Contradictory reviews. Gallows - horror without innovative frills

The gallows horror film “The Hangman” is another youth horror story with a rather predictable plot that keeps the viewer in suspense for the entire timing, leaving a feeling of satisfaction after watching. Almost every person has certain obsessive fears. Few of those watching will be indifferent to the fate of the characters of the tape who are trapped, and their lives are threatened by an unprecedented and invisible force. “Hangman” - a film that successfully plays on the phobias of the layman.

Where have we seen ...

Despite the fact that the reviews of Gallows received mixed reviews, critics noted the successfully formed creative union of the creators of the picture - young Chris Lofing (“The Cross”) and Travis Cluff. In addition to them, Jason Bloom worked on the picture, which has already shot a sufficient number of bloody mystical horror films, such as “Paranormal Appearance”, “Wiji: The Devil's Board”, “Death Rooms”, “Astral”. Nevertheless, the "Hangman" is fundamentally different from the paintings listed above. “The Hangman” is a film partially shot in the genre of mockumentary, i.e. in a pseudo-documentary style. And some of his moments are very similar to the 1999 horror Blair Witch. It is possible that Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing were inspired by this particular film of the 90s, pushing for the creation of a similar, but more sophisticated in terms of mysticism plot.

Plot

The four main characters - high school students Pfeiffer (Pfeiffer Brown), Reese (Reese Micheler), Cassidy (Cassidy Gifford) and Ryan (Ryan Schuss), according to the plot narrative, accidentally appear on the night before the premiere of a gloomy theater performance in the school. Cassidy and Ryan tried in every possible way to dissuade their friend Reese, who will play the role of the hanged man, from participating in the play. The fact is that this play was once staged by a school theater group, but during its screening a terrible tragedy occurred. Killed student - the lead actor. Reese, realizes that he lacks acting and dramatic talent, especially since the guy can not get rid of the scaffold's fear. The guys, in order to disrupt the re-premiere, decide on vandalism and begin to ruin the scenery for the play. At the same time, forgetting, they are having fun, taking pictures of what is happening on camera. Carried away by the pogrom, they do not notice a strange shadow, armed with a rope, watching high school students and ready, at a convenient opportunity, to tighten the death loop on anyone's neck. This is the plot of the gallows horror.

Actors

The roles of the main characters were played by promising young actors: Ryan Schoose (known for the movie “When the Night Comes”), Reese Micheler (participant in the web-series “Youth Blindness”), Cassidy Gifford (“God Is Not Dead”) and Pfeiffer Brown (“My Sons” "). The creators of the picture intentionally gave the characters of the picture their names to enhance the sensations of the actors. And in order to achieve a natural effect from the events taking place in the frame, the director and screenwriter did not show the performers the full version of the script, leaving them unaware of how the events would unfold. But they strongly recommended to get acquainted with newspaper clippings, information from sites telling about the tragic death of Charlie Grimill and the disturbing incidents that occurred after his death. In order to make one of the key scenes extremely reliable, the authors did not warn the main actors and extras, depicting the audience in the hall, in advance that they intend to “hang” the protagonist. The effect was amazing. It is not surprising that the reviews “The Hangman” earned meritorious in terms of acting skills of the performers.

The presence of a subjective camera is unreasonable

But the visual part of the picture deserved a lot of nit-picking and sarcastic remarks. The authors were accused of the absence of not only innovative and revolutionary, but also a little bit interesting. Cameraman Edd Lucas reacted calmly to attacks and negative reviews.

“Hangman” - the picture is dark, faded and cloudy, the use of the subjective camera in it is not at all justified, as many believe. The authors seem to deliberately cheat, forcing the operator to capture close-ups of the actors' faces, examining their emotions in detail, while ignoring the reason why these emotions are caused. It is not clear why one of the most spectacular scenes with the death of the central character was fully shown in the trailer of the picture, after that it did not produce the desired effect on the viewer while watching the film.

Summarizing

According to reviews by world film critics, the project of Travis Klaff and Chris Lofing is yet another proof of the crisis that the genre is undergoing. Reviews "Gallows" won controversial. Some critics scolded the creators for the lack of fresh ideas, innovative delights, while others are looking for reasons for the poor technical implementation of an initially good design. Still others note that each person watching the picture gets the feeling that the effect caused by the genre of “found films” has disappeared. If earlier they were used to add another additional dimension to the movie, then in this picture the authors grab onto this technique like a straw. But this "straw" already looks more like a shovel, with which the authors dig a grave for their creation. The chip has stopped acting, downloading video with a minimum of light and image defects is already more annoying to the viewer. The genre is in crisis.