THE GALLOWS
US, 2015, 81 minutes, Colour.
Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos, Cassidy Gifford.
Directed by Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing.
While this is a horror film for audiences of all ages, the adult audience will be interested in the old devices used for a ghost story and hauntings as well as the elimination, step-by-step, of the cast.
On the other hand, the teenage audiences for The Gallows will be more into the characters and the story, senior high school students of their own age.
One of the co-writers, co-directors, Travis Cluff, was not much older than his characters when he worked on the film, assisted by an older collaborator, Chris Lofing, who bring some film directing experience to bear on the project.
As with so many of these films, there is an important prologue, the performance of the play, The Gallows, with a historical setting and a thee and thou dialogue, where the main actor ascends the gallows – and, through an accident, is actually hanged.
We are moved on 20 years and introduced to some footage of the Nebraska police. So, this is a “found-footage” film, replete with hand held camera work, video cameras as well as phone cameras. (Though, on closer examination, it is very difficult to work out how all these cameras could have taken all the shots – probably a more objective camera capturing a lot of the moments.) One of the consequences of this kind of filming, inaugurated by The Blair Which Project and fostered by its many imitations as well as series like the Paranormal Activity thrillers, is that anyone who gets nauseous with this kind of continued camera movement and jerking may well be advised to give The Gallows a miss.
The footballer is called Reese and the would-be actress is called Pfeifer (the given names, in fact, of the performers). The friends are called Ryan and Cassidy (also the names of the performers).
The plan is to get into the school at night and destroy the set for the play. They get in, Ryan having a or compulsion to film absolutely everything. Ryan is definitely an obnoxious character, rather self-inflated, self-absorbed, and busily masterminding the mayhem. Many of the audience might be hoping that he would be the first to go… Actually, Cassidy is not all that much better.
Things begin to go bump in the night, many doors are locked so no frantic escapes, the lights do not work, there are eerie presences, moments of apparitions, which seem to be the vengeful ghost of the poor young fellow who was hanged in the Gallows in 1993.
The running time is not particularly long, just enough to have the setting of the characters, home life, sports activities in the school, rehearsals for the play, and the time in the dark and in the school, in the darkened theatre, in the dark on stage, in the darkened set framework, in darkened corridors…
The two survivors decide that while they are there in the theatre, they might as well rehearse their performance, repeating the lines that we saw earlier in the film, the actor ascending the Gallows and…
Probably best recommended for high schoolers indulging in a screening for a Scream Night.
