I won't pretend that I understood this movie, but I thought maybe writing this review could help me figure out a thing or two…

Basically, Hangman's Curse is The X-Files meets 21 Jump Street. An elite FBI undercover squad made up of a husband, his wife and their two teenage kids (!) investigate unexplainable happenings. The family has been assigned to a high school where popular jocks are having deadly hallucinations involving Abel Frye, a student who committed suicide ten years earlier. Not a bad idea, but this family of supposedly slick sleuths has their covers blown on the first day! Like you wouldn't be suspicious of a janitor going through your locker!

So, the jocks start dropping like flies as the goth kids perform weird ritualistic ceremonies which are meant to conjure up the ghost of Abel while one of our teen agents falls in love! Talk about dedication! If this film doesn't drag you into a 90-minute slumber, you'll actually find a semi-interesting twist at the end and lots of spiders. Alas, too little to late…

Strange enough for a goth, but made for a Christian.

Shot like a really bad music video, this modern horror film masks a thinly veiled pro-religious angle. Hangman's Curse is one of those movies I wouldn't believe had a niche, but ironically it boasts a fairly strong following.

Credit that to Frank Peretti. He's a popular young adult writer who puts a religious spin on his suspense tales, such as this one, and he's built quite a cult for himself. He's apparently such an icon the filmmakers gave him the meaty part of Dr. Algernon. Peretti, who likens himself to the kooky but brilliant scientist character, comes off more like a cracked out Bruce Dern.

And just when I think I've got my finger on this movie, I find that the director, Rafal Zielinski, was the same guy who brought us such fun sex fare as Screwballs and National Lampoon's Last Resort! OK, I can get a handle on that, but what about misusing the wonderful David Keith/Keith David (as I like to refer to him since I always get his name mixed up with the David Keith/Keith David guy from The Thing!). Unfortunately, the scariest thing in this film was his ill-advised eye tuck!

Luckily, this 20th Century Fox DVD does have one interesting extra that I recommend to anyone bold enough to give it a spin. There is an expose of sorts involving the spider wrangler and an arachnophobic actor, William Moses (who deserves much better than this). It's a fun look at the mysteries of filmmaking and the lengths an actor will go to for the sake of his art.

So at least one mystery is solved. But as for the film itself, maybe the man upstairs would like it to be thought of as the great unknown…

(Click Here for DVD's Technical Specs)

AMANDA BY NIGHT