Customer Reviews

Hangman's Curse [VHS]

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a fan of Frank Peretti's novels, the idea of one finally becoming a movie thrilled me. While I found "Hangman's Curse" a good book, it wouldn't have been my choice for a first movie. Still, they manage to adapt it reasonably well. It's a little slow-paced in parts, and yes, some of the acting is a little off, but it has its redeeming points. It's a family film that should keep the interest of teens and kids (though the adults will probably find themselves going to the kitchen for popcorn quite often).

The Christian message isn't overt. As a matter of fact, this couldn't really be considered a "Christian movie". Yes, one of the main characters prays during a crisis, but that's what most Christians do. There is no "Romans Road to Christ" laid out in the film, and it shouldn't offend anyone who's not a Christian. The special effects are good, especially for the budget they had to work with.

All in all, this is a movie I'm glad I watched, but I doubt I watch it again any time soon. I look forward to another Frank Peretti film in the future, but I hope it's "The Oath" or "This Present Darkness", either of which would be incredible. Don't judge Frank's works by this movie. Read his books instead.

"Hangman's Curse" is an adaptation of a book by a "Christian" author (Frank Peretti), published by a "Christian" publisher, and promoted by "Christian" bookstores. But the religious aspects of the book are soft peddled in favor of elements intended to make it appeal to a wider audience interested in a traditional mild horror film. There is an obvious agenda but it does not overwhelm the story; mostly they wanted to present a positive message for Christian kids in an uncharacteristically "cool" package and to show that being Christian does not mean a kid has to be a total dork.

The agenda does have a dark side, a simplistic message that being different and asserting your individuality is a misguided response to facing life's challenges without the assist of inner spirituality. Some may view the film's ending message as anti-diversity, although it positively portrays interracial dating it ends with a conformist message. But this is inserted in such a clumsy and contrived way that few will feel any threat of manipulation.

The compromises they made to mainstream this film have offended both extremist "Christians" and hard core horror film fans, which is not exactly a surprise. Extremist "Christians" are upset because the "Christians" in the film seem to be just like "regular" (their word-not mine) people. There has also been some objection to the wardrobe of Leighton Meesier (the actress who poses as a student to investigate the situation) although it looked pretty wholesome to me; Meesier's actual sin is just being radiantly beautiful. If your own faith does not run toward elitist religious egoism you will find almost nothing objectionable. Hard-core horror fans will find this fairly tame although the premise is clever and there are some nice suspenseful moments.

The cast is mostly unexceptional and in many cases the physical casting is way off. The jocks are anything but physically imposing, the main bully would do better cast as a fat nerd and has no business in a speaking role. Crystal and Ian, the two main "goth" kids are supposed to be outcasts, but they are the most physically attractive students in the whole school.

The performance of Andrea Morris (Crystal) is the best thing about "Hangman's Curse". She is totally convincing in the film's most difficult role. It is a great acting for the camera performance and the director showcases this with frequent tight shots on her face. Meesier is also solid and Frank Peretti himself makes an amusing appearance as an eccentrically jolly scientist.

The direction and editing is very strong. The sequencing keeps things active and interesting. Apparently they deleted material that was needed to clarify the effects of the spider bites; that the victims did not die but rather went into comas until the anecdote was discovered and administered is unclear.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I decided to watch "The Hangman's Curse" for several reasons. The most important of these factors, indeed the only one that really matters, involves the fact that David Keith heads up the cast list. I enjoy this actor's work, although I must say his standards have slipped over the past few years. Let's face it: going from films like "An Officer and a Gentleman" to "Sabretooth" and "Deep Shock" represents a horrific reversal of fortune on par with the dive into obscurity made by another talented actor named Joseph Cotten. Remember him? He's the chap who starred in such cinematic classics as "The Third Man" and "Citizen Kane" early in his career only to move on to such turgid schlock like "Guyana: Crime of the Century" and "Lady Frankenstein" towards the end of his life. While those of us who enjoy cheesy cinema might relish seeing the likes of mainstream actors like Keith and Cotten hamming it up in pictures far below their abilities, we must admit it's probably painful for them. Anyway, I figured "The Hangman's Curse" as another disappointing Keith project. I was wrong. The movie, while far from high art, does manage to entertain most of the time.

