What is it about found footage movies that just spells “disaster?” Almost every single film in this category has turned out for the worst, yet it's still around, like the film equivalent of booze. It's terrible for you, yet we still keep coming back to it. Found footage films have been especially bad in the horror genre, with our newest example being “The Gallows.”
"The Gallows" is a film that centers around the curse of a play called The Gallows. In 1993, at this particular high school, one of the students, Charlie, was actually hung, leaving future students to believe that his ghost haunts the school. Cut to twenty years later, when the show is being performed again, and four students taking part in the play get trapped inside the theatre by the ghost of Charlie.
While the idea of being trapped inside a haunted school at night is an intriguing idea, it's nothing short of a basic creepypasta. Hell, even creepypastas have scarier stuff than what's in this film, considering the only scares in this film are jump scares...which are the only form of scares you can find with a found footage movie. The only moment that actually did have tension to it, is the one that's advertised in the poster, but even THAT scene is ruined by a jump scare!
This should have been a story I wanted to get behind, since the idea of horror stories in theatre has always been intriguing. Sadly, I can't get invested in this story, because of how aggravating these characters are. One character in particular, Ryan, was an incredible pain in the ass to sit through. His antics throughout the whole thing had one mode: douche. Not once did he have a good joke, act like a person, or having any value of being here, other than to be the first victim. Hell, he pretty much makes a fucking jumpscare on his own accord to the camera FOR NO REASON! And as somebody who has worked in high school theatre, I kept wondering why the teacher didn’t deal with this asshole for all of his schtick?! In real life, he would have been kicked out of working on the play, and most definitely expelled! Also, his girlfriend, Cassidy, is not worth wasting time on. She’s on the poster, and she ends up dead…spoiler.
Reese and Pfiefer, the two characters who are the leads in the play, while they do have character development, are boring to sit through. There is a bit that does connect Reese to Charlie and the play, but it’s such a cliché thing to do in a film like this, that it just shows how lazy these writers got with their film. And it turns out that Reese’s dad, who didn’t want him in the play, was cast as the main lead in The Gallows, but called in sick and left Charlie to understudy for him. But that begs the question, why did he have to kill the other two, if all he wanted was to get revenge on the one who left him? But even if that were the case, it wasn’t HIS fault he got sick. Also, and more importantly, why didn’t Reese’s dad tell Reese about this? I mean, it’s not like the whole thing was a secret, since a cast photo of that performance was in display in the hallways of the school!
But that’s not even the dumbest part of the film. The dumbest part about this film was the ending. And people…not even at the comedies I have been to this year, did I come out of the theater laughing as hard as I was at this movie. When it rolled the credits, all I could say was “WHAT?!” as loud as I could in the theater. I was so confused by that ending that I and the entire audience burst into laughter. I even told the cashier when I went to get a ticket for another movie, that it was so bad. I’m almost tempted to say go and find this film on DVD, and watch it for yourself. It’s that kind of movie. Hell, I’m giggling at it as I’m typing this out, and it’s already been three months. So, if you can, find some friends, pop in this movie, and experience it for yourself. You’ll feel mad at first, but then it turns into something magical.
Rating: 1/10 (film on its own)
Rating: 7/10 (incredibly stupid ending that you need friends with you to laugh at how bad it is.)
No comments:
Post a Comment