Hangman's Curse (GAM108)

## Hosts

Noah Lugeons

Heath Enwright

Eli Bosnick

***Hangman's Curse*** is the story of undercover investigators who try to uncover an evil plot in a high school by a suicide cult. It's *21 Jumper Street*. Oh, also a second movie with the same characters that's *completely* unrelated.

### **Opening Phrase**

Where each week we sample another selection from Christian cinema… technically.

### **How Bad Was It?**

Well, if you loved *Revenge of the Nerds*, but you were hoping for murder, you will *love* this movie. Imagine if someone had ADR'd the word "Jesus" over the last ten minutes of *Heathers*.

### **Best Worst**

* Heath: ...understanding of magnification.
* Noah: ...sneaking.
* Eli: …characters I'm supposed to be sympathetic with.

### **Notes**

* Based on the 2001 novel *Hangman's Curse* by Frank Peretti.
* This movie isn't even remotely a Christian movie, but they're trying to fool their audience into thinking it is once and a while.

### **Jokes**

* "This movie is about a bunch of goth kids who get bullied, and then they *think* they sic a murderous ghost on their bullies. The bullies steal their lunch money, and say mean stuff to them, but they do *not* sic a murderous ghost on them. Which makes them [the goths] the bad guys and deserving of bullying, because as we learn throughout this movie—and we're going to get to it, we're going to get to it—the response that these kids—look, I'm sure at the beginning the bullying was bad, and bullying is… we can talk about whether or not bullying represents the survival of the fittest and a microcosm of social mechanism… I don't want to talk about that here; I'm a very pro-bullying advocate and I understand that—my point is… my point *being* is, that after the point where one of your friend dies, the goth kid who goes 'I did that with my ghost friend' is the bad guy forever. No matter how many wedgies you give that person, they are a *murderer*. In their mind, right? It turns out (spoilers) they're not, but if you think you're murdering someone with a ghost because they gave you a wedgie, you are the bad guy. You." (6:15)
* "Our characters have taken fucking weird turns in this episode! I was like, 'I got a fun angle on this episode: I'm gonna pretend to apologize for bullying', but we're like forty-five minutes in and I'm like 'Okay, but let's be real!' I feel like I'm gonna be sitting like six months from now having an interview on Stef Molyneux's show: 'And when was it you decided to like, *truly* debate on behalf of bullying?'... 'I gotta admit Stef, I had this funny bit in mind, and then I spent forty-five minutes of my comedy movie review show, and then I started naming names Stef, I started naming names.' I just don't want a dead person sicced on me—*that's* the point!" (38:47)

### **Interstitials**

* A high school counselor talks to bullied goths. (7:49)
* "Guys, have you tried not being losers?" (1:26:18)

### **Tropes**

* Boss in a Bit Part [Frank Peretti as "Dr. Algernon Wheeling"]
* Christians Don't Know How the World Works
* Disappointing Christian Celebrity
* Indoctrination of Children

### **Links**

* Episode on Audioboom
* Film on YouTube
* IMDB