I knew The Gallows would be bad. I knew that it wasn't going to be my cup of tea but I love the movies that much that this was the only thing left I hadn't seen so in I went. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever laid eyes on but its the worse thing I've seen in the theatres in a very, very long time. I am constantly amazed how these films are still managing to get wide theatrical releases. I absolutely despise the "found footage" genre. Please kill this genre!! I mean, the movie is bad enough but add in the stupid concept of "this is real, this was filmed on iPhones" or whatever and it is even worse. Actually, if they just filmed this and any other found footage film like a normal movie it would be exponentially better. I've seen movies that had decent enough stories that are literally ruined by the found footage style. Yes it saves money but how many people would see it and enjoy it more. The Gallows though is poorly written, poorly paced with some very moments of terribly bad acting. It feels like it takes forever to get to the point (another usual issue with these movies) because they are dragging out a concept that doesn't have enough to be feature length. The Gallows further suffers by the fact that they try to give it an intellectual plot twist that is ridiculous and eye-rolling.
The actors all portray people with their real names...because that makes it more real? They all have their moments where they are decent and are properly portraying their horribly stereotypical high school roles. Ryan Shoos is our main "popular kid" bully who films most of the movie. He is appropriately obnoxious and by the time he gets killed off you're actually glad to see him go because he's such a bully but he also gives one of the better performances in the film too. Reese Mishler is the misunderstood jock turned "theatre geek" and he is okay and has these big puppy dog eyes but man oh man does he have some moments of really bad acting. It almost seems like they had no script and suddenly he has no idea what to say. Its ironic that part of the film is how bad of an actor he is on stage in this play because his portrayal is equally as bad. Pfeifer Brown plays opposite him as his love interest and fellow theatre geek. She suffers from the same fate where some of her dialogue seems to get lost and she stumbled through not knowing what to say next. They have no chemistry but she does better than some of them. Cassidy Gifford certainly looks the role of the popular cheerleader, the girl is a stunning beauty and actually she gives a decent performance. I would almost consider her the scream queen of the film because her emotional break down is at least believable. She perhaps overplays it just a little but she's still at least decent.
Every movie of this type is trying to carbon copy the only great found footage film and that was The Blair Witch Project. And then they attempt to copy the biggest financial success which is the Paranormal Activity franchise (entirely over-rated as well) so you have a blend of these two things and then they are trying to be creative and unique which I am convinced in this genre is literally impossible. Every scene feels the same and while there are a couple of jump-worthy moments and one particularly creepy scene (which has been done before too and better) the movie falls flat. I was bored...it was forgettable and I thought to myself several times that they needed to get on with it and that's a bad sign. The film is squarely aimed at a late teen demographic with the girls showing plenty of cleavage and the characters being so stereotypically "teen." It doesn't surprise me in the least that writing directing team Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing are just making their foray into big screen but my question is HOW?!? How do they get this very very average straight to video fluff released into theatres? And it makes money because it is so cheap to make. Don't waste your theatre cash on this...watch it at home if you must or if you're one of those die hard fans of this awful horror genre. It was forgettable and silly but wasted a couple of hours for me I guess. 5/10
The actors all portray people with their real names...because that makes it more real? They all have their moments where they are decent and are properly portraying their horribly stereotypical high school roles. Ryan Shoos is our main "popular kid" bully who films most of the movie. He is appropriately obnoxious and by the time he gets killed off you're actually glad to see him go because he's such a bully but he also gives one of the better performances in the film too. Reese Mishler is the misunderstood jock turned "theatre geek" and he is okay and has these big puppy dog eyes but man oh man does he have some moments of really bad acting. It almost seems like they had no script and suddenly he has no idea what to say. Its ironic that part of the film is how bad of an actor he is on stage in this play because his portrayal is equally as bad. Pfeifer Brown plays opposite him as his love interest and fellow theatre geek. She suffers from the same fate where some of her dialogue seems to get lost and she stumbled through not knowing what to say next. They have no chemistry but she does better than some of them. Cassidy Gifford certainly looks the role of the popular cheerleader, the girl is a stunning beauty and actually she gives a decent performance. I would almost consider her the scream queen of the film because her emotional break down is at least believable. She perhaps overplays it just a little but she's still at least decent.
Every movie of this type is trying to carbon copy the only great found footage film and that was The Blair Witch Project. And then they attempt to copy the biggest financial success which is the Paranormal Activity franchise (entirely over-rated as well) so you have a blend of these two things and then they are trying to be creative and unique which I am convinced in this genre is literally impossible. Every scene feels the same and while there are a couple of jump-worthy moments and one particularly creepy scene (which has been done before too and better) the movie falls flat. I was bored...it was forgettable and I thought to myself several times that they needed to get on with it and that's a bad sign. The film is squarely aimed at a late teen demographic with the girls showing plenty of cleavage and the characters being so stereotypically "teen." It doesn't surprise me in the least that writing directing team Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing are just making their foray into big screen but my question is HOW?!? How do they get this very very average straight to video fluff released into theatres? And it makes money because it is so cheap to make. Don't waste your theatre cash on this...watch it at home if you must or if you're one of those die hard fans of this awful horror genre. It was forgettable and silly but wasted a couple of hours for me I guess. 5/10