Hangman's Curse

2003

Hangman's Curse

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

Hangman's Curse Photos

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Movie Info

A family of paranormalists investigates the strange goings-on at a high school still reeling over a student's very public suicide in this teen thriller. Hangman's Curse concerns the further exploits of the Veritas Group, a loose collective of people committed to researching supernatural mysteries. The group's members include the Springfield family -- parents Nate (David Keith) and Sarah (Mel Harris) and Elisha (Leighton Meester) and Elijah (Douglas Smith) -- whose current assignment takes them to the aforementioned high school. There, they find that Abel, the teen who took his life, had been long ostracized by various cliques in the school -- jocks, popular kids, and the like -- all of whom are falling prey to mysterious ailments. As Nate and Sarah watch from the sidelines, it's up to Elisha and Elijah to pose as students to get inside the mystery. Hangman's Curse was based on the novel by Christian author Frank Peretti.

Rating:

PG-13 (for elements of violence/terror and for brief drug material)
Genre:

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:

Rafal Zielinski
Written By:

Kathy Mackel, Stan Foster
In Theaters:

Sep 12, 2003 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Mar 30, 2004
Runtime:

106 minutes
Studio:

20th Century Fox

Cast

David Keith
as Nate Springfield

Mel Harris
as Sarah Springfield

Leighton Meester
as Elisha Springfield

Douglas Smith
as Elijah Springfield

Bobby Brewer
as Leonard Baynes

Frank Peretti
as Professor Algernon

Daniel Farber
as Norman Bloom

Edwin Hodge
as Blake Hornsby

Andrea Morris
as Crystal Sparks

Margaret Travolta

Jake Richardson

William R. Moses

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Critic Reviews for Hangman's Curse

All Critics (6) | Top Critics (2) | Rotten (6)

Glacial pacing and a series of highly unlikely plot contrivances manage to obscure positive attributes and leave you feeling like you've just seen a rather mediocre TV movie-of- the-week.

Sep 11, 2003 | Rating: C- | Full Review…

Matt Weitz
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic
We definitely could use more wholesome teenage flicks, but Hangman's Curse is just plain hokum -- not so much for the values it tries to convey, but the slipshod way it conveys them.

Sep 11, 2003 | Rating: .5/4 | Full Review…

Lou Carlozo
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic
... [these] are Christian filmmakers stooping to use the same manipulative storytelling tactics that anti-Christian filmmakers often use to express their own bias.

Sep 19, 2007 | Rating: D | Full Review…

Jeffrey Overstreet
Christianity Today
The film does keep viewers' attention, and has some shining scenes. But it might also leave readers wondering how a pretty good book ended up as a not-so-great movie.

Sep 25, 2006 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Todd Hertz
Christianity Today
Unless you suspend all rationality, The Hangman's Curse makes little sense

Mar 16, 2004 | Rating: 3/5

Blake French
Filmcritic.com
The story makes little sense, while offering few surprises and even fewer scares...it might be a cinematic act of faith for some, but simply as a movie it's a travesty.

Sep 13, 2003 | Rating: F | Full Review…

Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

View All Critic Reviews (6)

Audience Reviews for Hangman's Curse

Apr 30, 2008

Piss poor film. Don't watch it. The writer of Hangman's Curse, Frank Peretti has a small part as Dr. Algernon Wheeling. One of the most annoying performances I've seen since I watched "Heartstopper" the other week.

The M Super Reviewer
May 22, 2007

This kind of had a Scooby Doo kind of feell to it. Had its moments but otherwise pretty dull. The acting wasn't great either and I oufnd myself not liking the character that Frank Peretti was portraying.

Ken D Super Reviewer