Customer Reviews

Hangman

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have to hand it to the filmmakers. The "hunt for a serial killer who taunts the police" gimmick is dead and Anthony Hopkins has eaten the corpse. Hangman attempts to breath a little life into the genre, though. And for the most part it's just a by-the-numbers police story. That's fine, but I've seen it all before. The real surprise is the twist near the start of the third act. I pride myself on being able to spot big plot twists (I knew the end of The Sixth Sense from the trailer), but I did not see this one coming. The only other time that's happened in recent memory is with Witness for the Prosecution.

Movies can't survive on a single twist alone, though. And Hangman is no different. The actors are B-level and the characters were so vanilla I wanted to go out for a cone at the thirty-minute mark. We've seen all this before as a serial killer known as "The Hangman" taunts police with little riddles and pictures of `hangmen' (the game). If the police don't find the victim in time, the hang. Okay, I haven't seen that before, but it feels like I have.

This was all over cable for a while so I'm guessing it will rotate back around in a few months. There's no need to get the DVD or tape.

Recommendation to avoid unless you really like big twists in a bland story.

Lou Diamond continues with his string of B-movies. At least, this one here has a really good production. The viewer is cheated by not being able to guess the murderer due to the old scheme of "double criminals", well, a sort of it... Lou DIamond plays the cop once again.

No surprises in the script, but the acting is really good. I caught this one late at night on TV at the begining and stayed awake to watch it through. Rent before you buy; it's worth the money to rent & see it at least, but I'm not sure you'll want to pay to keep it unless you're a huge fan of someone in the movie.

The title of the movie refers to "Hangman Game," in which you must detect the right word(s) within 6 chances given to you, in order to save a man's neck from a noose. The movie is about a person who takes the idea too literally, and two leads (Phillips and Amick) try to hunt down the criminal.

The idea is good, and the two leads are giving solid, convincing performance, and production design is decently done, but the director completely fails to stir any emotional response on the audience's side: in short, there is little suspense and thrill to grab your heart. The film shows also confused relationships between patient, doctor, ward, father, daughter, etc.; it also goes on to talk about real estate, Amick's character's horses, and the killer's lawyer and mother ... so confusing that I am lost on the way. I sincerely believe these two leading actors deserve much better script.

This film was released in Japan with the title "Satsujin Dotto Komu" meaning in English "Murder Dot Com." ... Come on....

I have to admit that the main reason why I bought this DVD was Maedchen Amick. Because of the fact that her recent movies weren't that good I actually didn't expect too much from this one. But, what a surprise: "Hangman" turned out to be a very entertaining thriller powered by a very good performance by Lou Diamond Phillips. Amick also was excellent though her performance sometimes appeared to be a little bit uneven.

Of course you can't compare this movie with big-budget films like "Se7en" but if you like well-acted and surprising little thrillers you won't be disappointed.

Kudos for the director and script writer for making clever psychological thriller pitting a police detective and troubled but sexy youny psychiatrist against a ruthless serial killer who taunts the police with a internet version of hangman and if they lose a person is literally hanged! The plot twists are quite ingenious especially when the detective.... finds out that things are not what the seem be!If anyone really figures this movie out they are quite brilliant!This gripping thriller will have you hanging in suspense! terrible pun but appropiate for this review!

First off it is out of print so you can't rent it most places including Netflix. Second, it isn't a bad production and the acting is fairly decent. As for the story seems familiar some critics say? Good luck with finding one that doesn't seem familiar anymore. I found it intriguing enough to keep my interest and I wasn't disappointed I spent the time watching it. I like Lou Diamond Phillips and Madchen Amick and I think they did a decent job in this one, B movie or not. I for one am getting a copy of the DVD. Good quality with some replayability. If you enjoyed this, catch A Better Way to Die.

CA Luster

Bruised from hitting the wall with my head, trying to remove this movie from memory.

Having seen Madchen Amick in a film called Dream Lover some years ago, which I always remembered and which I bought on dvd, I was interested to see if she had done any others I hadn't known about and amongst many, I found this.
It's a neat, clever serial killer thriller, about a killer who plays the game of hangman with the police and if they lose, the victim gets it, which they often do. To help them out, in comes a sexy pychiatrist, Madchen Amick to see if she can avoid the next victim being next in the noose. (Couldn't resist the pun!)
There are an amazing amount of twists and turns in the plot and the script is razor sharp and there are some clever touches. Madchen is brilliant throughout and super sexy, and she bares some flesh again too, and Lou Diamond Phillips as the cop on the trail is also impressive. I have never been much of a fan of Phillips in all honesty and I am no fan of La Bamba. Not my thing. This is the first film I have bought which features him and I am glad to say it was a good choice.
It's hard to say anything more about this without giving anything away, but trust me, if you like clever thrillers and serial killer thrillers which keep you guessing, you could do a lot worse than try this out.

She did a really good job in the movie and she is really talented and also i like Lou Diamond Phillips in it because he is investigating her because she is killing people and i hope she play in more movies like that.