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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Information Exchange  |  Movie Reviews  |  Submitted Reader Reviews  |  The Gallows (2015) « previous next »
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Author Topic: The Gallows (2015)  (Read 11184 times)
crector
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« on: September 14, 2019, 03:28:40 AM »

The Gallows (2015) is basically The Blair Witch Project set not in a forest, but
instead in a high school at night with the lights out. This is every bit as bad as it
sounds. This movie takes the found footage cliché to an all-time low.

At the start of The Gallows, we are told that all of the footage we are going to be
seeing is "taken from police files." Ostensibly everything that we see in this movie is
the work of high school kids messing around with video cameras. That would seem to
explain why all of the camera work is so herky-jerky and why the movie fails to have
a coherent story. However, the movie's claim about the origin of the footage is
contradicted by a scene towards the end when a police officer enters the high school
late at night and gets killed by an unknown assailant. That footage was clearly shot
by a professional cameraman, not by some amateur.

None of the characters in The Gallows have any depth. This matched by the fact
that none of the actors or actresses have any talent. All of the players in this movie
are good looking, which is probably why they got their parts in the first place. When
you see just how bereft of talent that Cassidy Gifford is, you have to assume that she
got her role just because she is the real-life offspring of Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford.
Right from the start, The Gallows makes no sense. For instance, the dumb jock
narrator goes around antagonizing people for no apparent reason. This leads to two
questions. First, why do the people running this high school theatrical production put
up with him? This leads to an even bigger question: What is this guy doing in the
production in the first place?

The production itself is also problematical. 20 years earlier the high school tried
staging a play called "The Gallows," but canceled it after an actor was accidentally
hanged during the play. Now, 20 years later, the same high school is bound and
determined to once again stage the same play. The rehearsals go poorly and it appears
that the production work is also shoddy. That being the case, three of the actors
decide that the play is going to be such a disaster, it would be best if they break in
their high school late at night and destroy the set.

All this is in direct contrast to my experience with the kids putting on shows when
I was in high school. These students were a bunch of egomaniacs. The whole idea of
destroying the set just simply would not even occur to them no matter how poor the
rehearsals were and how bad the production work was.

In any event, the kids broke into the high school with ridiculous ease. Then they
proceeded to go through the motions of vandalizing the set. All they did really was
knock a few things over, causing so little damage to the props and stuff that its
difficult to see how that would have prevented the show from going on. Talk about
violating the suspension of disbelief.

Once finished with their minuscule efforts at vandalism, the trio decides to leave the
school. However, all of the school's doors are locked and they are stuck inside. When
they try to use phone to contact someone outside the school, it does not work. When
they try to set off the fire alarm, it does not work either. On top of that, they find
another member of the cast is also in the school. There is never any sort of
explanation as to what this girl was doing there. Apparently she is in the habit of
breaking in the high school late at night for no real reason.

As anyone who has watched horror movies since 1978's Halloween knows, this 4th
student is going to turn out to be the "final girl." That is the lone survivor of the
slaughter that is going to take place. There is never any sort of explanation as to who
or what is killing the students or why this massacre is taking place. This movie sticks
to the formula to the point of being completely predictable. The movie does not
provide its audience with any suspense or any really scary moments. It also does not
provide any unintentional humor. The end result is that The Gallows is a movie in
which four persons are murdered and yet the film itself is about as interesting to paint
dry.

The real horror of The Gallows is that it appears to be the start of a new series of
alleged fright flicks. It was made in 2012 on a budget of $100,000. When it was
finally released just a couple weeks ago, it grossed over $10 Mil. on its opening
weekend.

As they say, you reap what you sow. Be prepared for lots more alleged horrors to
come with great trailers, good ad campaigns, and poorly made movies.
If there is a book that needs to be written, it is The Decline and Fall of Horror
Movies. Back in the day, horror movies were every bit as well made as movies in
other genres. The acting talent that was associated with horror movies was every bit as
good as that in other kinds of movies. Even today, the names of Jamie Lee Curtis,
Peter Cushing , Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi, Vincent
Price and Barbara Steele are revered by movie fans of all stripes.That was in the past. Nowadays, things are much different. Horror movies
appear to be the exclusive domain of cheap untalented hacks. The acting talent is noname
and no-talent. The scripts are nothing but rip-offs of previous quality movies.
Horror movies today seem to be pale, languid imitations of the horror movies of the
past. There has not been a memorable horror film made since 2007's P2.
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ER
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The sleep of reasoner breeds monsters. (sic)


« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2019, 09:34:43 PM »

Good review!  Thumbup
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crector
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« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2019, 01:54:58 AM »

Do we have to follow the format used by Andrew in order to get our reviews posted to the "Reader Reviews" area?  If so, I can redo this review, no problem.
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Alex
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« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2019, 11:22:08 AM »

I think the answer to that question is yes, but also Andrew hasn't been around for several years now.
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But do you understand That none of this will matter Nothing can take your pain away
Svengoolie 3
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« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2019, 03:09:14 AM »

Oh this sounds like a bad movie and nota fun one. Thanks for the revi... Warning .
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