Hangman's Curse

0/4 BOMB

The Hangman's Curse is an adaption by director Rafal Zielinski (whoever that is) of Frank Peretti's novel of the same name. Needless to say, this is to awful movies what The Godfather is to classics. Let me first apologize to Mr. Coppola for referencing his masterpiece in comparison to this trash, now let's begin the review:

Granted, I've never read the book that this movie was based on. However, the one (slightly-important maybe) thing I found not present in this movie was any clear motive, there was way too much going on. I'm not going to go into the flimsy plot-points, but I'll give you the general idea. Abel Frye is a victim to bullying who hangs himself on school property. Fast-forward ten years, and all of your stereotypical bullies are perishing, with their words being the name of the spirit "Abel Frye". At the end, does the movie offer it's audience a resolution? No. The only people who catch on are an "FBI" homeschool kid and a goth sub-culture at the high school. You follow?

The acting was completely unconvincing. You will witness so much death at the hands of an unholy scribble, and they actors are too uninterested to milk out any empathy. Watching a series of events alone is not entertaining, there needs to be substance and passion involved. The characters were strangers to their audiences. I was trying so hard to figure them out, but then again, there was not enough talent on screen to communicate the sciences behind the characters. Oh well.

Was the basis of this PG-13 "horror" flick to teach a lesson in bullying? Was it to entertain me? Was it to do Frank Peretti's book justice? (I certainly hope not) Or was it just a cash-grab targeted at pre-teens looking to get their feet wet with some extremely tame, dull horror? Unfortunately, I am lead to believe, the final.

I loved this film. I don't know why anyone wouldn't. Okay so the end is a little bit of a let down, but that shouldn't discount the rest of the film. I loved it up until the part where everyone is outside at the picnic where I thought it was 'OK.'

I'm surprised that there wasn't a larger viewing audience; this seems like the kind of movie a lot of people would like to see, it has the jocks beating up the nerds and the goths, I mean isn't that the type of movie everyone likes to see (please note the sarcasm)? I personally loved this film, and it's probably because I like movies that are out of the norm. If you haven't seen the movie or you haven't seen it before without listening to someone's comments first you should watch it unbiased for once and make up your own opinion.

I didn't like this movie at all. For starters, the dialog was strained and unrealistic for teenagers. The main reason though, the whole thing is based on a novel by Frank Peretti, a christian propagandist author. This shows up repeatedly in the movie, from a football player asking the lead female "Do you believe in the hereafter?" to repeated prayer references. I am mostly writing this review so that people renting this film will be aware of the religious subtext without having to subjagate themselves to it.

The actual storyline was alright and the acting wasn't too bad, except for Mr. Peretti himself, he plays a scientist named algernon (an obvious reference to the brilliant science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon) and his presence is pretty annoying.

On par with many "After School Specials". The effects aren't very special. The plot is insipid. The acting is acceptable though not noteworthy. I can't in good conscience recommend this to anyone who enjoys either horror or dark fantasy,while utilizing tropes of both it doesn't use them to any real effect. It is a safe film for younger teens, older preteens, and precocious younger children. It is obviously geared towards the Christian ethical sympathies and will be watched by many a youth-group in all probability. Watch it or not as you choose. I would not watch this again. It is not destined for greatness. It is destined for the clearance rack.

I was impressed by the cinematography of the film. Having seen a few family films lately that looked like they were filmed in someones backyard, the camera work in Hangmans Curse was surprisingly professional. I disagree with the comment made that the music in the final scenes was inappropriate.......the underlying message, hinted at but never voiced; possibly to avoid censure by antagonists, was hinted at more broadly by the choice of music in the end scenes. Very very nice work by the actors. Hopefully this company will finance more films of this caliber for those of us who are seeking something...better.