So this is what the state of horror has come to: putting shitty no budget movies in theaters, because the studio knows no matter how bad the film is people will see it in droves. Why people!? WHY!?? *sigh*... So The Gallows was shot on an estimated $100k and it definitely shows in the final product, because the entire film is nothing more than an idiot with a camera recording other idiots vandalize a school then freak out, run around (with the camera pointed at feet half the time) and naturally split up so they can start getting off'd by some vengeful spirit named "Charlie".

Apparently 20 years ago this Charlie was a theatre student that was accidentally hung when a prop malfunction occurred during a school play. I guess the school thought it would be a good idea to half-ass everything in the play, but create a real working gallows (nice work guys!). The movie was actually shot a few years ago under the name Stage Fright, where the filmmakers released a trailer online, which eventually caught the attention of Blumhouse Productions. Seeing a potential money maker Jason Blum bought the film and threw a little extra money at them (which was probably just pocketed) to reshoot some scenes and make a completed movie.

It has been many years since a film last angered me, but that feat was finally once again accomplished by The Gallows! Not only was I nodding off during the film, but after the terrible climax I was enraged. The ending was pretty much just a FUCK YOU to the audience. It not only insulted our intelligence, but also wasted our time. Granted, I'm not a fan of found footage, but I at least try to keep an open mind when going in, especially if a movie tries something different. The Gallows didn't even bother to try. And according to the filmmakers they supposedly intended to create some kind of new horror icon with this Charlie character and to that I say, NO THANKS and kindly, FUCK OFF.

The movie offers nothing new to the genre or found footage in general--we get shots of dark corridors of nothingness, some bangs here and there, and typical pop scares until the end when Charlie shows up to chase down the remaining survivors. Of course whatever we see is blurred by the camera constant moving around anyway, so none of that really matters. That's actually how I felt about the characters in the film since none of them were likable, I couldn't give a shit what happened to them. The only reason I'm not giving this movie a dreaded 1 rating is because I've actually seen worse than this, but still anything that gets a rating less than a 4 is still quite an accomplishment. Congrats on the terrible movie guys!

The Gallows is best described as a high school film project that duped its way into theaters to rob the hard-earned money from unsuspecting movie-goers. The film offers absolutely nothing new, barely even has a script and has the audacity to insult our intelligence by the end. Do yourself a favor and avoid this like the plague!