CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Here are the unvarnished facts about Hangman's Curse: It's a B-grade horror flick that melds elements of Arachnophobia, Pax TV's short-lived exploration of supernatural phenomena Mysterious Ways (or ABC's even shorter-lived Miracles) and an auditorium full of diehard Marilyn Manson fans. Then, to celebrate, it concludes with a rousing rendition of "Doxology," a stunt that feels about as fluid as postscripting Scream 3 with the "Hallelujah Chorus." On the plus side, this film is exceedingly tame by today’s "horror movie" standards, and the creators went out of their way to avoid gore, profanity and sexual content. "If we can get something out there that will still scare the kids, and give them a thrill, but give the parents a better choice, that's what we're trying to do," says Hangman's Curse media representative Melany Ethridge.

When an author builds up a strong reputation in the book world, it’s hard as cinder blocks to make a smooth transition to the big screen. One has only to look as far as secular horror maven Stephen King and his early stabs at big screen glory to see just how hard. So it's beyond this critic's conscience to spend too much time weighing the cinematic plusses and minuses of Hangman's Curse. But fans of Peretti's supercharged supernatural novels (especially his early ones), know that he practically reinvented the contemporary Christian understanding of supernatural conflict. And they’ll want to know why his first movie doesn’t emphatically pin the tail on the demon. So Plugged In asked Mr. Peretti that exact question: "Why doesn’t Hangman’s Curse make a big deal out of spiritual warfare?" He responded, "I’m not really writing about spiritual conflict in the same way I was years ago. Hangman’s Curse [published in 2001] never was a book about spiritual warfare. It was a book about bullying. I guess one way to look at it is that we’re almost doing these movies in reverse. The choice of Hangman’s Curse for the first movie was purely a matter of money, of ability, of resources."

In Frank Peretti’s mind, Hangman’s Curse isn’t about creating an evangelistic tool. It’s about getting a thriller out there that’s not chock full of blood, lust and foul language. And it’s about confronting viewers with the pain bullying causes. Anyone looking for anything more will be sorely disappointed.

I normally NEVER go by crititcs most of the time its friends refferals.

Some scenes will be intense for younger viewers, but it's pretty tame.