Review of The Gallows (2015) by Jeff B — 26 Aug 2015

An interesting idea that gets hung up with little or no scares, The Gallows quickly makes moviegoers want to break their necks rather than sit through a boring attempt at shock theater. Especially at the outset, very little horror rises to the surface of this wannabe spooky tale, which - ironically - sets the flick on a trip to the critical hangman from the get-go. You can't present a ghost story and hold off on any hair-raising for two-thirds of the movie! If this time was spent developing characters or laying down integral plot points, that would be commendable. There would have to be characters with more heft than paper dolls and an actual plot for this to work, however. The Gallows falls under the horror heading, so the prime directive is to scare the bejesus out the audience and get to it quick. Even when the jump cuts and sound blasting start though, you feel like you're being hit with the oldest scare tricks in the book ... if the book is a Casper the Friendly Ghost coloring book.

In this R-rated found-footage horror flick, students at a school resurrect a failed show in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of an on-stage tragedy ... but soon discover that some things are better left alone.

From cast to crew, the end result put forth by all involved is purely forgettable. Beating the found footage genre back into the grave of the Blair Witch, this flick represents a stab at capturing the success of Paranormal Activity minus any actual activity. In an age when It Follows makes horror seem absolutely fresh, this tired gimmick either needs to be put to bed for another decade or ratcheted up several notches.

Bottom line: Spirit Weak.