Hangman's Curse (2003) Online

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)

The movie starts up rather haphazardly and one is left wondering what is happening especially with a drug bust. The movie attempts a twist and turn but gives quite a number of clues away.

Great story of how students relate to each other - the bullies and the sports group. A few die violently due to strange causes; but all with a hangman graphic drawn in their locker. Police and security is unable to solve the case.

Enter a family of private investigators who live in a RV (recreational vehicle - a high end caravan) and take over the case. The sinister plot is unveiled complete with pentagrams and devil worship/voodoo stuff. A clear explanation to all this as the plot is unveiled.

If you watch the trailer, it gives away almost everything there. So don't watch the trailer on the DVD before the movie.

Watchable on that Sunday afternoon if you are not doing anything else. It's rated M 15+ here in Australia, probably because of a few scary, creepy scenes.

I was pleasantly surprised by "Hangman's Curse". As a Christian, I have seen many Christian-themed films that underwhelmed me with the story, acting, sets and cinematography. By the end of "HC" I said to my friend in the theater: "That was a good movie, Christian or not!" And if you're not Christian---don't worry. The movie is not heavy-handed with a religious message in any way (until one scene near the end). While the acting won't remind anyone of Olivier and Streep, it's pretty good. David Keith ('An Officer And A Gentleman', 'Daredevil') and Mel Harris ('thirtysomething') are very good. Frank Peretti---who wrote the book "Hangman's Curse", provides some good comic relief in his role as an eccentric scientist. I was also impressed that the makers of "HC" weren't afraid to include a subplot of an interracial romantic relationship. By far the story is the star of the "Hangman's Curse". It has plenty of plot twists, yet they were believable. My friend solved who/what was behind the Curse before I did (much to my chagrin!) You can tell that "HC" was not a cheaply-made movie. A few of the night scenes are a little too dark, but in other scenes the camera angles and close-ups helped maintain the suspense. Both teenagers and adults will enjoy this movie. I highly recommend that parents go see it with their teenage kids and discuss the issues of the movie afterward. It wasn't until I was leaving the theater that I realized that "Hangman's Curse" had no gory slasher scenes, no nudity and no profanity, yet was entertaining. When was the last time you could say that about a mystery/thriller film?

I watched this for the first time last night with a house full of 15 teenagers (half of them had already read the book). Between the spooky sounds, some good acting from most, and that creepy, unsettling feeling that kept building thoughout the movie... I rather enjoyed it.

With the 5.1 surround cranked way up and the lights turned down low, my skin did get goose bumps from time to time. (especially helping in this department is having a teen familiar with the book get up and run from the room saying, "I can't watch this part! I can't watch...")

I also rather enjoyed the "mystery" of the movie, which kept me guessing. And it's always great to find a movie that doesn't have to resort to trash talk in it's dialog.

I'm ready for the Veritas gang to take on another incident. Bring it on!

I saw this on TV, on Showtime Next during a free preview and loved it. I was quite surprised when I discovered that many others did not. It is a rare teen thriller. It was well-written and well-acted, and had a real message behind it but never got preachy. And many scenes, such as the one where Ian was going to hang himself after seeing Crystal get sick, and his proclamation of "She's all I've got" will tug at even the most cynical heartstrings. The films sense of morality is always there but it never overpowers the sense of suspense.

It contains some scary material, and mild violence, but the subject of bullying is more prevalent, and the way it is presented more disturbing than any actual content and will make kids think twice about teasing.

recommended for: teenagers who want a well-done thriller intended for teens, or parents who have horror-movie loving children, and want to know that they won't be demoralized by it.

David Keith and William R. Moses were the only two "known faces" in this film. Not being a Cruise-mobile or some other star vehicle, the story did not need to be altered to suit diva-ish whims. Instead the audience is given a ride through the corridors and personalities typical of high schools. This trip contains no slashing, mutilating, NO VOMITING! What was left? Suspense, good vs evil, numerous potential villains all traveling to a satisfying twist in the end. The one downer to me: the music was good at first, then OK and in the final scenes it was jarringly misguided. Nice job.

A note to anybody who has read the book: This is not a page for page movie version of the book. It is only loosely based on the book. That being said, I actually enjoyed this movie. It kept to the book (which was awesome) just enough to give a sense of familiarity, yet was original enough in it's own right that it still gave a few surprises. I actually liked the movie ending a lot better than the book ending, because it actually wrapped things up quite nicely. Even though the acting wasn't spot on, the actors still gave a decent representation of the book characters, especially Mr. Peretti. His performance as a crazy scientist was over the top and brilliant. For anybody watching this expecting a horror movie, you might be a little disappointed. There are a few "jump scenes", bit overall it's a pretty family friendly movie. So overall I recommend this movie.

