H8RZ (2015) User Reviews

Usual Suspects remake

[nadeem-16 · 6/10 · 29 August 2017]

I read the other reviews before watching this film and none of them pointed out the obvious: this is a remake of Usual Suspects. It's set in a secondary school but after the first two or three scenes you can see it's a remake.

Nonetheless, remake or not, it does a good job and is worth watching. If you haven't see Usual Suspects then you'll enjoy this film. If you have seen the source film then you might still enjoy seeing how things unfold although I did get a little bored in the middle.

Good twist at end

[ladiewhspr · 7/10 · 19 November 2019]

***SPOILERS **** I figured out the main plot right away. It's pretty obvious which when you see the end you get why they were distracting you with what you think the whole movie is about. Then I thought the main character was a trans person, pretty cool, but alas I was wrong. Gotta watch it. I love twists you dont see coming.

What is H8RZ ???

[crispychris2004 · 7/10 · 3 December 2015]

The title itself left me confused and after even watching the movie I still have no idea what it means !!

But that is not to say that I didn't enjoy it because I did !!

The premise sounds a bit dodgy (as does the damn title lol) though on most fronts it came out ahead. There's a few "pleasant" twists, the acting won't win any awards but is bearable. The music lacks somewhat as does the cinematography but you get what you pay for and this does lift itself above this.

Nothing spectacular but worth seeing nonetheless

A surprising 7 out of 10

Good Horror/Thriller

[Pairic · 7/10 · 9 May 2018]

H8RZ: An explosion and fire in a school lab at night, three dead, one seriously injured, one student with superficial wounds. The survivor is questioned by a School Board lawyer in the hope that the school will be absolved of any liability for the incident.

A strange tale emerges in flashbacks. A group of students had cheated on a test but were caught. To make up for this disaster they then hacked into the school computer to alter their grades. All seems well.

But then they start to get texts and emails, apparently from a student who had committed suicide over a year ago.

A good Horror/Thriller, a few implausibilities prevent it from being a great one. 7/10.

Cast List Gives It Away

[GrayedMan · 3/10 · 15 September 2019]

I got only about 5 minutes into Haters (H8RZ) when I couldn't concentrate on the story seeing how Alex, who seemed to be a male character, was so effeminate. Clearly a female actress was playing this role. So I looked here on this site at the cast and this is what I found - Eliza Bennett ... Brittany Tammand / Alex Thomas So, a few minutes later into the movie when a dead chick named Brittany is blackmailing the little crew of 5 students including Alex... I already knew who it was.

There is more going on which kept me watching including a thieving principal and a crazy manipulating teacher both played by A-List actors. But it is pretty silly that anyone who happens to look to see what actors are in this movie prior to watching it will unintentionally learn the big twist ending.

One of the things Haters (H8RZ) has in common with The Usual Suspects is that the film timeline takes place after the fact. In Usual Suspects it's already all over, and Kevin Spacey is sitting in the police station as one character, telling his version of what happened to the cop, hiding the fact that he's the other character they're looking for. In H8RZ the timeline also takes place after the fact. "Alex" is sitting in the school with the lawyer for the school board telling his version of what happened, hiding the fact that he's secretly "Brittany". The endings are the same too, with that main character just pulling away in time as the cop/school lawyer runs out to the street to get them but just misses them, and the audience is shown some flashed scenes of what really happened.

By the way, kudos to the cast list for The Usual Suspects which does NOT list actor Kevin Spacey's secret identity character. That cast list doesn't contain the big spoiler the way H8RZ's does.

I liked this movie.

[lisabecka · 7/10 · 29 October 2019]

At points I thought it was a knockoff of 'Unfriended' but it's a pretty unique tale with a great ending. Give it a chance.

Nope

[rywplatner · 4/10 · 17 November 2019]

Good premise. Horribly executed. You'll see why quickly. At least I hope so for your time. You only live once.

Performance Driven Plot..

[SoumikBanerjee1996 · 8/10 · 4 September 2015]

It's really sad that a brilliant film like this does not has any reviews yet. So I guess I'm the first here to tell you that this film is really really good. It should have been promoted a little bit so more of the audiences could see what are they missing already.

Pluses :-

#1 The Story is the strongest point of the movie. It's engaging with tension, with suspense right from the beginning until the end.

#2 The performances are the 2nd highlight. All the actors really played their character well. Especially the the characters "Alex" and "Laura Sedgewick" were brilliantly portrayed by Eliza Bennett and Abigail Spencer.

#3 It started really well and focused all the happenings to the center of the PLOT. The suspense was there.the thrill the tension was there, and lastly the climax it was really blown me off. I did not see that coming.

#4 Though it's a low-budget the direction the cinematography all were top notch with a great Background score as well.

Now the negative points....

Minuses :-

#1 Although the first 30-40 Min's and last 10-20 Min's was really fast paced but in between the pace had fallen of a little bit. After all it's a thriller and a thriller should be engaging all through the movie but it was not like that I'm not saying it was bad either but if they could have managed the pace a little bit in the Interval, Post- Interval parts, I could have given this an extra star.

#2 The backdrop of the story I mean the sub-plot (You will know after you watch the film) was not appealing to me, it was somehow non-reliable, non-realistic to me. It did worked out in the story but I think the sub-plot could have been much more realistic and much more intense.

