Blu-ray Review: “Some Kind of Hate”

Movie: *** 1/2 out of 5
Video: ****
Audio: *** 1/2
Extras: ***

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Director Adam Egypt Mortimer’s ‘Some Kind of Hate’ Tries to Breathe New Life Into the Slasher Genre on Blogcritics.

With how many movies are released every year, there are an astounding number of horror films. While not all of them get the theatrical treatment — and many of them shouldn’t — it’s amazing what we do see up on the big screen versus what winds up in the direct-to-video heap. While director Adam Egypt Mortimer’s Some Kind of Hate isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, it’s way better than, say, Unfriended. Mortimer attempts to create a new iconic slasher for horror hounds, but there are way more ideas running through the film, than outright strokes of genius. But there’s still plenty of fun to be found. It’s available for purchase as a Best Buy exclusive until December 29 from RLJ Entertainment.

Lincoln (Ronen Rubinstein) deals with his fair share of bullies. His dad is an alcoholic who blames him for the TV not working because there’s so many wires plugged into it, and at school he also deals with being the outsider until he decides to stick a fork in his tormentor’s eye. Shipped off to the Mind’s Eye Academy, things take a turn for the Friday the 13th Part V when he runs into a new set of bullies that he wishes were all dead, unleashing the vengeful spirit of Moira (Sierra McCormick). Turns out, Moira was bullied herself and wound up dead at the hands of the current counselors — including Krauss (Noah Segan), Christine (Lexi Atkins), and Jack Iverson (Michael Polish). Now, Moira wants to unleash her revenge upon those who killed her, but wants to also have her way with the rest of the current batch of misfits — most of all Lincoln’s maybe-girlfriend Kaitlin (Grace Phipps).

RLJ Entertainment may never provide their films with spacious 50GB discs, but considering there aren’t a ton of extra features helps provide enough room to get the job done. Some Kind of Hate was designed to look like an independent drama and that’s exactly what we get. While there isn’t a whole lot of post-processing, the color timing goes from drab to natural from scene to scene. Colors look completely natural in one scene and may appear dreary in another. Fine detail is never as razor sharp as it could be, but even in the darkest scenes there’s plenty of shadow delineation. That is unless the director is aiming for intentional crush. There’s not a lot, but it is a horror film, so we still get some. Alisasing and banding never appear. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is a little lesser than the video, yet still manages to create enough ambience to keep you on edge when required. Surrounds are limited to when there’s on-screen action. There is no alternate language options and subtitles are English SDH only.

As for special features, like I said, there aren’t a whole lot, and the highlight is the audio commentaries. One features writer/director Mortimer joined by co-writer Brian DeLeeuw, with the other having Mortimer joined by Rubinstein, Phipps, and McCormick. The usual behind-the-scenes anecdotes are discussed, with the director and co-writer talking about how they wanted to create themes akin to Nightmare on Elm Street and Candyman. They also wanted to make sure we know that Mortimer is a big fan of New Wave Euro horror and that he loves to make people watch Martyrs — a film I still think is extremely overrated. A collection of deleted scenes (4:02) include: “Computer Room” (:25), “Iverson’s Office” (:56), “Lincoln’s Mom” (2:13), and “Vice Magazine” (:29). None of these really add much to the story, aside from “Lincoln’s Mom” where we do get a little insight to his motivations involving his mother’s death. There’s also optional commentary with Mortimer on all of them.

The film finds a fun, new twist to play with in their villainous Moira. Whatever kind of harm you inflict upon her inflicts on you. Let’s just say you don’t want to stick a gun in her mouth and pull the trigger. Moira may not have an instantly iconic look, but McCormick brings a manic glee that lets you know she relishes playing the slasher character, getting to dispatch victims in bloody fashion. The rest of the cast aren’t quite having as much fun as she is, but Phipps comes close. Decked out in I Spit on Your Grave-styled daisy dukes, she gets to shine in what almost becomes her own villain, even if she’s simply trying to save Lincoln. Featuring decent video/audio and a small set of special features, horror hounds may not have a new horror hero on their hands, but Some Kind of Hate will more than satisfy genre fans on any day of the week.