This movie does a nice job of rendering the book. Granted similar themes have been touched upon as to the aspects of childhood spies and such, but there are some deeper themes coming across that need to be remembered.

The Primary theme of this first volume of the Veritas Project addresses the growing problem in our schools of bullying and its consequences. Peretti isn't just blowing off steam because of a childhood experiences, he's drawing from the studies done in the recent school shootings throughout the United States.

The villain in this movie is obviously much more sinister and intelligent than some teenager with an ax to grind and a 30-06', but the point is still clearly made.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons this movie is rated so low; people like to guess at meanings. The fact is that this movie is aimed at younger audiences. The plots and meanings are supposed to be apparent; bullying someone can lead to that person doing horrible things.

This plays much like one of those after school specials that used to be so popular. Having established this fact, it is a very well done and suspenseful. If you're 20 and don't enjoy it; GOOD! If you're 15 or 16 and think that this is a good flick, then you're in the right vein.

I watched this movie with lukewarm interest because I thought it was going to be another horror flick but I was wrong. It had enough suspense and thrill that kept me guessing who or what was behind the school incident. The twist wasn't the person I thought, was the mastermind. In the end, I liked the movie and would re-watch it when given the chance. I was quite intrigued about the Springfield family and how they were going to tackle this latest assignment. The acting was good, imo.

I didn't know the film was based from a book series until now. But, after seeing this movie, I'm going to check my local bookshop for this book. If there will be another film installment about the Veritas Project, I'll watch it.

7/10

"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 just watched this 'movie' and I must say that it was possibly one of the worst that I have ever seen.

First off there is the stereotypical portrayal of the goth subculture. By golly....all goths worship Satan and want their classmates dead! When I was a goth in high school(late 1980's)I personally worshiped a fellow student who committed suicide and prayed to him to kill all of the 'jocks'. You better believe it!!! It's like the makers of the film studied my life and patterned the 'goths' in the movie after me! WOW!!!If you can't tell that I am being sarcastic then you probably like this movie.

Everything about this movie is trite and patterned on stereotypes. Even the ending is typical. The 'evil' looking 'goth' kids suddenly change their clothes and are happy. As if changing your clothes can all of a sudden change your whole entire attitude. Every time I wear jeans and a 'normal' shirt I know that I feel at peace with the world and want to throw frisbees in a park.

About twenty minutes from the ending my boyfriend commented that he thought it was a 'christian' movie, and he was right. Who else but close minded bigots would portray a subculture is such a light. Instead of actually doing some research they perpetuated the whole 'goths' are evil stereotype. Not all Christians are bigots, but the people who made this movie are sure not practicing what they are preaching.

Stay away from this movie. If you are reading this while drunk you may want to look into it just for the pure entertainment value of seeing David Keith with an upside-down cross drawn on his forehead.

I read some of the other comments that people left about this film and found many of them to be very biased for or against. I think it is pretty silly to criticize the film for being too "Christian" when it is of course written by a Christian author. That is like complaining that your ice cream is cold, creamy and sweet. If anything, the Christian message was toned down. Some of the criticism was that the movie was too much like an after school special. I suppose that this criticism is intended to complain against the movie being written with a moral and with the intent of reaching a youthful audience. But again I ask, why criticize something for being what it is intended to be? This movie clearly WAS written to teach a moral and reach a youth audience, and it did a decent job of it, all the while keeping the viewer entertained. Frankly, anyone who believes that "secular movies" are not "preaching" a message are naive. Every writer, intentionally or unintentionally inevitably pours their beliefs and biases into their work. In our society this is fine, unless the message happens to be from a Christian perspective. Then it is branded as "preachy" or "religious" and dismissed as propaganda by the disingenuous as though all other genres are innocent of such bias. I enjoy watching both Christian AND secular movies... but I am not duped into believing that one is "selling" a message and the other is not.

I've seen many Christian films and they often suffer from bad scripts, bad acting, bad production and bad soundtrack. Some get one or two aspects right, rarely do they get them all right. This movie had good production, good soundtrack and a good script. Overall, the acting was good also, though Frank Peretti should not have allowed himself to be cast in this film. I love Frank's books, he is an awesome writer, but we can't expect to be good at everything and movie acting is not his talent. He played the character way over the top, becoming a parody... like someone out of an episode of Scooby Doo. Had he done the wise thing and insisted on a professional actor to play the professor it would have improved this movie, but don't let this one sour point stop you from seeing this film. Especially if you are a parent with 12 to 16 year olds, because this is a movie that you can watch with them without ever having to worry about surprise nudity or foul language. I get so annoyed with writers who have no imagination and believe that a movie is unauthentic if the characters don't curse every third word from their mouths. I see Bogart, Cagney, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne films that are just as compelling today as back in the day when they were made and guess what!! ...No Foul Language! Imagine that! I'd like to see more films made like Hangman's Curse that are able to keep me interested without resorting to swears and sex. For it's genre and intended audience, I give it a slightly generous 8 out of 10.