Conclusion :-

This is a great addition to Thriller Genre, it is a must see for all the movie lovers out there. Don't think just see this film if you really love story or performance driven movies. Because nowadays it's really rare you know.

Not original but entertaining enough

[gustheaffen · 6/10 · 22 August 2019]

I did not read the reviews before and I caught on early where most of this was going, or at least who was driving it. Well done with decent acting and a few stars. Big plus only 90 minutes. Nothing original but entertaining.

Let's be real.

[jenniferlynn-49555 · 5/10 · 29 November 2019]

SPOILER..... Yes it has the same premise of Usual Suspects but it's not and can't be compared to such. We're talking Keyser Soze and "Alex", come on. In no way are the two comparable. So you can never make a movie where the culprit is the victim because it will always be a rip-off? No, it's is own movie, not a great one, acting is somewhat bad, with some familiar faces. This was one of the first movies, I didn't read about first and it was better that way. Maybe that's how a lot of you ruined the movie for yourself. Also, a lot of you are saying it was so obviously a girl... Another reason you ruined it for yourself. Ever think Alex, could be short for Alexandra? She is the weirdo highschool girl, nothing she did, said she was a boy. I assumed she was a girl the whole time, which let me enjoy the movie. First idea of her being a boy was reading that here. She wasn't wearing a dress or wearing makeup, must be a dude. I'm not even talking about feeling like a boy but really is a girl, no, just a girl. Is it Oscar worthy? No. Is it predictable? Maybe. TBH I just thought she was going to be able to pull the money out, grabbing the card on the way out. I didn't realize she was "Keyser" the whole time. When you don't over think something, you can actually enjoy it. I did see some plot holes of course and other ways they could've handled certain situations. For example, You're being blackmailed by a teacher, so why don't you turn around and black mail him? Very easy to record him. Bottom line, if you stop thinking this was an attempt at recreating, one of the best plot twists ever in movie history, you might just enjoy an alright movie. I'm not saying it was great but most of the reasons here, for why it's not, are lame.

Usual Suspects for this generation

[brandyk2012 · 8/10 · 2 October 2019]

The clever part of this movie is that it really didn't keep you guessing at all, you just "know" where it's going... until it rips the rug out from under you.

H8RZ gotta H8...

[lenord-97628 · 7/10 · 15 October 2019]

I don't under stand the confusion on the title seemed straight forward to me... Haters gotta Hate it's what they do. Interesting, bullying is a problem ( see Trump) thought the movie was pretty good worth a watch and better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick

Forgettable title, forgettable movie

[KineticSeoul · 3/10 · 12 September 2015]

Wow, this is a extremely forgettable movie. Not only because the plot tries to be clever but completely falters. But because it's just a very annoying movie to sit through. And it's not because majority of the characters in this movie is super annoying to watch. But the plot is just lazy, despite it trying to be clever. This premise has been done before, except this time it tries to go in a realistic and serious tone. It really isn't realistic at all. In fact, the whole thing is just ridiculous. H8RZ is like a code for bullying, but this movie is more about scheming. Sure, characters doesn't have to be likable for a movie to be good, but not only is everyone despicable. They have no remorse and is just whinny throughout the whole thing. I am not even sure if the message for this movie is to stop bullying, because the teachers and the people running the schools are just as self-centered, if not more than the students. I could tell they try to make a heist movie in a school setting with some twist and turns with a shoe string budget, but this one fails. I regret seeing this flick, it's not even worth the rental.

3/10

Not too bad

[clairesmaybin · 6/10 · 10 October 2019]

SPOILERS

It wasn't a bad film, but was spoiled for me because I could see all along that the protagonist was not male and that was ticking over in my mind the whole time. So the denouement wasn't even a little bit of a surprise - it was a confirmation. The opposite of a drag queen - they don't look female , and the actress in this could not help what she actually is: female. People are comparing this to the 'Usual suspects" which I have not seen so can't comment on that. Not really the sort of film you could watch again.

Total Rip off of "The Usual Suspects"

[mystee_reyne · 1/10 · 21 November 2019]

The makers of this film should be ashamed and embarrassed. This film is a complete rip off of the movie "The Usual Suspects." Right down to the burn victim in the hospital. Right down to the "investigator" at the end of the film running outside after realizing the truth. Why would someone celebrate their utter lack of creativity by making a film that is a total rip off of a classic film. Sad.

Ok plot

[MagicMurderFan · 3/10 · 20 October 2019]

Ideas were good, execution was budget restricted. But I couldn't stand the actress that played Carla, she was awful. Go to an acting class please. Every scene with her was agonizing, she was such a whiny character anyway and then the actress just sucked. Kind of ruined the movie for me.

Excellent.

[sheliawells825 · 10/10 · 8 February 2021]

I watched this movie and it was FANTASTIC. I loved the actors. They came off very believable. A surprise ending was great. I would suggest it is a must see movie...

Someone else said it best. . .

[youlikejosh · 5/10 · 19 August 2019]

Someone below nailed it. Replace $250,000,000 worth of cocaine with mid-term exam answer keys and you have Usual Suspects : The High School Years. Plus an internet ghost. Hilarious.5 stars just for silliness alone.

I've never seen The Usual Suspects so...

[katyork-26478 · 8/10 · 9 February 2022]

It kept me entertained and the ending shocked me. Never saw it coming. I have a couple of questions left unanswered but that always happens in an unrealistic movie. :)