The Hanging Tree
Logline
A town planner starts a new job to develop a museum about the hangings that took place in a sleepy English town, unaware that he has been lured there by a sinister English Lord, hellbent on revenge for a hanging that took place many centuries past, revenge that can only end one way. Except darker forces are at work.
Synopsis
Will Johnson arrives in the sleepy English town of Engathering, with his wife Jayne and son Eddie, a new start for them all. He knows his family are from somewhere nearby, but he doesn't realise exactly how near. He quickly discovers that he is descended from the hangman, or so he is led to believe. The history books never lie. Or do they?
He keeps the secret to himself, and his obvious interest begins to grow into obsession. The tell-tale signs of what will happen are laid out bare for him - the constant snapping of necks that haunts his dreams, the ghostly visitations to his son Eddie, a village constantly shrouded in fog until the fog clears then comes down again, with disastrous consequences for the aircraft carrying the advertising poster at the launch of the museum.
Will's obsession with the hangings and the museum grows to fever pitch. He buys a hangman's mask at auction and wears it in bed with his wife, who is shocked. She finds comfort in the arms of Lord Henry, with whom she has been rehearsing the annual play about the hangings that will take place at Hanging Tree House.
The play takes place and chillingly someone leaves a noose behind. Will surprises a burglar, and decides to teach him a lesson, hanging him at the tree without actually killing him. Will reveals to Lord Henry that Eddie has seen a man in his room. Henry tells him that an 'offender' has moved to the town. The lynchmob gathers, with Will as hangman. He has second thoughts, but Lord Henry has a strong hold over him and the man is hung.
Will is arrested by the local police. He is released after questioning, but the lynchmob awaits. Will's deception is played out in front of him, the townspeople revealed as actors in the play. Even the town name Engathering is an anagram of 'Hanging Tree'.
As Lord Henry leads Will to the hanging tree, he reveals the truth, that it's his adopted son Eddie who is descended from the hangman, and it's him who he is after, but the lynchmob turn on him, as they cannot hang an innocent boy. However, darker forces are at work, and the tree, sustained by the blood of its victims, will have the final word.