THE GALLOWS is a low-fi found footage horror flick about a group of amateur dramatics students who end up trapped in a theatre one night, where they're haunted by the events of the past in which a student was accidentally hanged during a school play. It's one of those films which typically consists of a lot of screaming and a lot of running around through dark corridors. There's little in the way of special effects and the actors have to put a lot of work in to convince you of their fear, but they're generally not bad. On the downside, this is an entirely predictable outing and nothing that takes place hasn't been done better before. However, I still enjoyed it to a degree, as it's one of those amiable time-wasters that gets the job done.

I have never really been a fan of "found footage" movies. I really can't explain why. There's just something to a movie where you stay in your seat and don't move with the director that makes it more enjoyable. I wish I could say the same about this. For the record, I am always on the hunt for horror movies that seem interesting or those that other people watch and can't stop talking about them. With this, I will admit that I was drawn in by some previews that I saw during TV commercials.

It all begins with the performance of a high school play called (of course) "The Gallows." (Really original, right?) One of the performers is accidentally killed by a noose on the stage. Fast-forward 20 years and a group of high school students go to the school where it took place to check it out, just to see if they encounter the ghost of the performer who died onstage.

Before you know it, just about everyone is picked off one by one by some supernatural force that they believe is the ghost of that particular actor. This isn't even worthy of being called a horror movie. It has no scares, little to no suspense, and all of the actors look like they're in a daze three-quarters of the time. To sum it up, it is just lazy with a capital L.

Don't even watch this on a bet. I was bored almost into a coma by the time the movie was through. Spend an hour and a half (or however long this was; I almost forgot how long it was for good reason) watching something else.

It is my personal opinion that I did not find the film any good. There's nothing new in it. Even those who haven't seen many films could name a couple of similar films. The best ones. The worst part was, in horror films, ten guys go in and only one comes out. Sometimes none. The found-footage presentation was okay for such concept. The film was short and one day event based. Most of the story was on the night in an auditorium. The initial part had fair space to kick-start the tale with a simple intro. And then the following event did not stay up to the buildup.

The basic storyline itself was very weak. The characters, and their behaviours, all easily gives out the upcoming scenes. So predictable, even the twist was ordinary. The way it ended was worse than ordinary. I felt the final scene with the cops was totally unnecessary. There's nothing wrong with the actors. Even filmmaking was acceptable. But I don't know how the production company okayed the screenplay. One of the low cost film, but earned better. Despite not received well by all the quarters. I would always encourage such small films, but I can't suggest it.

2/10