The Hangman (2024)

The-Hangman-(2024)
The Hangman (2024)

The Hangman begins with a flashback that references the scene from Fulci’s The Beyond which states there are seven gates of hell and one may be situated where we are not bothered about a hotel in the New Orleans trials but rather somewhere in the desolate areas across the mountain ranges in the state of West Virginia.

After that, there is a bunch of cultists who were pulling out something from that portal a monster which we soon see getting two junkies from strung out to strung up. So here is The Hangman portrayed by Scott Callenberger from The Adventures of Jamie Watson and Sherlock Holmes, An Angry Boy.

Leon (LeJon Woods, Ouija Witch, Earthquake Underground) and Jesse (Mar Cellus, Swagger, It Stays With US), who are father and son are going somewhere in the mountains. It was supposed to be father-son quality time and Leon who is presumably busy with routine work is completely unaware of these proceedings and embarrassingly suffers from a loss even on the very first night. The loss over the death of the boy’s mother (Ameerah Briggs, The Church, Equal Standard), in fact, its murder by Leon who was expected to protect her.

Jesse is nowhere to be seen when Leon rises the following day and the ignition of his car seems to be faulty. In seeking assistance, he comes across a couple of meth heads, Billy (Kaitlyn Lunardi, Peeking, Wendigo) and Scott (Rob Cardazone, Shovel) who say Jungle bunnies shouldn’t come around this way. He manages to evade them only to discover a corpse belonging to one of the junkies seen in the prologue.

Directed by Bruce Wemple ( Island Escape, Altered Hours) and co-written by Lejon Woods, who also stars in the film, The Hangman has a dark and moody cinematic atmosphere and a good storyline if one can really call it a good premise and this one is certainly not unique. Had it continued pursuing the opportunities provided by the cult and the demon they managed to bring up from the pit with an electric winch, it would have certainly provided plenty of thrills and chase scenes.

But first, for almost a third of the picture, The Hangman and his cult never appear and Leon struggles with faceless racist thugs and eventually saves Tara (Lindsey Dresbach, Pitchfork, Danger on Party Island) from human trafficker Kaine (Jefferson Cox, Class of ’09, Hiro of the Meta). She in turn introduces Leon to a local priest Jedidiah (Daniel Martin Berkey, The Luring, Nefarious), who as chance would have knows everything about The Hangman and Baal’s Cult. I’m sure you can guess how.

Luckily, this is also the point where cult takes the front seat in the film’s proceedings and the film begins to get back in the groove. What is the cause of such madness is not anything out of the ordinary, however, Wemple and Woods put a few spins in the plot which distinguishes it from other genre films and gives it some substance. It is a shame, though, that while the so-called subplot about Leon and Jesse’s intrigues works rather well, the talking points concerning racism don’t really get off the ground. Rednecks with Confederate flags on the truck do not welcome black people. Wow, who would’ve thought?

Perhaps if they’d connected more explicitly a demon with a thing for hanging people, Leon and Jesse’s faces, and the lynching tradition of America, the movie could have been greater. But The Hangman does not do much in hanging. He has the power of telekinesis over ropes, but what he usually does with it is use it to tie people. Or during the filming of one of the movie’s finest scenes, he manages to pull Leon toward a really alive chainsaw.

And, it’s more sequences like that, less and more constant lengthy dialogue sequences that The Hangman values a lot in its plot to be effective. The picture is not a complete loss, there are some good scenes in it due to the presence of William Shuman in a supporting role, who hardly has many credits to his name, but has acted in Streetwalking and Silent Madness, which are both familiar titles to those who love watching 80s B movies.

But on the whole, all the talented minds involved just didn’t manage to make it congestive enough and hence never went out to instill fear. In general, I am very much a fan of Wemple’s works, but this one is simply not worth watching cutting. Ersatz in nature but good while it lasted, unfortunately, disappointment is what you would take away.

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