RATING: B+

Studio Dome Entertainment presents a  .Directed by Shivaan Makker. Produced by Istvan Lettang, Shivaan Makker, Paul Luba, and Chad Verdi Jr. Written by Sullivan McGuffin. Cinematography by Istvan Letting. Edited by Sam Reyes.

Stars Oscar Torre, Gary Brunner, Danforth Collins, Christina Urias, Eileen Dietz, Happy Anderson, Corin Nemec, Deborah Rennard, Evan Daigle, and Tony Todd.  

A detective seeks to not just solve a major crime, but find himself in the process in one of Tony Todd’s final films from director Shivaan Makker. 

Angelo Matteo is a detective who after rescuing a young woman who was kidnapped and held in a shack, he crumbles when he learns a second victim was never found. Blaming himself for not responding fast enough, he begins to lose faith. He is so upset that it becomes to not only affect his job, but also his marriage. Despite efforts from his partner Rufus, Angelo still feels let down by God. 

Meanwhile, Ed Erdella, a man who has been berated by his religious mother for being gay, decides to take his frustrations out by doing the unbelievable. He picks up a young man and kidnaps him, putting him through torture. However, after a few days, the man is able to escape and ends up in the hospital. Meanwhile, Ed, undeterred from the escape, finds more victims. When Angelo gets wind of the case, he wants in, but his boss is worried he may end up crumbling again. Will Angelo be able to redeem himself in time to stop Ed before it’s too late?

A story of redemption and finding religion again blended with a serial killer thriller, this film is a well-blended mix of horror and emotional drama that also marks one of the late Tony Todd’s final performances as our protagonist’s superior in the police force. 

Oscar Torre does a great job as the tortured soul Angelo. We see him go on a downward spiral as he loses faith after a rescue attempt leads to one of the two victims being found alive. As a result, he feels as if God failed him, and his loss of faith slowly begins to affect his relationships with everyone around him. When his wife tries to console him, he gets upset and yells at her. His relationship with his partner is jeopardized despite his partner still trying to be like a “brother” to him. When it comes to Todd’s character of the Chief, Angelo finds himself demoted and off similar cases due to his actions. It is great to see Angelo slowly attempt to redeem both himself and in his faith at a great time of need. 

Gary Brunner is also great as Ed Erdella, based on real-life serial killer Robert Berdella, known as the “Kansas City Butcher”. One can also see the first name possibly based on a similar killer, Ed Kemper. However, he is more based on the former, as we see him getting berated by his overreligious mother, played by horror legend Eileen Dietz (Pazuzu in The Exorcist) because she refuses to have a gay son. He goes out of his way to find unsuspecting young men via cruising, and then unleashes his mayhem on them, torturing them and with one victim, it felt like something out of the recently released Ed Kemper or could have been a scene in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. 

Hate Thyself is a well-blended mix of a dramatic story involving finding one’s faith need and serial killer movie. The performances are well done here, especially Oscar Torre, Gary Brunner, and the late great Tony Todd. Definitely a film to check out!

The film will be released on Digital on September 1.