Starring: Debbie Rochon, Nathan  Dashwood,  Dan Ellis, Ronald Patrick Thompson, Wade Gibb
Directed By: Ryan Nicholson
Written By: Ryan Nicholson, Patrick Coble

Ryan Nicholson’s last feature, Gutterballs, was a gritty 80’s throwback revenge film. Many films have tried to use this as a selling point, but Gutterballs was the first that really felt authentic, almost feeling like it was a movie recovered from the era. It was brutal and harsh in terms of gore, sex, and language. Centering on a rape and some pretty slimy and cruel characters gave an uncomfortable feel to it, at least at the beginning. While I still think Gutterballs is the superior film, Hanger is notable in that it is an even more drastic, vile, and disturbing. It almost goes too far with this though to the point where it seems like it is outside of real terms though. The characters aren’t all that  likeable, but the creative and gruesome gore, that has become a staple of Nicholson’s filmmaking is satisfying all the same.  

Rose (Rochon) is a pregnant and abused prostitute. Her pimp, Leroy (Thompson), treats all  of his women horribly, but has been a particular threat to Rose’s life ever since she got pregnant. He told her to take care of it, since being pregnant deflates her market value. He wants her to start making him good money again. After he attacks her one night, she tries to get a loyal customer who is in love with her, The John (Ellis),  to help her escape. He refuses to have sex with her anymore (this would be a way for her to get some money so she could make a run for it), but gives her some money and something for the baby even though it isn’t nearly enough. She misses her chance to escape and Leroy catches her. Leroy “takes care of both of their problems” by ramming a hanger up her to give her a very vicious abortion. Rose doesn’t survive, but the baby does and is thrown in to a  dumpster.

18 years later, the baby has grown up, now nicknamed Hanger. Due to all of the physical abuse Rose went through while pregnant, Hanger was born with massive deformities. He grew up on the streets, having a homeless man look after him. The John decides to take over, take Hanger in, set him up with an apartment and job, and takes on his responsibilities as Hanger’s father. Both of them are still concerned with getting revenge on Leroy for all that he has done.

Debbie Rochon does great in the opening as Rose. She’s frantic, weak, and abused, but shows she wants to do what’s right for her baby and give herself a better life. Majority of the actors overact so much that none of them seem like real characters. Ronald Patrick Thompson as Leroy is particularly guilty of this. Being violent and being ‘the boss’ is all there is to him. Nathan Dashwood as Hanger actually takes the opposite approach by being so minimal that he is barely noticeable as a character. Since he is the title character there should be a lot more of a focus on him, but it is hard to really care for him as we really don’t know him very well.

None of the characters in the movie are really likeable. We cheer for Hanger and The John to an extent, but really we are just rooting against the more unlikable and evil natured characters. The film would be stronger if there was more empathy created. The story has a good enough premise and it’s enough to make you mad and warrant the revenge, but it’s more of the action and blood that holds our attention than an engaging story. It would have been nice to see some more character development through Hanger and The John, such as what they have both been going through the past 18 years, which would have made the revenge all the more satisfying. Plus, Hanger is clearly going through a lot every day just in how he has to hide his face, others reactions towards him, and how he feels about himself. This wasn’t really explored very much though. There were a few over the top, unrealistic things that some of the characters did, especially the prostitutes. There was some masturbation scenes for example that only seemed to be there to sexualize things and give them in excuse to be naked. Some of the characters with deformities were also hard to feel for since many of their entire identities was purely based on being perverted or were just mean, not many sides to them or good attributes are really shown. Seriously someone has tea with a prostitute’s blood soaked, used tampon just because he thinks she’s hot. It’s hard for me to believe in this character on real terms and he didn’t really hit the ridiculous goofiness that would make him fun, yet unrealistic.

The gore is the best thing Hanger has going for it, which shouldn’t be a surprise since Nicholson gave us some of the most creative and gruesome kills in Gutterballs. It’s somewhat tamer and there aren’t as many kills, but the ones we get are very satisfying. These aren’t quite as intricate, but several do play a significance in how they are done. For example, when The John tries to kill Leroy, he ends up being captured and tormented himself. In order to make The John look more like his deformed boy, Leroy gets a blow torch and burns The John’s face, giving him pink burn marks very similar to the ones on his son’s face. It’s like he’s having to relive the aftermath of how he tormented Rose over again. This cycle also plays out when Leroy claims he’s going to force Hanger to be a male prostitute for those that are in to the freaky shit. He is even raped and in danger of being put in to a very similar position to the mother he never knew.

There is a notable reference to The Warriors where one character is clinging empty beer bottles around his fingers, shouting for his victim to come out to play. It’s fairly short to the point where it’s actually fun and less drawn out than even the sequence in the original film was while still being recognizable. A lot of people probably aren’t going to be able to get in to Hanger and there are very few who will truly enjoy it. There are people who might admire it or appreciate certain things the film does though. I would recommend it for those who enjoyed Ryan Nicholson’s past work and those who are in to the exploitation revenge genre of film. It also has a feel not too far off from Troma films too. If this sounds like you’re type of film and are ready for a sexual gross out, over the top vengeful film with mutant characters, Hanger might be worth checking out.