This made for TV movie based on the novel ‘Gallows Hill’ by Lois ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Duncan, sees a teen move to a new town with her mother, only to find herself being accused of witchcraft.
The popular kids are all part of the ‘descendants club’ and legend has it they will be punished for the sins committed by their ancestors 300 years ago, which included burning the local witch. Needless to say, the kids don’t take too kindly to Sarah, and set about making her life a misery until one by one the teens find themselves stalked by someone in a hag mask with huge metal nails.
I first saw this soon after it was released and really enjoyed it, but it doesn’t work so well when you’re long out of high school and you can’t really relate to the characters anymore. The cast who were then all familiar faces have gone on to bigger and better things (well….depending on taste of course) and there are a few nicely executed moments to be found here, but I’m afraid that it’s TV movie limitations only allow for one death (which is a huge copout all in itself) and there are some sequences lifted straight out of ‘Scream’ and ‘IKWYDLS’.
The film manages to retain it’s genuine wit which is largely down to the talented cast, but you find yourself cringeing at the cheesy moments which include a fromage to ‘All the Right Moves’ which in turn is trying to cleverly reference a gag in ‘Scream’ which is sadly wasted, as only seriously obsessed fans of the film will get the joke and even then only on a really good day.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The film is only worth watching if you are a horror buff and you have never seen it or if you’re 11 and can’t yet see movies like ‘House of Wax’ at the cinema. A nice little film but there’s no danger of it giving you sleepless nights afterwards.