Keith plays Nate Springfield, husband of Sarah (Mel Harris) and father of daughter Elisha (Leighton Meester) and son Elijah (Douglas Smith). Together this family forms some sort of detective type agency that wanders around the country solving crimes. Actually, they work for some shadowy organization called the Veritas Project. Really. I'm not making this up. Their latest case brings them to a typical high school in Middle America where a series of gruesome crimes plague the student body. A long time local legend involving a student named Abel Frye, who supposedly killed himself in a now long abandoned wing of the school because of incessant bullying, seems to play a big part in the catastrophe befalling selected members of the school. The victims of the crimes tend to be bullies themselves, real jerks that like to pick on the Goth population in the school, and they usually ingest some mysterious substance that produces weird hallucinations of none other than Abel Frye himself. Hmmm. I wonder what's going on? Someone is obviously up to no good, and it falls upon the Springfield family to go undercover and crack the case. They've got their work cut out for them.

Elijah and Elisha pose as students in an effort to get the skinny on the various tensions in the student body. Dad takes a job as a janitor in the school so he can be around if things get sticky. Mom stays behind the scenes in the family's snazzy RV where she can examine any evidence that might turn up with the assistance of wildly eccentric Dr. Algernon Wheeling (Frank Peretti). Fun! We soon meet several students at the school--including geeky Norman Bloom (Daniel Farber), Goth chick Crystal Sparks (Andrea Morris), and her partner in black Ian Snyder (Jake Richardson)--who obviously will play a big role in the proceedings. We also meet a bunch of obnoxious jock types whose presence exists solely for the purposes of cannon fodder. I'm not going to provide an intricate analysis of how the plot unfolds because that would definitely spoil the fun. It's sufficient to say that the proceedings are surprisingly complex for a standard horror/thriller flick. We get several interesting twists and turns, red herrings as to who is responsible for the crimes, and a lot of spiders crawling all over the place. Even the dialogue often rises above what I've come to expect from these types of films. "The Hangman's Curse" is a fun film with lots of scares.

That's not to say the movie doesn't have moments of pure cheese, however. Exhibit A is Dr. Algernon Wheeling as portrayed by Frank Peretti. Peretti is actually a well-known and best selling author (I've never heard of him before watching the movie), and "The Hangman's Curse" is based on one of his books. He might want to consider sticking with his day job since he takes his character WAY over the top. Peretti's performance isn't bad per se, but it does often distract from the main narrative. Thankfully, Keith is in fine form, as are the young actors who play his kids. Leighton Meester deserves special attention for her beauty and her acting chops. She handles a snake in a provocative way few actresses could! The most surprising element of the film, aside from the actors and the clever plot, is the religious themes that pop up from time to time. At one point in the story, the characters get together and pray! This is such an unusual thing to see in a movie that I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I can't remember the last time I saw religion seriously addressed in what is essentially a horror film. This element of the film is bound to take some people aback, but it's not overdone.

I recommend the movie as an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. It's not overly gory, though, so fans of blood and guts should look elsewhere. The extras on the disc will keep you busy long after the credits roll. We get a behind the scenes feature explaining how the film dealt with all those spiders, a trailer, and a featurette that is essentially an advertisement for Peretti's other books. Another featurette, called "Frank Peretti: From Page to Screen," is a behind the scenes look at the movie containing interviews with the author and the filmmakers. If you like this movie, check out other projects from director Rafal Zielinski. His film "Fun" is about as far as you can get from this movie subject wise, but it's also worth a look. Enjoy.

I've read both of Frank Peretti's books in this series and loved them. I was so excited when I heard from one of my friends that they were making a movie out of it. The movie follows the book very closly though there were a couple of changes to make the movie more interesting.
It wasn't extremely scary except for the part with the spiders(I hate spiders:)
Both me and my sister enjoyed this movie alot. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Frank Peretti was in the movie too, playing the part of Professor Algernon Wheeling.
I hope that they make the sequel,Nightmare Academy, into a movie next.

