Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Some Kind of Hate has been on my radar for several months now. After making it’s debut at the Stanley Film Festival, the film garnered rave reviews. Those in attendance seem to have been genuinely impressed with what they had seen. So you can imagine my delight when the film arrived at our doorstep. We’d finally get to dive into what everyone has been raving about; a film that some folks have said is “made to be a franchise“. Now that I’ve spent my 80+ minutes with the film, I have to wonder… really

That might sound a bit harsh – I’ll admit that, but Some Kind of Hate is far from the modern horror classic that I was expecting. This sort of thing happens fairly often. A film has a handful of screenings, and the word of mouth sets our expectations so high that the movie in question could never live up to them. Unfortunately, that’s not really what happens here. This isn’t the birth of a slasher icon, and this certainly isn’t the start of a franchise. At least, it shouldn’t be. Perhaps most disappointing is the fact that SKOH could have been amazing. The ingredients are all there, but the perfect stew of slasher meets supernatural is never fully realized.

First and foremost, this is an anti-bullying campaign set to a horror film. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. You know, messages are important. The problem is that SKOH is extremely heavy handed in its message. Most characters serve no purpose other than to perpetuate the imbalance of the bully vs. victim story line. And of course, the “victim” is a long haired and unkempt loaner, while the bullies are the standard “jock” types. It’s 2015… it’s time we abandon these West Memphis 3-esque stereotypes. This is coming from a guy that looked exactly like our protagonist back in high school. It’s borderline offensive. That said, I can live with all of that if it’s wrapped up in a convincing package, but Ronen Rubinstein’s performance of Lincoln Taggert is far from convincing. And he’s the lead… that’s a pretty big deal. 

So yeah – our basic story line and most of the acting is a bit rough. Luckily, Some Kind of Hate is doing a LOT of things, and it does several of those things quite well. For example, the supernatural element is pretty damn cool. Moira may come off slightly annoying as a character, but the idea of her is excellent. The way she is summoned and the way she is explained… not so much. But when throats and wrists start getting vicariously slashed through her, it’s easy to forget that none of this really makes any sense. But what ever makes sense in a horror movie? We can let that slide. The love story between Lincoln and Kaitlin is also sweet, but this is mostly due to Grace Phipps putting on one of the better performances in the film. Any likability that Rubinstein exudes on screen… it’s because Phipps pulled it out of him. That girl is legit. 

So what does Some Kind of Hate have to offer? Well, it has a soundtrack that will rock your fucking face off. It also has some nice camera work and decent FX. Even the CGI stuff isn’t horrible. It has a strong and believable sub-plot B in the films love story, and a genuinely important message to deliver as well. Beyond that, the performances and limited insight into the history of the reform school stunt the growth of this budding tale. I have questions, and I’d like answers, but instead of going back for round 2 on SKOH, I’d prefer Mortimer and team move on to something fresh. Maybe some other kind of hate.

Some Kind of Hate Poster