The Gallows Reviews

Initial Thought: I kind of wanted to see this because of the trailer. It looked like an interesting concept. I heard the rumors that I was supposedly part of the Charlie Charlie trend.

Characters/Acting: Most of the actors here are first timers. Only the daughter of Kathie Lee Gifford stands out as recognizable. So basically the director who stars here is playing himself. I mean the character is also a director of sorts. Ryan is such an unlikeable character. Everyone else is alright. You get to know the characters, but they don't seem to be completely developed given all the time spent watching them.

Story: 20 years after a horrific accident during a small town school play, students at the school resurrect the failed show in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy. The play in the beginning seriously looked like a real play that would have been recorded in the 90s. One of the jump scares was pretty much there to let us know it's supposed to be scary. It just made me roll my eyes. It takes over half the movie before anything really happens to our characters. Sure there are creepy things that happen and the atmosphere is chilling, but it really wasn't interesting enough to really pull me in. Given that the deaths involved a noose I guess that really was the best they could do with death scenes. The ending was a bit unexpected, but it ended up being better than the movie as a whole.

Directing/Writing: This is the first film by co-writer/directors Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff. Of the duo Travis actually partakes as a character in the film. For first timers you can really tell that they need some work. If you are going to make characters last over half the movie they need to be developed more. We know it's supposed to be scary so the unnecessary jump scares need to go. Other than that I think they did a decent job for beginners, but there are quite a few first timers who were just magnificent through the years.

Final Thought: It's not the worst found footage I've seen, but it's certainly not close to the best either. I do have to say it was an interesting concept for a ghost/slasher type of movie. It's pretty drawn out for such a short film. The characters could have been fuller. Some plot details didn't feel right. It was just okay, but I doubt anyone will actually enjoy this as a whole.