When I first saw Hangman's Curse, it was on the 13 Nights of Halloween on ABC Family. Because of this, I thought it'd be really scary and have real ghosts and all, so I was a little disappointed with the ending. But I then rented it, and -- since I was pretending I was not expecting it to be completely horror-filled -- I loved it!
This movie reminds us all of our high schools with the different cliques: jocks, popular kids, goths, geeks, etc. It also plays with people's feelings of not fitting in and being picked on by the popular kids. This movie relates to a lot of people, and that's what makes it so good. (And the guy who plays Ian Snyder. My friend and I both agree he's so hot! Well, when he's a goth. At the end when he goes nice he's still cute, but not hot.)
Some people are saying they were disappointed with the film because it didn't have a strongly-emphasized Christian message and all, like Frank Peretti's novels. But I am not familiar with Peretti's works, so I was never expecting this to be a very Christian movie. Now that I know it is a Christian movie, I may watch it in a new light, but I will still love it.
All in all I think this was a great movie.

The only reason I did not give this movie five stars was because of the spiders. I'm severely arachnophobic, and if I'd known what was to come in the last half hour, I would probably never have hired this film.
That aside, I was disappointed to read so many negative inferences into the film. I did not see it as perpetuating the whole 'Jocks/mainstream is good - Goth is evil' thing. It was, however, a strong effort to warn both mainstream students about the evil in oppressing someone just because they are a little bit different (karma always comes back to bite you in the rear), and a warning to anyone suffering at the hands of bullies about the dangers of trying to take revenge.
I also believe people have completely mis-interpreted the thanksgiving prayer right at the end of the film. It was a young man who was making his first effort at saying a prayer, and if anyone thinks God wouldn't have had a smile for him needs to take a good look at their own attitudes.
There is plenty to be positive about with this movie. One of my favourite points was when one of the Goth students tries to hang himself, and one of the jocks that had previously been harassing him ran to help and save him.
Hangman's Curse is a good story. My only concern is the lack of emphasis on the family's Christian beliefs. It is worth watching, though - assuming you're not arachnophobic.

This was a passable mystery (in a sort of Dawson's-Creek-meets- Prime-Suspect sort of way), and the production values are good. However, as a fan of Frank Peretti's previous books I was VERY disappointed to find that there was no spiritual or Christian message to the film at all. (No, saying "grace" over a picnic meal does not count as a substantive spiritual message!)

Being a filmmaker myself I understand that films must be aimed at the broadest possible audience, but in removing any spiritual message from the film they have removed the very element that makes Peretti's work stand out from other secular horror/mystery writers. They've removed the heart.

In fact, the students in the film who were apparently involved in witchcraft come off as more or less INNOCENT VICTIMS of the individual perpetrating the crimes! There was no real rebuke or correction of their involvement in witchcraft at all, much less a presentation of the Christian gospel. (Yes, the Veritas boy in passing warns the other boy about getting involved with spiritual powers, but this is just a brief mention, very watered-down).

This was all the more disappointing after viewing the "making of" featurette in which Peretti is presented as having a complete involvement in the film project (his professor role in the film is played a bit over the top, not surprising if you've seen his Saturday kid's show). One would think that Peretti himself would see the absolute necessity of presenting or preserving spiritual themes in the work, since that has been the root of his success as a writer of Christian fiction. After all, we don't NEED another Stephen King. We do, however, need the Peretti of his early books (PROPHET being arguably the best).

Peretti mentions in the featurette that he is working to perhaps get his other books produced as films. That sounds exciting, but if he allows the screenwriters to water them down and have little spiritual emphasis as they've done in this case, he needn't bother.


As a mystery, this is a nice little thriller for young people (if you don't mind the "bad-boy" element of the student witches or the hard rock music), but it is by no means a "Christian" film in it's themes, or spiritually substantive. Enjoy it as a nice mystery story, but if you're a Peretti fan I think you'll be VERY disappointed that it packs no spiritual substance behind the surface story.

