Hangman (2015)

[Morbid]

Here's another movie that suffers from a horrible title that almost swayed me from watching it - like Bone Tomahawk (fucking great movie that everyone should watch).



The entire movie is shown via surveillance and handheld cameras - but it's not a found footage film, per se. The protagonist of the film (the Hangman, I guess, and a mix between Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs and the Tooth Fairy from Red Dragon), breaks into people's homes and installs cameras. He then takes up residence in the attic of the home and watches the families before eventually making his appearance known.

The movie focuses on his latest target, a couple with two children. It's fairly effective in spots - especially since we have featured stories involving intruders living in people's homes without them knowing. He stands over the sleeping couple, eats their food, puts bodily fluids in their drinks, and other creepy shit. But eventually he ramps things up and begins interfering with their lives in other, more impactful ways - leading up to the final encounter.

Some of the film is implausible, but not so much that I was rolling my eyes. My only real complaint would be the way it ended. I have a much better way it could have ended that would have made this film a must-see. But as it stands, Hangman just barely makes my worth-watching list. Unlike that Cabin Fever remake - I mean, the original was bad enough... the remake was just a God-awful, scene-by-scene retelling.

 

[Nell]

They remade Cabin Fever? Why?

Anyway this looks pretty good, and I'm not a huge fan of found footage or hand held camera films. Like Unfriended. That fucker was painful to watch.

 

[CalleighB]

Is any of it jerky like the Blair Witch movie? If it is, I can't watch it. I still haven't managed to sit through more than about 10 minutes of the Blair Witch without feeling sick and getting a massive headache.

 

[Nell]

Is any of it jerky like the Blair Witch movie? If it is, I can't watch it. I still haven't managed to sit through more than about 10 minutes of the Blair Witch without feeling sick and getting a massive headache.

I went to see that in theater with my pregnant friend and she puked and wet her pants.

 

[Macabre]

I'm putting both in my queue.

 

[JackBurton]

Bone Tomahawk was fantastic.

Interesting/creepy premise for this one

 

[Morbid]

I keep thinking about this movie... not because it was great, but because it really could have been. Here's how I would have ended the film. Be warned, for those who have not watched it, the following contains MAJOR spoilers.

Spoiler: BIG OL' SPOILERS

So, to recap the ending, the Hangman obviously tries to get rid of the husband by making it look as if he was having an affair. It is also implied that the wife was pregnant by the Hangman after raping her while she was unconscious. He also showed a sort of affection towards the two kids - in his own fucked up way.

So what did I take from this? Well, I'm not sure it was the filmmaker's intention, but I felt as Hangman was looking for a pre-made family in which he could step in as the husband. So, ok, back to the original ending...

Hangman frames husband and somehow got to his son to say he saw his dad kissing another woman. That latter incident was confusing and retarded. Anyway, for whatever reason, Hangman decides that despite his plan working out pretty damn flawlessly, he is now going to show himself and kills the husband AND the wife after she tells him she loves him. He then moves on to next family.

Not that a movie like this warrants deep analysis, but even a cursory look into his reasonings for killing this couple makes no sense when compared to his actions in the days leading up to the murders. So, here's how I would have done it.

I would have pretty much kept the movie the way it was, but I would have spent a little more time with the Hangman causing discord and distrust between the couple - specifically with the affair angle. Near the end of the film, I would have had the Hangman get rid of the husband - either by the couple splitting up, or even better, the husband going to prison.

How could he have done that? Easily... instead of killing the daughter's boyfriend (which no one found out about?) I would have had Hangman frame the husband for the murder of the woman he was supposedly having an affair with. She's only seen briefly in the film, and the frame job wasn't enough to send him to prison (although it may have been enough to break up the couple). I could get into the details on how this could have been done, but there are soooo many ways it could have been if more time had been spent on that instead of some of the daughter\boyfriend scenes.

Anyway, with the husband out of the way, flash-forward a year and we see the wife has had a baby and is living in a new house with her two kids. The baby could be the ex-husband's, or it could be the Hangman's - that's never specified. However, end the movie with a night shot of Hangman crawling out of attic of the new home and watching and\or interacting with the baby in its crib in an affectionate manner. The End.

Sure, it wouldn't have had the violent ending as the original, but I think it would have stayed in the viewers mind longer, thinking of the implications of that kind of scenario. If you wanted a violent ending, you could still have the film end with a shot of him picking a new family by having the woman find his room in the attic and have her die exactly how she did originally (and almost exactly the way the film opened up with the deaths of the first family) the end with the original shot of him targeting a new family.

Also, cut out the stupid hanging bullshit and change the title to My Moon or some shit. Speaking of My Moon, here is the song being used in the end titles - titles I thought were almost as good as David Fincher's opening in Se7en.

 

[Morbid]

BTW, if any of you watch this - or see her in the trailer - the blond may look familiar to you because she is the girlfriend from Shaun of the Dead. The more you know!

 

[Mata Hari]

So, I watched this over the weekend. My kid actually fell asleep and she's pretty much a total horror movie fan so that should give you some idea of home tantalizing it was. I kind of agree with @Morbid in that it barely makes my recommend list. I will say it reminded me of another movie, Creep, which I thought was a lot cooler.