5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Four young women travel to their college professor's new country home for a weekend getaway, only to discover that the house has a malevolent past.
Starring: Andrew Divoff, Alisha Wainwright, David Naughton, Amanda Wyss, Nina SiemaszkoHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 34% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
You’d think with all the recent well documented and unsettling unrest in Charlottesville that a film which begins with a voiceover announcing the infiltration of Nazis into American society might have a sudden, if unintended, “ripped from the headlines” quality that would give it some visceral impact. It’s some indication of how haphazard The Hatred is, though, that even what turns out to be a mere prelude to the main story is devoid of any context or information other than that brief introductory narration which seems to be implying a kind of The Man in the High Castle alternate reality, but which in fact is simply plopping former Nazis down in Middle America after World War II. While events have proven that indeed some Nazis matriculated to the United States after the war ended, The Hatred never even clarifies whether this is part of some nefarious plan (which seems to be the case) or whether it's just the "natural" course of events after the war, and certainly never gets into the apparently villainous background of a farmer named Samuel Sears (Andrew Divoff of Wishmaster Collection fame), who comes off as more of a creepy Amish sort, especially since he seems to want to keep his pretty daughter Alice (Darby Walker) from interacting with any modern types. There’s an absolutely bizarre subtext in this early part of the film which seems to suggest a kind of “separation” between the Sears family and their surrounding environment that is at least somewhat reminiscent of The Village, but, again, nothing is explained or developed and therefore nothing ever really resonates in a truly memorable fashion. Samuel is first seen in a labored getup involving a gas mask and a long battered trenchcoat (one the production design team reportedly took a lot of time in developing, evidently hoping for a new “franchise character”, according to the making of featurette), but even that is only explained fitfully later. This whole opening sequence, which lasts for over twenty minutes, has some intriguing elements, as well as two pretty horrifying deaths, but it just kind of floats in midair without any grounding. Who is Samuel? Was he a Nazi officer? What about his wife? Why is he insistent Alice stay away from the townsfolk? These questions are just the tip of this particular iceberg, one which also has unexplored issues regarding a priceless Nazi relic that just shows up on Samuel's doorstep one day and which he plasters behind a wall in his basement. There's the clear indication that this relic is "spewing" negative energy, something that leads to at least one of the aforementioned deaths, but even this supposedly important plot element is never really explained or explored.
The Hatred is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. The film's closing credits state this was captured digitally with Alexa cameras, and it boasts the same typically sleek, well detailed if kind of flat look that this technology often offers. Perhaps surprisingly for a horror outing, a lot of the contemporary storyline plays out in rather brightly lit environments, even some summery fields, something that elevates detail and especially fine detail levels. The opening prologue which is set in the 1960s is graded rather unusually, with a slight yellowish tinge that's quite evocative but which tends to slightly tamp down fine detail levels. The last act of the film is the darkest, with a lot of dimly lit material, and there are some deficits in both general detail levels as well as shadow definition throughout this section. Practical effects look rather good, with some of the CGI having a slightly soft look. There are some brief moments of banding when things like headlights are aimed directly at the cameras, but otherwise no anomalies intrude.
I get so used to so many titles I review featuring either DTS-HD Master Audio or uncompressed LPCM audio that it was kind of a refreshing change to see that The Hatred offers a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. There's some effective if clichéd and kind of hokey sound design in the film, with washes of LFE panning through the soundstage, and some score choices that kind of subliminally add to the angst even when what's on screen isn't particularly scary. Surround activity is pretty consistent, though this is a fairly talky horror enterprise, especially in its long middle section when the girl arrive to babysit Irene. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation and all elements are delivered without any damage, distortion or other problems.
About the only innovative thing in The Hatred is that the bunch of co-eds who arrive at the farmhouse never strip down to underwear or have illicit dalliances with hidden boyfriends. That in and of itself may be enough to turn off a certain horror demographic, but there's so much left unexplained and/or unexplored in this film that I doubt even genre aficionados will find much to recommend in this uneven film. However, for those considering a purchase, technical merits are strong.
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