A vengeful ghost targets bullies in the supernatural thriller Some Kind of Hate. Lincoln (Ronen Rubinstein) is a troubled and bullied teen, who is sent to the Mind's Eye Academy retreat to learn how to make his life better. He quickly befriends Isaac (Spencer Breslin) and begins a romance with “wayward cheerleader” Kaitlin (Grace Phipps). However, even at the retreat, Lincoln finds himself targeted by a gang of bullies and he wishes that they were all dead. This results in Moira (Sierra McCormick), the ghost of a bully victim who committed suicide, to emerge and target the bullies.
Some Kind of Hate is a film that initially appears like one type of film, before turning into something else. The film starts off seeming like it will be a violent drama about bullying. Lincoln has trouble at both home and school and things don't necessarily get better when he is sent to the Mind's Eye Academy. By the second half, Some Kind of Hate has fully evolved into a supernatural slasher film, which sees Moira targeting and killing bullies and making them appear like suicides.
While Some Kind of Hate can be seen as an interesting commentary on the problem of bullying, it is far from a perfect film. Despite featuring some quite gory deaths, the film is never really all that scary. In fact, Moira comes off as much more whiny than threatening. The film also resorts a bit to stunt casting, since lead actresses Grace Phipps and Sierra McCormick are both known from Disney Channel TV shows. A few familiar faces appear in supporting roles, including Rian Johnson regular Noah Segan, who's executive producer on the film. Altogether, despite some flaws, Some Kind of Hate is a fair enough anti-bullying commentary in the guise of a supernatural slasher.
★ ★ ★ 1/2 | FAIR
