In recent years, horror movies have come with critical and financial revenue, such as Insidious, Get Out, Don't Breathe, and A Quiet Place. Unfortunately, for every gem there's always a rough spot, and this film falls into that category. The found footage genre seems to be looked down upon in this day in age for how cheap and low quality they're seen to be, and after seeing this film, I don't think that sentiment will be changed anytime soon.Set twenty years after an accident during a high-school play called "The Gallows", some students try to recreate the play again. Soon after, students Reese, Pfeifer, Ryan and Cassidy get trapped in the auditorium whilst facing the wrath of the vengeful spirit of the kid who died on that fateful night. I'm ok with simple plots, but the story just isn't engaging enough to warrant an hour and a half of viewing. As such, the film becomes tedious as we merely subject ourselves to a lot of running, yelling, obnoxious acting, and a highly predictable payoff. This probably wouldn't be much better as a short film, but at least it would've been over quicker.Adding into that, you'd think the cast would at least be interesting, but there is not one likable character in this whole affair. Reese has little charisma or unique qualities to make him stand out, Pfeiffer's bossiness and demand to finish the play presents her as rather moody, and Cassidy.......uh......I got nothing about her. However, the worst offender is Ryan. I'm sure the filmmakers intended to make him snarky and arrogant, but he becomes obnoxious very fast since all he does is film stuff and annoy people for nearly thirty minutes. Also, it's funny how one of the students can't act in the play when the actor himself can't act in the movie either. When not even the acting is convincing enough, there's lots to be desired with these bland and unlikable characters.It's obvious this film was made on a low budget with the setting mostly consisting of a school, but that's where the film's cinematography also becomes problematic. Given that this is found footage, it becomes annoying and gimmicky to a fault, and the usage of filming everything in front, even during chase scenes, becomes old quick. Even the props range from a rope and a ladder and not much else, making the experience more lackluster than scary. There isn't even any reason for this to be found footage; they could have shot this any other way and nothing would change at all.Now I don't think jump scares are inherently weak, as they can work well if given the proper buildup and tension. In this case though, the jump scares just happen on a wham, making them feel unwarranted and tiresome. Even one scene with Cassidy sobbing by a stairway (which can be seen on the poster) that is built up with surprisingly slow and subtle atmosphere gets ruined by a cheap jump scare from the spirit. Considering that this film is supposed to be set up as pasted together clips of the story from the police department, one would expect even they would get bored of this drowsy experience.Did this film have potential? Kind of, as it does paint itself as a revenge tale of a high schooler named Charlie who accidentally died during the 1993 performance and is determined to have the play finished with one of the students, being Pfeiffer. There is a way to make a story like that work, maybe if Pfeiffer was the daughter of a girl Charlie got pregnant in high school and maybe just wanted to complete a father daughter play. Sadly, all that potential is squandered away for a cheap production set, a boring story, hollow and despicable characters, and nothing else to stand out in the horror genre. There are great horror films out there in the world worth cherishing for eons, but this film will forever be locked in purgatory with all the forgettable horror flicks that favor cheapness over quality.

I remeber when I first saw the trailer for this movie, and it scared the hell out of me. When it came out on iTunes (the most convenient place for me to watch it), I immediately rented it without reading the reviews. I loved it. I consider myself a horror movie buff. I'm so desensitized to horror movies that I fell asleep during The Exorcist. However it took me hours to fall asleep after The Gallows. The "villain" was depraved, yet relatable, the scares happened when you least expect them to, and the setting was perfect. The next day, I went to IMDB to review it, and was horrified to see the reviews. People have trashed this movie for no reason. Maybe they just don't come in contact with modern high school students, because the actors pulled off their roles marvelously.

Observing the 20th anniversary of a student's accidental death during a high school play; the current group of drama students want to honor the flawed production by reproducing it. Superstitions abound and too foolish to face any real fear, these amateur thespians proceed with even more disastrous consequences.No real horror to deal with. No disturbing scenes you haven't seen before. But THE GALLOWS is well done, well paced...just nothing to keep you at the edge of your seat. You may even wonder how it earned an R rating. Not to say this flick won't sustain your attention.Featured in the cast: Pfeifer Brown, Reese Mishler, Cassidy Gifford, David Herrara, Mackie Burt, John Hales, Ryan Shoos, Jordan Rheane Murphy and Travis Cluff, the director and co-writer.

This movie is a perfect example of "second generation" Found Footage, with good quality camera shots, frequent dynamic movements and a lot of frantic action. However, in order to maintain the narrative expedients coherent, it would be necessary to find a suitable justification for them. While in movies such as those from the Paranormal Activity franchise the presence of portable cameras is legitimated by the plot itself, in "The Gallows" and many others F.Fs, the public often ends up wondering : "why are they carrying a camera right now? is it realistic to go on filming while in danger or under pressure?". This important gap between reality and fiction creates a feeling of uneasiness in the most careful among the viewers, discouraging them from concentrating completely on the movie. Another small observation : there are a few attempts of creating humor, I believe, in the first scenes. It has become quite a tradition in modern horror (I remember the beginning of "Grave Encounters 2" or "Cloverfield"), but in my opinion not all the habits need to be respected. This confusion of genres, this mix of feelings is dangerous and cannot bring positive consequences : it only spoils the atmosphere, which is an essential precondition for Horrors, and also the most difficult and unstable element for writers to deal with. To sum up, I would say that "The Gallows" rests quietly on a pile of far worse Found Footages, but does not surely belong to the most exciting and surprising examples of the genre.