The 2015 horror film Some Kind of Hate has been unjustly panned by almost every critic who sat down and watched the film. Charges that the movie is overly gory and not scary have been levied against the feature as well as the film not being overly original in its theme.
Certainly “bullying” films are nothing new. There have been a slew of films dealing with kids returning from the dead to wreak vengeance on former schoolmates. Every country in the world, it seems, has produced a movie along these lines. (Japan, Korea – most recently with the 2004 film Witch Board and in the same year Dead Friend, aka The Ghost, the list is long.)
However, the setting of this film, a “reform school” (or more accurately an alternative school for kids who cannot get along with others) is new. This is not in a regular academic facility, all these students are naughty and here for various infractions.
Lincoln Taggart (Ronen Rubinstein) has a horrible home life, where he is bullied and at school a group of lads target the boy. They make his life a misery until he snaps and stabs the ring leader in the face with a fork.
Taggart is sent to a “bootcamp” type of alternative school although it is referred to as a “reform school.” There he finds that the bullying has not stopped, it just has a different set of faces.
His new friend Kaitlyn (Grace Phipps) is a reformed bully. As Lincoln’s days are made increasingly uncomfortable by the new gang of thugs, he wishes that they were all dead.
His sincere wish initiates an introduction to a new friend; Moira (Sierra McCormick). She is the vengeful spirit of a girl bullied years before at the school, until she took her own life. The dead student starts killing the other kids whether they are bullying or not.
The staff at the facility have a dark secret and Lincoln tries to stop his deadly new friend from killing everyone.
Some Kind of Hate was directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brian DeLeeuw, and the film does a good job in dealing with the issues of bullying and its consequences. It also climbs into the mind of an average angsty teen with little effort.
The only real complaint about the film would be that there was not nearly enough Noah Segan (Looper, Brick) as this actor is memorable in any role he plays.
Disney actress McCormick is spot on as the homicidal wraith who latches onto Lincoln after his heartfelt wish. Phipps is also very good as the bad girl gone good and Rubinstein is brilliant as the tortured and somewhat fragile teen who fights back.
There are, as charged, copious amounts of claret spilled throughout the film. However there is no overabundance of viscera on offer. (In fact there is not one internal organ to be seen.) The gore is limited to blood spray and pools of the stuff on the floor.
Moira does use her razor to dispatch those she deems worthy of punishment though and the cuts, while looking rather authentic are not over top.
Some Kind of Hate is a solid horror film that may not scare so much as disturb. There may be no danger of popcorn becoming airborne at any point but this is a great little low budget feature.
The film is a solid 3 stars and is streaming on Netflix right now. Horror fans expected a lot of jump scares with their slasher film will be disappointed but the movie is worth a look.
