Gallows

From thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

I went in to "The Gallows" with an open mind. And, MAN, was my brain shut down but at HYPER speed.

Aimless wandering through the seemingly interminable catacombs of a haunted high school. Entering dark and ominous halls and rooms which were everything short of SCREAMING at these clueless kids "You'll get killed" and for no discernible reason whatsoever. And, I swear, one more shot of a hand slowly opening a door to who knows what the hell (yet usually not a DAMN THING) and I'll put the flippin' noose around my own neck for crissakes!

The ending (and thank God there finally WAS one) was admittedly and actually kinna cool. But it was WAY too little too late to keep this weak and wearisome found footage flop from hanging itself by it's own regurgitated premise rope.

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The Gallows (2015)

*** (out of 4)

During a school production of The Gallows, a prop goes horribly wrong and an actor is killed. Flash forward twenty years and the school is putting the play on again. The night before the show the lead actor and his two friends break into the school to damage the property when they bump into the lead actress. Soon the four are trying to find a way out but realize that they're not alone.

THE GALLOWS is a rather strange movie because I started off hating the picture with a passion. I really do mean that I hated this film because I thought the first twenty or so minutes were incredibly annoying. I thought everything about the "found footage" film was annoying and especially the character holding the camera most of the time. For the life of me I couldn't help but wish something would happen to him because he annoyed me to the point where I wasn't enjoying the movie.

As I said, the first twenty minutes are pretty bad but once the horror elements start and once the characters get locked into the school things really pick up. I really love found footage movies when they're done right and I think THE GALLOWS is extremely well-made and well-acted. As with the best films in the genre, what makes them work is how the camera just floats around and you're mind prepares you for something scary to happen but you just never know when it's going to happen and this just builds up more suspense.

For my money there were plenty of very creepy scenes throughout the picture. This here is certainly the most important part but I'm not going to provide any spoilers so I won't go into any details about what exactly happens. I will say that the look of the killer was very creepy and it certainly helped keep you on guard throughout the ending. I also thought the four actors were extremely believable and good in their roles.

As I said, I really hated the first portion of this film but a film like THE GALLOWS is made to scare you and I must admit that the film got the best of me and in the end I had fun with it.

This being a horror movie, you just know at the beginning that something will happen. It just has to. So no surprise there. One of the twists may not be as expected, but is at least superficial, not to say complete and utter nonsense. Having said that, we also get what many horror movies have: the bad idea/plan, that never, ever makes the viewer having any sympathy.

In this case it makes even less sense, for the main character to go along with it (as the story unfolds and things and other characters pop up). It does have a few decent effects and some of the jump scares might get to you. It would be a complete failure if they didn't now wouldn't it? Also the ending is kind of nice, though the whole "Found footage" thing really is boring - though the guy who found it, did a good job editing it ...

Remember back when the found footage style was a unique style of filmmaking and only a handful of films used it? (I.E. The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, Rec.) But it's common knowledge nowadays that it's become a cliché and a cheap gimmick for studios to save on production costs. Most of the time, there is almost no effort put into the film's storyline, characters, or scares. The Gallows certainly doesn't help its case.

Pros:

-A few decent performances

-Good production design

-Has the potential to be scary

Cons:

-Insufferable main character

-Bullshit plot twist that makes no sense

-Plot itself is nonsensical

-Relies on cheap jump scares

-Has a few good ideas, but they're usually screwed up somehow.

-Found footage style is given no explanation

3/10 (Horrible)

I love found footage horror when it's done well, and there's a lot to choose from, and a lot of it sucks. So when I see one that doesn't have me cringing and eye-rolling from start to finish, I give it a break.

The Gallows moves along quickly, the storyline mostly makes sense and is engaging enough, the characters are identifiable, typical and even likable, and the ending was somewhat original and unexpected, so to me, this is worth a viewing.

The majority of bad reviews seem to be from people who already hate found footage, so it's hard to give those reviews any credence. But if you are like me and enjoy found footage horror, and understand going in that most of those films are pretty bad, then this film is for you.