Although the title may scare some parents, I was even a little skeptical going into watch it my first time, but this was an excellent movie overall. Once again Frank Peretti blows away the audience with a gripping plot and amazing story. This movie contains some unexpected frightening images, so parental supervision is recommended. (Some scenes with drug references and suicide references as well. Suitable for anyone over the age of 14 in my opinion. ) I give it a 9 because some of the things in the movie don't make sense the first time around, and I would recommend watching it at least twice. Excellent message behind the movie, after viewing it for the first time, we watched it again for a youth group movie night. Excellent depiction of today's world and good moral lessons to be learned here.

If you like a good horror movie, I would recommend this one!

My Rating: 9 / 10

Well, Frank Peretti is making movies, and even appearing in them.

Just finished watching his new video, "Hangman's Curse". Now, it has the usual characteristics of Christian films: Forced and/or extraneous dialogue, cheezy over-acting (Peretti), overdrawn stereotypes and a too-inclusive ending.

It also has Mel Harris (Thirtysomething), David Keith (Firestarter), Billy Moses (Mystic Pizza) and some rather talented teen actors -- Meester and Smith.

HC is intended for a teen audience, and if they are not overly discriminating they should enjoy it. It isn't terribly preachy, like many Christian movies, and the plot is actually interesting (before it becomes obvious who the villain is).

The Christianity is sort of sprung on us at the end. There are hints of it during the film, and there are some insightful digs at the naturalistic worldview, but there could have been more obvious examples during the first hour, graduating into the expressions of faith later on.

At nearly two hours HC is also a bit too long, and it could have been shaved during editing to pick up the (leisurely) pace.

I got my copy at Wal-Mart for $10. It is also available at Christian book stores. It's worth seeing and it's a start -- hopefully if they do another one they'll be able to excise the annoying bits.

Someone should write them.

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')

The poor acting, among the ill thought writing made this movie only good to laugh at. If you enjoy cheesy movies that can give you laughs galore then i would strongly recommend this.

This film reminds me of a R.L. Stine book only with less talent, my 14 year old brother-in law thought it was childish crap. This movie goes to show what passes for entertainment today

As for the scare factor, i was more frightened by the Mr. Rodger's neighborhood Halloween special, it did give off a nice glow on my television while i was playing a board game with my friends though, that's the only compliment they will get from me.

it was good....

the witch magic stuff was cool, and the plot was OK.

i liked it a lot actually.. it showed the "highschool life" very well, portraying every negative part in it. they showed the jocks, the popular kids, the geeks, and the punks.....they were all so hot...and that part was very good...a lot like my life every day...without the deaths that is...

also...somehow Jake Richardson gets out of his pretty boy look, and into a goth/punk look that makes him SO HOT!!! this is actually one highlight in the movie...

i liked it....but be warned...the ending is very different from what it seems, and i want to warn those afraid of spiders before seeing it, because i was wigging for days after i saw it.....other than that, it was good...

This is an excellent movie for anyone in middle school to high school maybe even containing some college students. It shows the rebellion and differences between the "stero-types" and how the "cool" groups don't except the different people such as Goths and brains. Anyone who has ever been picked on or picked on someone should try to understand the pain it puts one through. It shows that you need to get along and how it can hurt someone so badly that it could push them over the edge such as Able. It also shows how teachers will ignore the student's cry for help just because they are on the team or in the club. It shows how favoritism hurts. *****10 STARS*****

Having been a fan of Frank Peretti and these books, I've been meaning to watch the movie ever since I heard about it a few months ago. It was much better than I thought it was going to be and well adapted to the screen. As always with films based on books, there were some plot changes, although not major ones. Minor changes in plot details didn't bother me, and seemed better for the screen than what was in the book. In some places there was some cheesy acting, but overall the acting was decent. The characterization and plot development is excellent, with just the right amount of clues to logically lead to the ending. This film is a good mix of action, suspense, light humor, and family wholesomeness. I highly recommend this film.

My friends had been pushing me to see this movie because a really cute guy was in there they kept telling me. That's the only reason I really wanted to see the movie to begin with. So I found out they were going to be giving the movie on TV so I waited patiently until it came on and as soon as it started within 20 seconds, my eyes were glued to the screen. As soon as the credits roll to start the movie, the action begins. This movie contains Romance, Thriller, Horror and some Comedy. Also the really cute guy...Jake Richardson...he's my new "man". He does a 100% awesome job in the movie and I would also recommend reading the book although I heard it was a bit different from the movie. Also, it's a Christian movie. So yea if your Christian you may like it.

