Review of The Gallows (2015) by Jack F — 30 Sep 2016

I recently watched "The Blair Witch Project" for the first time in a very long while. One of the aspects that really stuck out to me was its lack of "jump scares," the technique that's become almost requisite in modern day horror films.

Now it does employ elements of "jump scares," like images and particularly sound, but they're not utilized in the same way (i.e., loudly and unexpectedly popping into the frame). Instead, the movie accumulates its feelings of dread and unease over an extended period of time; it's the very definition of a "slow burn" approach. Much of the horror stems from anticipation, augmented by the film's unrelenting sense of patience.

I bring this up for a couple reasons. 1.) Any time I see a "found footage" horror movie, my mind immediately goes back to "Blair Witch" and, fair or not, I inevitably begin to make comparisons; and 2.) While watching "The Gallows," which is a found footage horror movie, I noticed a disheartening overreliance on the "jump scare" technique, which happens a bit too often these days. To be sure, sometimes they can be effective, particularly if they're used sparingly; but rampant application allows the audience to anticipate them, and this greatly reduces the desired effect.

I actually rather liked the plot of "The Gallows," which revolves around a group of high school drama students who find themselves locked in their school one night alongside a malevolent, seemingly supernatural presence that does not want them to leave. It's never explicitly stated, but it's heavily implied that the entity is the ghost of a student who was accidentally killed on the set of a school play 20 years prior, a play that is now being revived and in which some of our protagonists are starring. The play is called "The Gallows," and the deceased student? He was supposed to play the Hangman.

Naturally.

So, perhaps having never gotten the opportunity to portray the Hangman in the play, the dear, departed thespian decides to give it a go in real life...

The film makes good use of its setting, and I've always felt like a darkened, deserted high school would make for a good backdrop for a horror movie. It's one thing during school hours when the place is bustling with people and activity, but remove the populace and turn off the lights, and suddenly you're in a large, cavernous building in which echoes hide the source of their sounds and there are any number of places in which a bad person-or thing-could conceal itself just before attacking you.

Shame, then, that "The Gallows" just isn't very scary, relying too much on the aforementioned "jump scares" and "gotcha!" moments (also known as "false alarms," in which the source of the "jump scare" is something innocuous, like one of the characters or, as used in countless examples of the genre, a black cat). I would say it's the format, as "found footage" seems designed to utilize these tired tactics ad nauseam, but as I pointed out above, "Blair Witch" found a way around this.

And, to be fair, there are some nice moments when "The Gallows" does too. There's one masterfully shot sequence set in a hallway that's bathed entirely in red light (I think it's security lighting), and one of the characters is slouched in front of some stairs, facing the camera. There's very little movement, but gradually, as the seconds begin to tick away, we realize the character is not alone, as a murky figure begins to ever so slowly materialize in the shadows behind her. (Think of the scene in Carpenter's "Halloween" in which Michael Myers slowly emerges from the pitch black recesses of a room behind the oblivious Laurie Strode.) The scene only lasts for about a minute or so, but it's creepy, effective, and expertly crafted.

Alas, there's just not enough of this kind of genuinely good horror filmmaking, and though I largely liked the story, I'll also note that it concludes with a twist that seems, at best, unnecessary...though at least it does lead to a final scene that's pretty unnerving; I just don't know if it makes much sense to go that route from a story perspective.

The largely unknown cast (including Cassidy Gifford, daughter of Kathie Lee) does what's expected of them, particularly Ryan Shoos, who sinks his teeth into "the jerk" role with unbridled enthusiasm. Seriously, this guy is one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever seen, even for a horror movie. He simply has no redeeming characteristics, and you'll be begging for his death. But I'm thinking that's the way the character was written, and Shoos is very good at portraying an unrepentant jagoff. So kudos, I guess....

Ultimately, "The Gallows" comes across as a movie with a few brilliant moments surrounded by an assemblage of uninspired ones. Films like the recently reviewed "Unfriended" show that there is still some life left in the "found footage" subgenre of horror, particularly when filmmakers get creative. But "The Gallows" isn't inventive enough to compensate for its lack of scares, and the whole thing ends up coming across as rather rote. In fact, you may even feel like you've been left...hanging...out to dry...