The Gallows, Review: Loose noose

All that The Gallows can claim as interesting is the premise. After that, it is pretty much like the death by hanging scene, with the film’s trap-door flipping open, and the film itself left hanging loose and lifeless.

The premise is: Twenty years after an accident caused the death of the lead actor during a high school play, students at the same small-town American school resurrect the failed stage production, in a misguided attempt to honour the anniversary of the tragedy—but ultimately find out that some things are better left alone. Does one see a potential horror hit? Sure!

But alas! Screenplay? Dismal! Direction? Abysmal. Frightening shots? Minimal!

In 1993, Charlie Grimille died by the noose, in a freak accident, during Beatrice High’s production of the play The Gallows. Charlie was supposed to play the hangman, but the lead called in sick that night, so he took over the role at the last minute. Now, four students find themselves in grave danger, after getting locked in the auditorium overnight. Lights go off, doors slam shut and footsteps keep approaching. Their cell phones suddenly stop working, and they have no way to call for help. Three of them—Reese (the lead male actor who is basically a footballer), Ryan (a video camera addict whose point of view is the film’s ‘found footage style’ peg) and Cassidy (a cheerleader)—are there to sabotage the set the night before the show, to prevent staging a play they are not too happy with; the fourth, Pfeifer, the play’s female lead, has followed them in, after seeing their car parked outside, correctly suspecting they’re up to no good. Regardless of their individual motives, it seems as though Charlie has been waiting a long time for this night.

The Gallows is written, directed and produced by Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff. Travis came up with the initial concept. Lofing and Cluff met when Lofing, then just 19, went to Fresno, California, to shoot a short film—his school thesis, actually—and Cluff joined the production as a stunt performer. Lofing-Cluff formed their own company, Tremendum Pictures, in 2011, and The Gallows is their first production. Sadly, it looks very much like a 19 year-old’s incomplete student film, albeit with production values that a student film might not have been able to afford.

There is perhaps one scary moment in the entire film, and most of the remaining 81 minutes is full of pointless meandering, literally, with the petrified characters wandering/crawling/climbing from pillar to post. The four frightened leads keep calling out to each other a million times, making you lose track of who’s who. It is often unclear where the video camera is and how is it able to capture found footage if the operator is missing from the location. Some of the top angle shots from this hand-held camera are interesting. Although revenge is suggested as the motive, there are more loose ends in the narrative than the knots in the gallows rope.

The film-makers state that they used the lead actors’ first names as character names to keep things feeling even more genuine for the cast. Thus, Reese Mishler plays Reese Houser, Pfeifer Brown plays Pfeifer Ross, Cassidy Gifford plays Cassidy Spilker and, retaining both his first and last names, Ryan Shoos plays Ryan Shoos. Imaginative? Hasn’t helped much in getting them to act better, though! Reese makes his debut with this film. Pfeifer, basically a singer, is also a debutant. Ryan has appeared in many independent features, including As Night Comes and Bastard and Cassidy has acted in Adventures of Serial Buddies, God’s Not Dead. Yes, there are a couple of scenes where the young ones show histrionics, but hardly enough to write home about. All of them should forget this film in a hurry, as should M/s Lofing and Cluff.

A title like The Gallows might trigger off immediate goose-bumps, send a shiver down some spines and promise some of the stuff that horror film-buffs crave to get their teeth into. By the time the film ends, though, you care a hang, for in any execution, a loose noose is the last thing you want.

Rating: *1/2

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk0RTR5sNmM&feature=youtu.be