I’ve heard about phantoms at the opera, but this is ridiculous. Just in case opening night jitters weren’t enough to scare kids away from drama club, here comes The Gallows, the latest in a stream of found-footage horror pictures that keep coming and coming with relentless, nightmarish efficiency.
This one is marginally better than the last one or the one before that, if only because of its high school backstage setting. Writer-directors Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff riff on some amusing stereotypes about young thespians, and anyone who stayed after school for this extra-curricular activity will likely offer a chuckle or two of recognition. Still, the movie is entirely ridiculous and ultimately a frustrating snooze — yet another exercise in half-baked legends, dark corridors and waiting in anticipation for something to go BANG.
We open from the POV of a camcorder in 1993. A rinky-dink production of a Crucible-like play is boring/delighting parents, and when the young lead actor (an understudy, we’re told) puts his head in a stage noose we know trouble’s coming. After this dark bit of business we cut to 20 years later, in which the same school is rather improbably reviving the same, doomed title.
It’s a ludicrous conceit but a throwaway line about “fighting the school board” and the general swift pace sweeps this under the narrative rug. For the opening 20 minutes we’re plunged into typical American teen shenanigans, and these scenes do have some pep. Our stony handsome lead, Reese (Reese Mishler evoking a bit of the young Matt Dillon) is a football jock who opted to do the play despite ribbing from his teammates. He’s there, naturally, because he’s got an eye for his leading lady Pfeifer (Pfeifer Brown), who nails the unique adorable/conceited admixture often found in youth theatre. Reese’s best bud (and principal videographer) is the abhorrent Ryan (Ryan Shoos.) He’s an obnoxious “bro” of the highest order, and I get that we’re supposed to dislike him, but as he’s the man behind the camera, his presence gets real tired, real quick. Ryan also has a girlfriend Cassidy (Cassidy Gifford, daughter of Frank and Kathy Lee Gifford) who shrieks a good deal and wears a tank top.
The pseudo-Frederick Wiseman elements of the first act are soon tossed as our core four spend the night before the premiere trapped inside the school. The spirit of that original slain kid wants new blood, or something, and it means a lot of running, yelling, banging on doors and, eventually, getting rid of in not-very-frightening ways. At first there’s just one camera, but eventually more show up. You could sit in the audience and try to follow the visual through-line, or you could just go with it and wait for the reveal about who is behind the supernatural curse. (Sadly, neither avenue is all that rewarding.)
The Gallows is marginal, ephemeral cinema but as midsummer entertainment, it is not a total failure. This is a movie starring teens, marketed to teens. They will be dropped off by their parents while the weather is warm, and the gossiping done in the loo and the flirting done in the lobby will be of far greater value than whatever is up on the screen. But these social scenarios don’t spring up on their own, so Lofing and Cluff should still comfort themselves knowing they’re cultivating such an environment. Kids won’t miss a thing when they break away for texting but there’s enough mild amusement in the film that the extra wheels won’t feel unusually affronted.
