It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Lou Diamond Phillips and Madchen Amick are the only Americans in a Canadian made for television film Hangman. It's a complex psychological homicide thriller about a bunch of murders by hanging that center around some psychologists.Phillips is the lead detective assigned to a group of killings known as the Hangman murders. That's the way these victims depart this mortal coil and all of them seem to center around former psychologist Madchen Amick. The film has more twists then those pretzels you see at your local bar. During the course of Hangman, Phillips and his team come up with several theories of the crimes.There's not a shot fired and the physical violence is kept to a minimum, in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock. Yet things are kept pretty tense in true Hitchcock manner.Lou does a fine job underplaying his role as a detective who just can't get a handle on the case. His foe is an incredibly cunning one which you won't appreciate until the end.I wouldn't miss it, especially if you're a fan of Lou Diamond Phillips.

Sometimes I get the impression when the produces/director/cast/crew for the "made-for-tv" movies cross the border into Canada (as they often do,), some sort or ray or odorless gas descends upon them -- causing movies to be less than they otherwise should be.Some of them (unfortunately, all too few) should be excellent, but are only "good;" those which should be good, turn-out only "fair;" and so on.This one could have been "O.K," or "fair." But it was pretty bad.The performances were fairly good, and the actors/characters somewhat engaging. But an average story went downhill as events progressed, and the ending was contrived, a bit silly, and about the most boring and unimaginative in the history of film-- in Canada or anywhere else.

This is a great film! It's just as entertaining and thrilling as a good crime/thriller should be. The actors all do a great job, and the ending is as unexpected as it gets. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is a good film in many cases, but here it clearly does! So if you're looking for a film with a lot of plot twists and an ending that will leave you wondering, this is that film!

This film has to get it from the actors and the story. No shooting, speeding cars or supermans. Allthough there are some gaps in the scenario, the films is above the other serial killer movies. According to other comments the end is disappointing, I found the end plot rather original,surprising and making sense when you look back on the whole film.The actors act very sober but that makes the movie believable.