Hangman's Curse

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.

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.

HANGMAN'S CURSE is a mildly entertaining film, combining horror elements with social commentary. Set in a high school, it rounds out its cast with the usual Goth misfits and the jocks, two natural enemies. A "curse" that sends jocks who are also known bullies into comas brings a family of paranormal investigators to a local school.

Despite the elaborate poster, the film is not scary. I hesitate to call it a horror film. At most, it's a mystery, with the two young teens as the actual leads. The parents really do little except run around peering into microscopes. For those who have seen these type of movies before, all the answers should be obvious by the 50-minute mark, leaving 50 extra minutes for the characters to catch up.

It's not a bad film. I would even recommend it. But it's definitely not going to scare anybody.

P.S. HANGMAN'S CURSE will be memorable to me for one thing: ITS TEENS ARE ACTUALLY PLAYED BY TEENS!!! Yes, they still do exist.

6 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie)

Nate (David Keith), Sarah (Mel Harris), Elisha (Leighton Meester) and Elijah Springfield (Douglas Smith) are members of a secret government project called 'Veritas'. Their works is investigating and try to solve mysteries. They are assigned to work as undercover students and janitor in the Rogers High School, where a ghost is apparently haunting and threatening the students. In the end, the Springfield family finds a hidden secret and reveals the truth. 'Hangman's Curse' has a silly, inconsistent and absurd plot, plagiarizing 'Spy Kids'. The participation of the writer Frank Peretti in the role of the scientist Algernon Wheeling is so ridiculous that irritated me. The guy is horrible, trying to be funny but indeed being very unpleasant. The inconsistency of the silly character of Elisha Springfield, supposed to be a highly trained teenager agent, but screaming and acting like a moron is another terrible point in this film. The exaggerated attack of spiders in the end of the story is so amazingly absurd that certainly destroys any good opinion that a viewer might have about this movie. 'Hangman's Curse' is a watchable and very forgettable flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): 'A Maldição da Forca' ('The Curse of the Hang')

I originally saw this 2003 movie on DVD a couple of years after its release and, preparing to re-watch, I couldn't remember anything about it, except the wacky professor, played by the author of the book, Frank Peretti, who comes across as a shorter Dr. Emmett Brown from "Back to the Future." I saw an interview with him and he really IS as eccentrically animated as he appears in the film.

The plot revolves around a Spokane, Washington, high school, which is supposedly haunted by the ghost of a kid who committed suicide ten years earlier. Several jocks have freaked out after seeing the apparition and subsequently went into a coma. The school enlists the services of the Veritas Project, a team of investigators who work undercover to unravel paranormal phenomena. They're like the family version of Mulder & Scully from The X-Files. David Keith plays the father, Mel Harris the mother and the teen twins are played by Leighton Meester and Douglas Smith. The dad pretends to be a janitor at the school while the kids act as new students.

To enjoy this movie you have to accept the highly unlikely premise of a family team of investigators and the fact that this is a tame horror movie from an author who's writes Christian supernatural fiction with this movie being geared toward youths (tweens, teens & pre-teens). You also have to accept that, while the movie had a limited theatrical release, it had the budget of a TV movie ($2 million) and it shows.

With that in mind, there are several things to appreciate about "Hangman's Curse": The cast is likable, formidably headed by Keith; for once in a high school flick we get students who actually LOOK like they're in high school, rather than mid-20s; I like the forbidden wing of the school and its subterranean burrows (reminiscent of the boiler room sequences in the Nightmare on Elm Street flicks); there are loads of creepy arachnids; and there are some quality cuts on the soundtrack.

On the downside, the acting of the peripheral teens is understandably weak and the convoluted story could've been relayed in a clearer, more compelling manner.

As far as the Christian-oriented content goes, it's so light that I can hardly see how anyone would be offended. For instance, a group prays before their meal. Woo, like that doesn't happen every day in every community throughout the Americas. Since the protagonists are Christians, it makes sense to portray them accordingly. If anything, the movie plays it too low-key in this regard.

The film runs 1 hour, 46 minutes and was shot in Spokane, Washington.

GRADE: C+