The Gallows

Twenty years ago, a student died in a high school play called The Gallows. Now the school is putting on the play again, with a jock who can't act as the male lead. The jock's irritating friend convinces him the play will stink and he will be embarrassed. So, along with another friend, they sneak into the school at night to trash the set so it will be cancelled. But they are discovered in the act by the play's lead actress and then everything goes to hell as the four find themselves trapped in the building with the vengeful ghost of the boy who died in The Gallows.

Another found footage movie trying to find a hook in a played out horror subgenre. It has most of the usual found footage problems, including my favorite: characters continuing to film the terrifying goings-on in the movie even when all logic would dictate they should drop the camera. One particularly galling scene is when one character is running for his life and has to climb a ladder to escape the hangman ghost thing (don't ask). The guy holds onto the camera with one hand the entire time he climbs the ladder. I mean, come on, that's beyond stupid and unrealistic. The characters are very annoying in this. The guys are the worst, with Ryan Shoos giving new meaning to the word obnoxious and Reese Mishler having a slack-jawed wide-eyed expression on his face the entire movie. I can only assume he calls that acting. The highlight of the film is when Ryan's character calls Reese's character a bad actor. That the characters also share the names of the actors just made the scene all the more enjoyable. I'm sure Ryan loved getting to say what he was thinking about his fellow actor without breaking character. The two girls, Cassidy Gifford and Pfeifer Brown, are fine but ultimately forgettable. It's not a scary movie in any way. The beginning is very boring but, once it gets going, it at least manages to keep your attention. You probably won't like it much but try to stick with it for the unbelievably corny ending.