The Hatred

Director - Michael G. Kehoe (Dominion, The Art of the Bullet)
Starring - Sarah Davenport (Stitchers, Dusk), Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster, The Strain), and Darby Walker (Girl Meets World, The Event)
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Your fears are real"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     It's difficult for bigger budget horror movies to find themselves out of current trends.  With The Walking Dead, IT, and The Conjuring all making bank you can see the repercussions of this with other films trying to quickly make some cash on their success.  The Conjuring in particular brought about a wave of haunted house films that try to look like the films about The Warrens but without the quality and originality.  Recently I was asked to review the new haunted house flick The Hatred starring Wishmasters' very own Andrew Divoff.  What made this one stick out was that it embedded some urban legends centered around Nazis and their use of the occult.  Sadly, the film was unable to capitalize on the amazing story that it could have had.
     The film begins with a fleeing Nazi officer and his family living deep in the U.S. country trying to hide from their past.  His daughter is a free spirit and wants to do the things modern teenagers of her time do but her father refuses.  She goes behind his back and is caught where his anger gets the best of him.  He kills her in the barn and we jump forward to the present day.  The house they lived in is now owned by someone else who invited a family friend and her college friends over to watch their daughter while they are away.  What should be a relaxing evening in the country turns into something far more sinister with the spirit of the young girl that was murdered starts haunting the place.
     I wasn't expecting a lot from The Hatred and that's exactly what I got.  I always try to keep an open mind because I have been surprised in the past but The Hatred just couldn't do it for me.  It was predictable and unoriginal.  The acting in this room was something to be desired.  I don't blame the cast for this.  They try their best to bring almost identical characters to life but the writing is all wrong.  You sometimes forgets which character is supposed to be who and they all share the same personalities.  They are all flat and boring with very little for the viewer to enjoy other than the fact they are pretty.  The story for this one had some potential but was squandered away when the company behind this production decided to scrap it for the cheap and cliched route with jump scares you can see coming a mile away.  Almost every scene moves at a snails pace and was extremely boring.  It was a chore to actually finish.  Finally, this one isn't as bloody as I was lead to believe.  We don't get any red stuff but we do get a mesh of practical and visual effects that makes the supernatural presence look pretty fucking cool.  I really enjoyed the look and could get behind it.  Overall, The Hatred was a big let down.  The story really had potential but was lost in mediocrity.  I can't recommend this one.