Back in high school, I used to be a pretty serious Drama nerd. Auditioned for every show, worked behind the set, and spent countless afternoons in the auditorium of my hometown high school. The backstage is a mysterious place – a hodgepodge of relics from shows past, surrounded by mammoth practical systems that are coated in history. Most stages are old, and host to rich histories that pass from each generation of students to the next. Those myths often dip into the supernatural, and combined with the eerie emptiness of a proper theater – the setting seems prime for a great horror film. Unfortunately, The Gallows is not it.
The Gallows is a found footage horror movie, akin to The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, or any of the countless pretenders to the throne that emerge in a given year. It follows a group of teens who are looking to sabotage the school’s production of a play called ‘The Gallows’, which had accidentally killed a student in a prop malfunction twenty years prior. Armed with only a digital video camera and the incessant desire to film every waking moment of their lives, (because all acts of criminal vandalism need evidence) they quickly get trapped in the auditorium with a malicious spirit among them.
A good piece of found footage is not an easy thing to make. Since the camera itself is given a part in the story, every shot needs to be justifiable by the narrative. You need to ask why this moment is being filmed, especially as danger mounts. The Gallows’ answer to this challenging directorial question is to post its’ characters as the sort of thoroughly unlikable people who insist on recording every moment of their waking lives. When danger mounts, its’ insinuated that the camera is the only light source available – but it doesn’t explain the need to keep recording, wasting battery life (a constant plot element to add arbitrary tension). Like any bad found footage film, you’ll spend plenty of time staring at the floor, or the wall, or the ceiling as characters run from danger – not having the decency to show the audience why.
While the characters are unlikable, and the film often hard to watch – The Gallows can’t totally kill its’ otherwise compelling premise. High school auditoriums can be a terrifying location, filled with creepy corners and dangerous highrises. As a result, The Gallows got to me in a fun, personal place. It paid off on four years of drama nerd status, fulfilling some long-overdue fantasies of just how bad a show can go. I had a fun time watching The Gallows, but unless you also reside in the Venn diagram between high school drama geek and horror fan – there’s nothing to see here.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25
Review: The Gallows wastes an intriguing premise for standard horror shlock.
Chris Berg
July 11, 2015
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