Movie Information
Release Date: July 10, 2015
Director: Travis Cluff, Chris Lofing
Writer: Travis Clugg, Chris Lofing
Cast: Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos, Cassidy Gifford, Travis Cluff, Price T. Morgan, Theo Burkhardt, David Herrera, Gannon Del Fierro, Mackie Burt, Adriana Salas, Mark Hales, John Hales, Shannon Wetzel, Caeleb Trace, Theo Stratigos, Paris Cluff, Jason James
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 81 minutes
Production Company: Blumhouse Productions, Management 360, New Cinema, Tremendum Pictures
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Language: English
Country: USA
Budget: N/A
I like to give credit where it’s due. Blumhouse Productions takes scary concepts, makes them into movies within a budget, and then puts it out for the masses. With the lack of films made in the horror genre, they’re taking full advantage of that empty slot. So they’re smart for doing that, to say the least. Unfortunately, the quality of the film is as low as the amount of money they have invested in it.
The Gallows is a failure all around. There is nearly nothing to enjoy here, except when it’s all over. No one in their right mind would come close to repeating the behavior in this film, which makes it that much worse than the writing already is.
It’s been a while since there’s been a found footage movie, and now I see why. I can’t support characters that don’t know their right from their left. Here we have characters who drag a camera around in all the wrong situations in an attempt to make a movie. None of it makes sense. On top of that, numerous times, one character is filming himself and the other is having a conversation about committing a crime. Why would you film that? Why would you also film yourself committing the crime in its entirety? You might as well shoot someone live on television. This is lazy writing at its best, and the film is full of it.
Countless times, when danger is lurking around the corner, the characters make the worst decisions imaginable. If there was a door labelled “safety,” they would chose the labelled “danger.” One of the gaping plot holes is the camera that captures all the footage. There no legal system in the world that would release such footage to the public. The concept of “found footage” ruins the film.
The plot doesn’t add up. The characters have no brain. There are more holes in the plot than holes in a tennis racket, and it’s a laughable attempt at horror. There is a twist toward the end that I didn’t see coming, and that is the only reason The Gallows scores higher than a 1.