child with APD tendencies is going to crucify a cat, place a frog in a vice, make a goldfish sandwich AND impale the head of the family dog. They'll probably stick to one of those things, if any.Which is why I find it better to view this movie not as a character study of two future psychopaths, but a character study of two future horror movie villains--a look at the "Funny Games" brothers when they were children, all the symptoms present but exaggerated to make for an entertaining film.And entertain it does--the acting is exceptional as the parents try desperately to hold onto a fraying thread of hope that their family may yet be saved, until a heart-wrenching scene roughly ten minutes from the film's end when we see the father finally and definitely fall to pieces. Take that, add intriguing and twisted foreshadowing throughout the first half of the film, and you have what I would consider a rather brilliant piece.I see some people complaining about the plot, and some of the holes and errors made throughout--but I would argue that this is less a film that requires a definite plot with a neat wrap-up, and more a character study of an unwinding family and the two future horror film slashers they're raising.

I will start this review as positively as I can manage. The genre of documentary, POV, consumer-grade, hand held video films is one of my favorites. It is a direction cinema as art should be taking. Within these films, the fact that there are directors and actors involved in production is suspended. This method sustains a kernel of truth which allows for incredible levels of immersion and flow.Forgive me since I am reviewing this film from memory.This film begins with the director's Disneyland fantasy of an enthusiastic, life loving couple. The parents here are self absorbed and constantly inviting the camera into their painful attempts at enjoyment. They are caricatures, completely without wit or realism. The fact that the producer says in the extras that his 1st task was to avoid this result is evidence of the complete lack of rigor that went into the film.This product is way too glossy and hollow...the director allowing extra financing and the inept producer on helm completely destroyed whatever vision he had.Due to boredom I almost missed the key scene for the story arc: the bedtime dragon story. I did not bemoan it...pitiful writingI was rolling on the floor when the father (who is a priest for inexplicable reasons) start his chants and exorcisms. Predictable, unbelievable...the script and production on this was constantly tearing me away from the movie.Many scenes have difficultly explaining for the presence of the camera...aftermath diaries or clues would have been sufficient instead of filming every detail like an undergrad film studentFrom the beginning I was on the side of the children. Like them, the viewer is left dissociated from the entire mess and wanting revenge on the blind, stupid, and raving spectacle in front of them.