Hangman's Curse

Rating:
Summary: God, goths, and mutant spiders!
Review: "Hangman's Curse" tells the creepy story of the pain of bullying and the consequences of revenge, with the eight-legged executioners.

Something's getting the bullies at a high school, and a family of investigators goes undercover to find out what's going down. Like most schools, this one's got a fair share of bullies, who pick on the resident goth population. The goths are looking for some otherworldly revenge, and it appears to be working.

The movie does start off slow and a little awkward, but you see the tension building as the plot structure grows. The acting, for the most part is OK, and while Frank Perretti's character is a little annoying, you can tell he was having fun, and that joy was infectous.

So, have fun with a movie that is clean, but still gives you a good laugh and good chill, both at the right times!

Rating:
Summary: Afterschool/Saturday Morning Children's Special At Best
Review: Abel Frye is a troubled young boy experiencing the stereotypical trials and tribulations of those less fortunate high school teens. He's being picked on and bullied by those larger and stronger than himself. When Abel decides to hang himself because he just can't take anymore of the humiliation, not many people think too much of it. That particular section of the school where the hanging took place gets closed off, and Abel Frye becomes a legend future student's talk about.

Ten years after the tragic death of Abel Frye in "the forbidden wing," students on the school's football team begin to experience hallucinations that later lead to a comatose state. A family (two parents and their two kids) who happens to be a group of paranormal investigators comes in to check out the occurrences. The prevailing theory around campus seems to be that Abel Frye's ghost is coming back to claim some victims. A group of creepy looking goth kids are accused of practicing witchcraft and summoning back the ghost of Abel to harm those who are less than accepting of their differences. Is there actually paranormal activity going on in the school? Or is there a more logical reason for the occurences?

This movie starts out decently enough. The story is intriguing and the plot is cohesive. However, I think that this movie could have been a lot better. The acting was decent, but the special effects were not so special. I didn't find this movie to be the least bit suspenseful, thrilling, or scary. I also felt that the ending was somewhat of a disappointment. The children investigators reminded me too much of Spy Kids and thus I felt the movie played out much more like a children's flick or Saturday morning special than the intense thriller/horror movie that it's being marketed as.

Two stars for a good, cohesive plot that was somewhat original, but none for overall cinematic execution. I would recommend trying the book and staying away from the movie. Perhaps good for a rental, but definitely not worth buying.

Rating:
Summary: Watch your locker. Watch your back. Watch your soul.
Review: After watching Hangman's Curse, I have to say that I don't at all mind the small changes made from book to screen. While some thought the Elisha-romance subplot was annoying and out-of-place, I thought that it made me care about the characters. Also, while this is a Christian movie, it is not preachy; in fact, Christianity is barely mentioned at the end of the movie. Some say that the acting and screenwriting in this movie sucks. The acting and screenwriting is actually very good, when compared to some of the Hollywood blockbusters now (Attack of the Clones, anyone?) As for author Frank Peretti's extended cameo, his acting was not over-exaggerated, and the lisp, believe it or not, was not faked.

Overall, Hangman's Curse was a good movie for its budget - and it has an extremely important undercurrent about bullying.

Rating:
Summary: It's a start
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: It's a start
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: wow...i mean, wow
Review: Dude. I'm glad this wasn't in theatre. It would've been so...I don't know, worn out? It's so good. I'll admit, it's not exactly oscar worthy, but it's entertaining. Jake Richardson is hot, I might add. It's a teenage "thriller," and I think everyone can relate to at least one of the characters. In a way it's kind of like John Hughes meets Hitchcock - some may say "hey, that's my school!" while still having a horror twist. I'm a huge John Hughes fan, but I'll admit it's no Hitchcock. Hitchcock had a certain style, but that's something completely different.

Bottom line: it's a teenage horror film and fun to watch. GO SEE IT. Jake Richardson is HOT.

