The Hanging Woman (1974)

Very well executed

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is likable enough without being particularly striking in any way. There are silly slips, that render the film more laughable than it should be but overall it is perfectly watchable because it keeps going at a decent pace. Because something is always happening and our interest is retained the odd slip up is forgiven. Also the zombies are surprisingly effective, there is a little gore and a decent spread of nudity throughout. Paul Naschy does his usual thing as well as ever, just short of going right over the top and the denouement is just about acceptable if a little far fetched. Some very good moments and never a dull one, would be a fair assessment, I reckon.

Entertaining little Spanish supernatural thriller that features Paul Nashcy in a pivotal supporting role. Serge Chekov (Stelvio Rosi) rushes to the country after his Uncle's untimely death. Immediately upon arrival, Serge stumbles upon the hanging body of his cousin by the graveyard. This makes the local police doubly suspicious of his appearance because, with his cousin's death, Serge is now the sole beneficiary of his Uncle's estate. This mystery in this one won't blow your mind open, but the film has enough mood to compensate. Director José Luis Merino gets a lot of use out of the atmospheric village he shoots in and some cool underground tunnels. There is also some great make-up for the dead in this film. On the DVD, Naschy is interviewed and states how he did an uncredited rewrite on the film, making his grave digger character more interesting. Anyone spoiled by the BCI Naschy discs will be disappointed in Troma's fullscreen transfer with only an English dub track option. On the plus side, this is apparently the longest cut of the film available.

It's really difficult to try and explain what THE HANGING WOMAN is about, but I'll give it a shot. A young man returns to his uncle's mansion shortly after his death to find out what really happened to his uncle, and . Upon his arrival, he discovers a woman hanging from a tree. He makes it to the mansion and informs the people there about the woman. When he returns to the spot, she has disappeared. He soon uncovers a plot to make an army of the living dead in order for world dominance.THE HANGING WOMAN is so erratic that you never really understand what's going on. There are also two other sub-plots in the mix here. There are also a couple more things that made me despise this film so much. 1.) Spanish horror star, Paul Naschy was woefully under-used at the necrophiliac gravedigger. 2.) The pacing was awful. It's only a 90 minute film, but it felt like it was four hours long. Mostly due to the fact that nothing is really happening for a good hour of the film. 3.) The incestuous relationship between the uncle's nephew and his nymphomaniac aunt. The love scene was just way too much to handle. And finally, 4.) The ending was completely unbelievable and rushed.Honestly, I can only really recommend THE HANGING WOMAN to Naschy fans. Even that's difficult to do. Skip it and use the 90 minutes of your precious life watching something that's far better (perhaps, HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB or THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN. Two of my personal favorite Naschy film) instead of wasting it on this abomination. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Firstly everyone expecting gory bloodbath will be sorely disappointed,because this film is almost completely bloodless(however there's some mild violence like quick decapitation,but not too much).Secondly,if you like Euro-horror you'll certainly appreciate "The Hanging Woman".Why?Because it's well-made and there are some lovely atmospheric bits.The acting is surprisingly good and Paul Naschy as a necrophiliac servant Igor simply steals the show!The film reminds me early Hammer horror movies,mostly because it features some elements typical for English horror like tunnels,secret passages,tombs etc.There's also a little bit of sleaze(both ladies have a nude scenes),so fans of nudity will not be disappointed.Of course "The Hanging Woman" has its faults:it's overlong,quite boring and some scenes are rather stupid,but if you like Spanish horror give this one a look.