I watched this on November 1st. It would have been appropriate watching it a day earlier. This is a very scary movie, relying on terror rather than bloods and guts. It is rated PG-13, and deservedly so, but this is one PG-13 movie that is ideal for a teen-age audience (but not for a younger audience) as opposed to PG-13 movies which are close to being an R-rated movie.

The acting is not Academy Award worthy but is good. Especially good is the supporting role of Algernon played by Frank Peretti, who wrote the book this was based on. If Peretti wasn't busy writing, he should consider a career as being a comic actor. He was excellent comic relief.

Also good were the background songs, especially those by Renfey. Her MySpace picture does not fit the audience who would watch a pair of movies she did songs for (this one and "The Visitation", based on another Peretti story).

There is a subtle message to the movie concerning the fallacy of "survival of the fittest," and there are expressions of the Christian faith, but as I said, it is subtle. Those offended by the faith in this movie are offended by any Christian exercise of freedom of religion.

The Hangmans Curse was well recieved by my grade nine and ten english and drama classes. They enjoyed the story and the characters. Some found the acting to be a bit overdone. I enjoyed the story because of the anti-bullying theme. Treating others with respect was a huge focus in the film, however, it wasn't a nagging or preaching kind of movie. When I told my students that it was produced by a christian group, they were rather suprised. As I am not christian, nor are manyof my students, I was worried about bringing the movie into a class. However, on the many recomendations of my students, I finally consented to allow them to watch it and I'm very glad that I did.

I have to admit I wasn't sure if I would like this movie. I am a Christian, but I hate to say it, a lot of Christian movies have left me wanting more. I bought this as a gift for a sick family member, and watched it with my family. I'm not ashamed to say that this movie had excellent connotations and considerations, and hit home on several issues that need to be directed upon.

The biggest issue is that of bullying and bullies. As in Columbine, remember that?, Frank Peretti's book and movie was not so much about telling people how to be saved, but to address point blank the horrors found in our schools today. Whether its the jocks against the nerds against the goths, there's pain spread all around, and sooner or later, as seen on national news these days, something gives. And usually, that ends up with someone or someones dead. This movie talks about this in very good ways, very realistic ways, showing the anger and the attacks and the psychological damage done by bullying. The main characters are thrust into having to see the cause and effect, having to see the evils of what kids will do to other kids.

The highschool in the movie was a true to life theater of the anguishes found in being a young adult today. Trying to fit in, trying to fight back, trying to just maintain some sort of sanity when there is so much going on around you and such little foothold (especially if you aren't a Christian, and even then you have to let God bring you through it His way, not your own way). The background characters, whether the goths or the nerds showed true, having trouble to fit in, having trouble to figure out, having trouble to find some dignity in a teenage wasteland where there is so little. In this movie I felt for these kids because I know that a lot of these feelings and angers and anamocities between groups is real. I myself faced bullying by many and I myself was a bully to some, thank God for Salvation to wash the sins away from the heart.

Yes there could have been a greater depth of Christian religious worldview in the movie. The movie makers, in my opinion, should have used the Christian worldview as the moral compass that directs the main character family against what was happening in the Hangman's Curse. As the truth of the Bible, as read and as shown by God, there is a need to confront social problems in our lives...whether its the abortion issues, witchcraft preying upon the hearts of our children, or bullying...there is a great need for a direct Christian response to the horrors of the world. Sadly, this movie didn't home into that.

Still, I have to give the movie company who worked this project out some strong credit. The acting, the actions, the mystery itself was intriguing and well worth the seeing. Even if one is not a Christian, I am sure the issues (the main being bullying) hits home with a lot of people because I would say a lot probably had to face that in their past, whether they were the instigators or the targets.

All in all, yes it wasn't a direct Christian movie, but still, it was a strong adventure and I am not sad to say I bought the DVD. You will be entertained, and you will have to face the issues addressed in this movie in your own mind and heart. I hope that more of Frank Peretti's works will be published in movie form soon.