[yasr_overall_rating]
Returning from vacation, the Miller family find their home has been broken into. After cleaning up the mess they continue with their lives, shaking off the feeling of being violated. But little do they know the nightmare has just begun.
When done correctly, the found-footage genre can be an interesting watch. I loved “The Blair Witch Project” but absolutely loathed some of the copycat movies that followed over the years; “Cloverfield,” “Diary of the Dead,” and “Apollo 18,” to name but a few. And the reason is very simple; the filmmakers didn’t just replicate the style that was used so effectively in “Blair Witch,” they upped the ante when it came to utilizing the camera itself. While “Blair Witch” did have its moments of running and panicking, at times, making it very difficult to watch the screen without feeling nauseated, the later films used the shaky-cam approach so much, that the majority of the film was spent looking down at somebody’s shoes or a sideways angle of the floor. I don’t mind this approach occasionally, but it has gotten to the point where it is just becoming absolutely ridiculous.
In director Adam Mason’s creepy thriller “Hangman,” the shaky-cam approach is thankfully used sparingly. While we do get the occasional camera movement while the antagonist is walking, the majority of the film is shown as stationary shots throughout the story’s primary location. As the Miller family leave on vacation for two weeks, a masked man watches them from afar. Once they are airborne, he breaks into their SUV and using their GPS system, traces their steps back to their house. For the two weeks, he lives and breathes their home, snooping through everybody’s personal effects using latex gloves, from mom and dad Beth and Aaron (Kate Ashfield and Jeremy Sisto), to their two children, teenage and hormonal Marley (Ryan Simpkins) and her younger brother Max (Ty Simpkins), nothing is off-limits.
When they return, they realize that their home has been broken in to and call the police. After an investigation, the police surmise that it was probably teenagers and with nothing apparently missing, the family gets on with their lives. With mom Beth spending most of her time at home during the day, she begins to experience strange occurrences, orange juice sitting on the counter that she had put away the night before, her favorite vase mysteriously moving from one position to another, small inconspicuous things that no one else would notice but her. She hears noises coming from the attic and insists that Aaron buy a gun, just to make her feel safer, and he does.
When Beth discovers a secret about Aaron in regards to possible infidelity, she waits until the kids are gone and when he arrives home, she confronts him about it but they quickly realize that they are not home alone.
“Hangman” deliberately takes its time telling the story and it never once strives for the quintessential finale, where the good guys win and the bad guys lose, this is all about authenticity. With cameras placed strategically throughout the house so that the stalker can watch the family’s every move, including their private moments, we find ourselves in his very position, watching, breathing, living their every step. After a while, we feel uncomfortable as their lives materialize in front of our very eyes and it is here where director Adam Mason excels. As the movie progresses, the stalker becomes more brazen and in several scenes, he stands arrogantly, feet away from the family, with only a door or wall separating them from each other.
The cast throughout give convincing and persuasive performances and just when you find yourself beginning to get bored with the primary location, the film switches to an alternate place and keeps the story intriguing. Based on the very opening scene, you pretty much know what to expect by film’s end but as you get to know the characters and their lives, you hope that this will be the exception, and that the stalker will not succeed in realizing his demented and deranged intention. I guess you’ll have to watch the movie to find out!
Available on Blu-ray & DVD February 9th