I agree with plummer-1. My wife and I just watched this movie last night and were very impressed with the quality and content of this Christian film. We are both Christians and are usually very disappointed with Christian films, but were pleasantly surprised at the content and quality of Hangman's Curse. We were surprised also that this movie had such a good cast - it wasn't filled with people that we've never heard of. I would recommend this movie to pretty much anyone, however, there are some images that may not be appropriate for younger children. We are hoping that another Frank Peretti book is in the works for a film project soon!

I loved this film. I don't know why anyone wouldn't. Okay so the end is a little bit of a let down, but that shouldn't discount the rest of the film. I loved it up until the part where everyone is outside at the picnic where I thought it was 'OK.'

I'm surprised that there wasn't a larger viewing audience; this seems like the kind of movie a lot of people would like to see, it has the jocks beating up the nerds and the goths, I mean isn't that the type of movie everyone likes to see (please note the sarcasm)? I personally loved this film, and it's probably because I like movies that are out of the norm. If you haven't seen the movie or you haven't seen it before without listening to someone's comments first you should watch it unbiased for once and make up your own opinion.

I rented this movie to get a feel for Perretti's work and must say this is pretty dead on to what Perretti does as a horror writer, but he doesn't write flat out horror like his east coast counter part. I rented this because I wrote a spider story recently called "Bite of the Spider," on the Reality Check Anthology. Peretti is a talented writer and this is a must watch for those who are want to get familiar with his style of writing. Expect a lot of Christian themes in his work, and this is no different in that way.

This is a dark movie, though elements of Peretti appear in the characters and Dr. Wheeling is Perretti's quirk. As Stephen King does cameo in his movies, Peretti plays an active role in this one. I want to try and get a copy of this book, the ending is one to expect when if you are reading Peretti's books. A friend of mine swears by his work. I am surprised this movie got bad reviews, but Mr. Peretti if you are reading this you should bring your masterpiece to life -- titled The Oath or This Present Darkness.

Being what you were able to do with this movie -- it is a good moment to unleash that book onto the big screen. You should be the one writing it instead of a crew of screen writers. I think if Peretti actually wrote the screen play this thing would be a classic in this style of films. This one does have an element of Hitchcock and got to love the use of the spiders in the film.

I am 14 years old and personally I love this movie. But maybe it has sumthing to do with that i am kinda in the same situation....but that is not all that important. One u all r right that the end is stupid with Ian and Cyrstal wearing normal clothing and to me i am a true Goth/Punk and it is offensive but then o my goodness it is just a movie. Although once a goth always a goth. Hehehehehe. But i loved this movie i have watched like 500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times. Lol. Probably more than that. Well i haver to call AJ me bf. And no i am not to young to have one.....But this movie is a good movie to watch and u all r stupid if u think this movie is scary. MUahhhh cuz its not at all creepy.

"Hangman's Curse" shows a remarkable improvement in Christian film for it's storyline and it's photography. Frank Peretti novels are an excellent basis for films, they have so much complexity and suspense to make for an interesting film. And the photography in this film is top nouch, much better than the "soap opera" treatment most Christian films get. This film look stunning and although this book was written for a bigger budget, the special effects are pretty good. What I think I liked most about this film instead of making it cater to the teen audience by adding horrendous drinking, drug use and loads of pre-marital sex, it concentrates on providing an interesting story, and teaches good lessons about being accepting and being careful of what you say to other people as well.

Hangman's Curse could have been much scarier, the book is downright bone-chilling even for a kids novel. This of course, is partly due to the special effects the able Frye scenes are the hurt the most, although if I made this film I think it could have been much scarier if there was no "high contrast" when able would pop up on the screen if they just saw able hanging there with no effect. That would have been cooler, anyway the effects here are so/so and therefore the scares are so/so.

The acting is the low point for the film THE REALLY low point. The acting here is terrible, whereas the story and photography of the film is the best I have seen in Christian film, this has to be the worst in Christian film. It's absolutely terrible. The only actors here that shine are David Keith and the girl that plays his daughter, she's a very promising young actress. Giving a great performance.

Christian films from Christian film companies (ie not "The Passion of The Christ" which was given a 30 million dollar budget from mel Gibson) haave a long way to go before being respected me thinks, but "Hangman's Curse" is definitely a step in the right direction with "The Passion of The Christ" and "Luther" I think Christian film has what it takes to become great.