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Hangman's Curse

Hangman's Curse

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $13.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hangman's Curse
Review: Someone pointed this movie to me when I got a story of mine published on <u>Reality Check: A Horror Anthology</u>. This was my first real introduction to Frank Perretti's work and must say this is a movie that is well worth watching a few times. Perretti did a descent job acting in a role of a character he created in his books. I am just curious if they're planning to bring The Oath to film because I can only imagine how fun that would be. True there are going to be a few bad reviews of this one, I wish I owned this one the moment it came out but must say if it was in the hands of an equally talented director this movie would be a force to deal with. Perretti, if you are reading this I have a lot of respect for you as an author and you did well as an actor. From one horror writer to another, you know how to create suspense -- this is coming from someone who was a bit skeptical at first. I read The Prophet briefly but I want to be able to get some of his books.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Epitome of Stupidity Passing For a Film
Review: The hackeneyed FRANK PERETTI has brought this eyesore into reality in the name of Christian entertainment.
This film is a perfect example of modern day CORPORATE CHRISTIANITY teaching values that emphasize conformity rather than CHRIST.
This film is probably one of the best examples ever of why so many people turn from christianity in disgust. THIS is what being a christian is about? Encouraging goth kids that by dressing more ABERCROMBIE & FITCH they will have a better chance at life, and hence getting into heaven.

HANGMAN'S CURSE will also date itself faster than the pet rock over the next few years so there is no danger that it will ever become a classic like THIEF IN THE NIGHT with all it's dated trappings. HANGMAN'S CURSE is just chock full of drag queen lingo, like "Oh snap!" at every turn.

The film is a wanna be X-FILES/SPY KIDS knock off and the female lead is as annoying as you could ever find. Probably one of the most contemptable characters in the history of bad cinema this little girl loves to flirt and then turn in off, flirt and turn it off, flirt and turn it off, with her interracial boyfriend. Of course it is fine if she flirts up a storm as long as she doesn't actually have sex. This girl is the PATIENT 0 of EVERYTHING that is wrong with youth culture.

Frank Peretti unfortunatley appears in a role and is actually worse than Stephen King was in CREEPSHOW...so it can't get much worse.

This movie fails on every front. Why would ANYONE want to be like this family, be interested in this family, or be insprired to become a christian because of this family? They are the epitome of bland vacuity and conformity. They are not only stupid but uninteresting and unoriginal.

I for one did not realize that making a committment for Jesus Christ turned a person into something worse than a STEPFORD WIFE.

I mean Jesus did not come into the world and then pray to God in the garden of Gethsemene, "Gee God, thank you that my girlfriend is so hot..." (as does one of the characters before the end of the film, in front of her father and mother and several other people, all while saying grace. I always thought that saying grace was to thank God for the food, not to talk about how you can't wait to have sex with your girlfriend).
The bible does have Jesus pray to God saying, "Lord, teach us how to pray..." There is no example in the bible of God asking mankind to champion lust while thanking Him for the food.

Frank Peretti seems more obsessed with using current lingo, like 'Booty Call' than in providing any sort of framework for someone who might even be interested in Jesus.

This movie has NOTHING to do with anything. As family entertainment it is bad and insulting to the intelligence. As evangelism is not even lukewarm.

My advice to Perretti...why not just make a freaking horror film and not disguise it as CHRISTIAN entertainment. Dude, you are so are beyond hypocrital.

This movie basically says...if you dress in black and listen to 'devil music' you are BAD. If you change your ways and wear brighter colors and hang out with blonde families you will be saved!!

There are not enought words in any thesaurus to illustrate just what a piece of crap this movie is.

If this is all Christianity offers we might as well sell our souls to Satan right now and at least have some fun.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: GREAT LESSON!
Review: The Hangman's curse is a great movie it sends a lessons that most High schools can relate to. and sadly some times bulling can result to a tradgic event like in the movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining Thriller
Review: The Hangman's Curse, based on Frank Peretti's novella The Veritas Project: The Hangman's Curse, is a tight little gothic thriller about a family who work on solving mysteries that appear to have a supernatural element. Rogers High School appears to be haunted by the ghost of Abel Frye, a young man who hung himself on school property ten years before the events that occur in the story. The Springfield family (what appears to be an inside joke....where are the Simpsons from?) infiltrate the school to find out why certain students go screaming insane from a visit by the late Abel Frye. The explanation of the mystery is creative and ingenious though scientifically impossible, but it makes for a good story if you can suspend disbelief.

The acting is quite good though the actor portraying Norman Bloom is a little stiff and Peretti is given to a bit of overacting. The soundtrack has some excellent musical interludes and it is easy to see the director knew what he was doing. I appreciate that goths, geeks, and jocks are portrayed as human beings without resorting to the temptation of stereotypes.

