Hate Crime

This movie is really good not for the faint hearted I found it hard to watch at times because of the strong violence it contained but I liked it

I found this movie to be interesting at first, but now i'm disappointed with myself. I don't know what i found so interestimg in this movie, it definetly had potential but... yeah.

Hate crimes are a real problem and the movie is not the worst thing i have ever seen, it focuses on something important but does that really matter when the movie only scares you by showing some nazi's brutal fantasies? That's all you will get from this movie, it's not going to educate you and show you what is actually happening. I don't know why this movie was made, i didn't like it at all but i also don't really hate it because i have seen worse movies.

This film is about 3 neo-Nazis attacking a Jewish("Is it Hannukah? Is it Passover?" the Father awkwardly and unconvincingly asks at the beginning of the film to his child just so we all know they are indeed Jewish) family on the youngest son's birthday.

What follows is 70 minutes of found-footage(yeah, it's one of THOSE films) garbage as the Nazis terrorise the family and film it all. THat's pretty much it. There is no suspense at all, there is no script, and it is clearly pretty much all improvised, and I think it's fair to say that none of the actors in this film have ever been to an improv class in their lives, as there is at least two Jewish slurs and three F words every 60 seconds, and outside of that, are completely incapable of constructing a sentence. The acting from the three antagonists isn't dreadful, Ian Roberts as "Three" is decent, a former rugby player, Dancing With The Stars contestant, gay rights activist and all-round nice guy in real life. His decision to be in this abomination of cinema was bizarre, but he tries his best. One of them tries way too hard to be like Matthew Lillard in Scream, and the other guy isn't bad either, but the director made him a completely ridiculous character(more ridiculous than Stu Macher 2.0 and Crystal Meth Addicted Rapist). Seriously, no one could make that bizarre and sleep-inducing bathroom scene any good. Also, whose idea was it to have "Three" wear a mask over his ski-mask at the beginning of the film, to the point where everything he says is muffled? Ridiculous. As for the rest of the cast, they are pretty dreadful. The Dad is the absolute worst, and is almost more dislikeable than the Nazis with his absolutely unreal emotions and actions during the ordeal.

At the end, we are randomly told how there are 80,000 hate crimes every year in the US. AND? Do you think this has changed anyone's views on anything? Do you think if you showed this to a group of 1000 fascists, that even one would change their opinions? The answer is no. People that are calling this "Powerful" are either plants or idiots. This is a weak and pretentious film, and Bressack has proved himself as a lazy and undeserving film-maker. The only reason I give it a Two is because giving a 1 to a film with Ian Roberts as a neo-nazi just isn't right.

Hate Crime (2013)

** (out of 4)

Decent "found footage" film has a Jewish family celebrating a birthday when three Neo-Nazies break into their home.

That's pretty much the only "story" to this film as for 70-miutes we see the five family members being abused and tortured by the maniacs. I'm not going to sit here and call this a good movie but I do think director-writer James Cullen Bressack at least made a realistic one. I say that because this genre seems to have a new film hitting store shelves weekly and by now they're all starting to feel as if they're gimmicks. HATE CRIME at least looks like real footage and for the most part the actors do a nice job to where you can believe what you're watching.

I think the biggest problem with the film is that often times we've just got scenes that are dragging on without enough drama/tension. This is especially true as the movie goes on and even though it runs just 70-minutes, that seems way too long. As with a lot of films in the genre, this one also suffers from some logical stuff especially towards the end when a few plot twists are thrown in. This includes a member of the family breaking free yet the killers just seem to not pay it too much attention as they stand around screaming at one another. HATE CRIME certainly doesn't fall into the group of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT but it's not nearly as bad as some out there.

A Jewish family, who have recently moved into the neighbourhood, celebrates the birthday of their youngest son. Camera at the ready the father films the proceedings. Little do they suspect what will become of the night…from a time of celebration to one of terror! Hate Crime is when a Neo-Nazi gang decides they don't want Jews in their town and go to scare them off with a home invasion and acts of terror. Drug fuelled they take a step too far at the beginning then roll with this into something much worse. Taking the camera off the father they film the proceedings James Cullen Bressack's second feature length film is a very different monster to his first, his very personal journey that is My Pure Joy! Naturally a film from the perspective of thugs shooting footage of their own crime belongs in the Found Footage genre. It is very well done as well; there is a true feeling of viewing something that is actually happening with no unnecessary shaky camera work. Firstly we get what we would expect from a father fooling around with his camera then later on with the Neo-Nazis filming their atrocities towards the family.

James Cullen Bressack seems to be able to get a lot out of his actors here in Hate Crime! All the players in this from both parties portray their roles well. There is suitable amount of both terror and anguish from the family at what is happening to them. Each one is believable in what they they are experiencing. Then we have the three Neo-Nazis. These guys were great, suitably menacing and crazy; a real feeling of a drug fuelled menace. Each uses a number to represent themselves. No. #1 and No. #3 are brothers and No. #2 is their friend and fellow Neo-Nazi gang member. These brothers are pretty crazy guys while their friend seems more in control. Especially with the eldest brother No. #3, his mannerisms and the way he moves are brilliant! Being a film about violence towards innocence there are effects, and thankfully Mr Bressack went with all practical visual effects. There are some great moments when these effects are used very well, but I won't discuss them here as I don't want to spoil the film! Something else stood out for me too, and perhaps it is strange for me to mention, but the gunshots sound real in this and not tinny or what have you as we sometimes get; for whatever reason this stuck with me.

My only real negative about Hate Crime is the scene with the mother being raped by No. #3 and the later rape. I felt more nudity would have made this more shocking for the viewer! Not necessarily full frontal and what have you though. I think this would have been more shocking in creating an even more feeling of helplessness for the character of the mother. Although maybe the actress wasn't willing to go so far, thus what we get is all that could be done. However, in stating this it is still a great scene with the terror portrayed by the mother done very well.

With what we get with Hate Crime, James Cullen Bressack succeeds with his goal of creating a film that depicts the hatred of one group of people towards another with a different set of beliefs! Of filming torments being thrusted upon a family who were expecting a night of celebration and fun.

• Splat

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