Some Kind of Hate (film)
Some Kind of Hate is a 2015 supernatural slasher film directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer in his directorial debut. Mortimer co-wrote the script with Brian Deleeuw. It stars Ronen Rubinstein, Grace Phipps, Sierra McCormick and Spencer Breslin. "Some Kind of Hate" premiered at the Stanley Film Festival in May 2015 before releasing theatrically on September 18, 2015, by RLJ Entertainment. Plot. Troubled teenager Lincoln Taggert is sent to Mind’s Eye Academy reform camp after stabbing a bully in the face with a fork during an altercation at school. Former students Krauss and Christine  assist head guru Jack Iverson with teaching at the New Age disciplinary camp. Isaac is assigned as Lincoln’s roommate and the two boys become friends. Kaitlin takes a romantic interest in Lincoln. Willie emerges as the camp bully and continually antagonizes Lincoln. Following a fight with Willie, Lincoln retreats to a seemingly abandoned cellar. While wishing his tormenters were dead, Lincoln hears a girl’s voice echoing as blood begins dripping from the ceiling. After having sex with Christine, Willie follows flashing lights into one of the buildings and is attacked by a ghostly young girl. In the morning , Kaitlin finds Willie dead from apparent self-inflicted wounds, along with the word “bully” carved into his arm. Lincoln begins seeing visions of the ghostly girl and learns that her name is Moira from a message written by her in blood on a wall. Moira attacks Willie’s sidekick Derek while Derek works in the barn. Isaac’s internet research reveals that the girl Lincoln believes he saw is Moira Karp, a bullied teenager who supposedly killed herself while attending Mind’s Eye Academy. Lincoln rushes to the stables to warn Derek and ends up confronting Moira. Lincoln pleads with  Moira to stop, but Moira counters that she is only doing what Lincoln wanted. Lincoln learns that Moira is able to harm others by harming herself when she slits her own throat with a razor blade only for Derek to die from the wound. Moira then plants the blade in Derek’s hand while telling Lincoln that she is his and he is hers. Kaitlin asks Christine about Moira. Lincoln tells Kaitlin that Moira killed the two boys. Kaitlin initially believes Lincoln is responsible for the deaths, but supports him by saying that the bullies deserved it. Lincoln is upset  when Kaitlin confesses that she used to be a bully who regrettably drove a classmate to suicide. Lincoln returns to the basement to summon Moira and to plead with her to stop killing. Moira tells Lincoln that his anger is what brought her back and that together their vengeance can be unstoppable. When Lincoln tells Moira that he doesn’t need her anymore, Moira’s skin bubbles with blood and she doubles over in pain. Moira flees screaming. After Lincoln leaves, Kaitlin sneaks into the cellar. She and Moira return to Kaitlin’s cabin. There, Moira cuts herself so that  Kaitlin can willfully experience the pain. The sheriff warns Iverson about potential trouble for Mind’s Eye Academy after having to collect a second body. The sheriff’s throat is then supernaturally slashed on his drive back to town. Moira confronts Iverson while he meditates. Iverson says that Moira gave them no choice before hitting her over the head with a whiskey bottle. However, the wound appears on Iverson’s head and he collapses. Moira breaks her teeth on a rock to further torture Iverson. Krauss tries leaving the campus, but discovers that Kaitlin slashed his tires. Moira attacks Krauss . Krauss limps to the greenhouse to seek help from Lincoln and Isaac. Moira resumes her attack and kills Krauss. When Lincoln again protests that he does not need her anymore, Moira bashes her head against a support beam to kill Isaac. Lincoln threatens to cut himself in order to hurt Moira. Lincoln runs away. Christine confronts him at gunpoint over presumably murdering Willie and restrains Lincoln to a faucet. Kaitlin finds Moira cutting fellow student Samantha. Kaitlin protests Samantha’s innocence in the bullying, but Moira continues torturing the girl. Moira pleads with Kaitlin when Kaitlin angrily insists that she  no longer needs Moira. Christine finds the two girls. Kaitlin leaves, allowing Christine and Moira to face each another. Moira confronts Christine about lying to her parents regarding how she actually died. It is revealed that even though Moira was depressed over being bullied while alive, Christine actually killed her. Krauss and Iverson were witnesses who aided with the suicide cover-up. Christine shoots Moira thinking she will kill the ghost but ends up blowing off her own head. Kaitlin finds Lincoln, professes her love, and frees him. Together they confront Moira. When Moira begins gaining the upper hand against  Kaitlin, Lincoln sets himself on fire to kill Moira. Kaitlin puts out the flames on Lincoln’s dead body and angrily uses the fire extinguisher to bash in Moira’s head. In a mid-credits scene, a young girl alone in a high school bathroom wishes for her tormenters be dead, inadvertently summoning Moira as blood drips from the ceiling. Production. Development. While writing an adaptation of Brian DeLeeuw's "In This Way I Was Saved" in 2011, Adam Egypt Mortimer and DeLeeuw sidelined the project temporarily in order for Mortimer to gain experience as a filmmaker. They began work  on "Some Kind of Hate" the following year. Mortimer and DeLeeuw set out to combine the slasher genre with indie drama. "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Carrie" and "Let the Right One In" were used as inspiration during the writing process. Pre-production. In April 2014, "Some Kind of Hate" was officially announced along with the castings of Ronen Rubinstein, Grace Phipps, Sierra McCormick, Lexi Atkins, Maestro Harrell, Noah Segan, Michael Polish, Jasper Polish, Spencer Breslin, Brando Eaton and Jeremy Hawkins. Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller of Caliber Media signed on to produce the film alongside Amanda Mortimer and Revek  Entertainment's Gabriela Revilla. The casting of "A.N.T Farm" star McCormick, who was hired at the "last minute", was used to draw in her younger fanbase, as Mortimer wanted to create "the first intense horror movie experience that some of these kids will ever have". Mortimer had met with Hannah Marks for an undisclosed role, but would later cast her in his follow-up film "Daniel Isn't Real". Filming. Production began in Los Angeles and Castaic, California in April 2014. Filming was at one point slated to begin in Vancouver in summer 2013 with a budget of $2  million. An entire crew and cast of different actors were assembled, however, the money never came through. Mortimer moved to Washington in the meantime while production was stalled. Eventually Mortimer and his team went back to California to make the film. Release. "Some Kind of Hate" debuted at the Stanley Film Festival on May 2, 2015. The film was released on September 18, 2015, by RLJ Entertainment. Home media. The film was released on blu-ray and DVD on November 3, 2015. Reception. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Some Kind of Hate" holds an approval rating of 38% based on  21 reviews, with an average rating of 4.57/10. On Metacritic, the film holds an average score of 28 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Scott Weinberg of "Nerdist" called the film "brutal, disturbing, and sometimes tragic, but it’s also a pointed, angry film that has a lot to say about the nature of “psychological predators” and their victims." For "Bloody Disgusting", Mike Wilson said ""Some Kind Of Hate" deserves more praise than complaint, however. The acting is largely well done, and the script by Mortimer and DeLeeuw definitely attempt to give the characters more  dimension than what you’d normally expect from a film like this." Helen T. Verongos, writing for "The New York Times" said ""Some Kind of Hate" succeeds at being discomfiting" but that the film "fails to deliver a thrill". Nick Schager of "The Village Voice" wrote "Like so much teen-targeting modern horror, it opts for dull angsty brooding over the very sort of grim-and-gruesome sleaziness that might have made its premise interesting." For "The Los Angeles Times", Gary Goldstein called the film a "convoluted slashfest".