It is interesting to read reviews that are more interested in what they view as too much or too little of a Christian gospel message. The Hangman's Curse is neither an evangelistic tract or a brainwashing tool. It is 106 minutes of fairly good entertainment where, because the main characters happen to be Christians, they act like Christians would act. And yet, in no place does the film become a bully pulpit even with the scene concerning prayer in school. The scene portrays a natural give-and-take that occurs in schools everywhere everyday. If anything, the real "in-your-face" message of the movie is about the horrors of schoolyard bullying.

Bottom line: The Hangman's Curse is an entertaining PG-13 thriller you could show at a teen youth retreat or just kick back for a personal evening's diversion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent.
Review: The movie is exceptional in almost all aspects. With a story as intricate as Hangman's Curse (a Frank Peretti book targeted towards teenagers), I didn't expect much less. The storyline is unique, as is the setting for it. For having a cast mostly containing 14-18 year olds, I thought that the acting was very good. Hangman's Curse will not dumb down it's story with sex, gore, or cuss words. With that said, there was still just as much shock and awe and pyschological twists, with the added security of it being okay for your teenager to watch. I highly reccommend this thriller with Christian values and good morals.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: review
Review: The movie was a bit off in some parts compared to the book. As much as i liked Elijah character the acting in the movie was not very good in some of the scenes because it made it so obious that they were acting out interogating places. the acting for the most part was good.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Okay movie
Review: This moive was okay. I was expecting more, after all the author was in the movie. I watched the extra with him in it, and he said that the film was more than he could imagine, but I don't agree. The ending was really the only part that they kept entirely true to the book, and while that is the best part it was still a disapointment. I would reccomend the book over the movie, however, if one hadn't read the book then they would probably think this movie was great.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not Christian? Don't bother.
Review: This movie is horrid! Horrid! Horrid!

Fortunately, I just rented this piece of self-serving "Jesus Loves Me" Christian trash. I was expecting a good "suspensful" movie about high school students being haunted by a curse of a hangman. Instead, it was a cheesy propaganda film about the supposed ghost of a bullied teen from the 80's who hung himself in the "forbidden wing" of the high school. Uhm, not to be nitpicky, but Webster's defines a "hangman" as "A man employed to execute condemned prisoners by hanging," not someone who hangs themselves. Oh, and I wish this was the only illogical plot point. But there's more--enough to make Jesus fall off his cross in laughter.

For reasons unknown to me, Christians are unable to harness traditionally secular art forms without making a product that is lame, boring, and completely artistically invalid. For examples, see virtually any Christian rock band, or, for film buffs, this movie. I can think of nothing worse than to be limited to watching only this sort of poorly-acted, embarrassingly scripted, heavy-handed low-budget junk. It's completely unfair to put this in a place where normal horror-movie fans might see it. Imagine expecting a Slayer CD and getting DC Talk. Same effect.

To be fair, there are two good things about this movie:
1. I rented it and did not have to pay for it (Thank you movie pass!)
2. Jake Richardson ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back") is hotter than the fires of hell.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: SAVED BY THE CRAWLIES
Review: Until it's spider filled climax, HANGMAN'S CURSE is a banal, dull, and soporific "thriller." Granted, it's nice to see a "Christian" horror movie, and Frank Peretti is to be commended for trying to reach a young audience in a genre not accustomed to saying a prayer before a meal. The direction is tepid, and only manages to be suspenseful once we find out the spiders are the culprits, along with one of the students whose guilt is obvious the first time we see him. Again, we get goths with their black lipstick, black clothing, saying they want to be different, but the same in their own goth world. Leighton Meeser is good in the role of Alicia; she should have a great future ala Lindsay Lohman. Douglas Smith as her brother is more wooden and thespianistic, but he shows promise. Frank Peretti should be ashamed of himself for even appearing in the movie; hopefully, he'll stick behind the word processor and not force us to watch him over emote as he did in the role of the "genius". Mel Harris and David Keith are wasted as the parents, although Keith puts out a little more than Ms. Harris (who must still be in her thirtysomething phase?). Almost as banal as an afterschool special, the movie only delivers its promised chills when the spiders come out. The special feature about Brian Gibbs, the spider wrangler, is fun; Gibbs is also the rat wrangler for the movie "The Rats." He should have played Peretti's role.
Rent it, but unless you're really a Peretti fan, you shouldn't want to purchase it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wonderful film with moving ending!
Review: Well, the movie wasn't exactly the best, but, it is among my favorites. I feel this movie did a very good job with twists and turns throught the movie which keep you guessing. More importantly to me is the issue of high school stereotypes. I am labeled as a "goth" in my school because I choose to dress in black clothes, listen to heavier music,find pleasure in being alone and watching horror survival movies. Stereotypes are something that really shouldn't exist. Everyone should just be themselves and that's all there is to it. I won't give away the end of this movie, but, it practically drove me to tears when I seen it.


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