Rating:
Summary: Swang!
Review: First of all, I was so excited about this movie, and reading all these reviews is totally getting me down. I love The Hangmans Curse, and I don't think that people are dgiving it the credit it deserves (of course everyone is biased, and obviously I'm coming from a bias of really really likeing the film:)) I personally thought that the acting was very good, Ian Snyder was the second hottest guy in the world, and that Elijah Springfield was absolutly adorable. But as I thought about all this, I realized that these, suprisingly, were not the reasons that I enjoy the movie so much, and felt compelled to watch it twice within the space of five days and reeally want to see it again. The reason is this: I love movies that make me feel something, this one did just that, I laughed hystrically (ok, maybe not that hard) and I cried at least three times. Another reason that I like it so much is that after it was over, I felt disturbed, but in a good way. The kind of way that made me examine my own life, see the prejudices that I had towards people at my own high school, and it stirred me to reach out to them in the name of Jesus. Ok, hahaha this sounds so cheesy, sorry about that. Oh, on a side note this movie was SO SCARY! I'm serious! I may be the only person on the entire planet who thinks this but it is the creepiest thing! yeah the worst thing: elisha's clothes bugged me so much. Ok haha the end
oh yeah one more thing, the movie is actually better then the book, no seriously, the book is just depressing!

Rating:
Summary: In light of the agenda...not bad
Review: First off let me just be straight forward about this. I hate being preached to, and this movie does have a Christian agenda to it, don't be surprised by that.

There are several scenes that made me wince because it just reeked of the syrupy after-school right-wing "Jesus loves you," slant that most Christian based art comes from. Now, I don't entirely fault the film makers for this because obviously if you choose to make a film you have the right to pretty much take whatever perspective you want and propogate that. I mean, Oliver Stone does that all the time.

So, let me just say that the problem was that alot of the obvious Christian agenda was faulty for that reason, it was so clunky, and conspicuous that it made the film seem amateurish.

The scene with a debate in class over whether prayer in school is wrong...please, take this scene out and the movie jumps up a few notches. The prayer scenes also seemed contrived like, "we need to get more preachy, so let's throw in a scene where this happens..." I mean I will cut them some slack because if you're christian than perhaps you would react to these situations with prayer. So it's not totally out of left field.

Basically you have a film that is part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, part X files, and part Christian after school special.

So what do you get?
Actually, a decent film, that entertained, and despite the preachiness, wasn't altogether too bad.
There are some plot flaws, such as a high school drama club actually making a functioning hangmans gallow as part of their play? And a play that deals with the subject that the school is in the midst of reeling from in terms of their students suffering. Weird.

Ok,
so bottom line. If you don't want preachiness. Don't watch. If you can get past that...not a bad film.
Great if you have younger kids who want some scares and you don't want any foul language. There is no nudity, violence, or profanity in the film.

So there you have it. I won't revisit the film. But it's not bad for what it is. A Christian agenda horror mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Bad Portraying-Good Movie
Review: First off, I would like to say the movie in itself was great, but the way Frank Peretti portrayed his characters were a little...disturbing.

Throughout the whole movie, the teens believe in a curse haunting down the jocks, because of their cruelity to those who are different. They believe the source of the curse is a boy named Abel Frye, whom hung himself 10 years earlier. You witness the oh-so-common goth vs. jock fighting, but the way they portrayed the religion in this movie, Christianity and Witchcraft made me very, very angry...

You see, I am a Wiccan and the author did a very POOR job researching Witchcraft. He was confusing it with Satanism, the two are very different. I was also enraged how the movie's message was: "If your not a Christian, than your evil." Also, at the end he seems to make a joke about Christianity, when a character says Grace but thanks God for "blessing him with such a hot girl and how, thanks for not having her dad kill him for just saying that." Somehow, at the end, they got all the goths to wear American Eagle, and as a result to wearing a t-shirt they are saved.

Besides from the screw-up portraying of Witchcraft and despite how the movie was saying "Christian people reign over all," I thought the plot was excellent and the ending was great. If you can over-look the religious problems, you will find a great movie underneath.

Rating:
Summary: good buy
Review: firstly: Keep in mind that the book this movie is based off is written with a young adult/teen focus. With that in mind, this movie was great. I thought the Spiders were creepy, the plot engadging and the acting great. For a first movie by Frank Peretti, it was good. I look foward to his adult books being turned into movies... they would be awesome.

Best things I like about the movie: NO cursing, sex, brutal violence, blood/gore, and it had a great lesson to be learned. This DVD was well worth the $20 I spent.