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A scene from Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing's The Gallows. [PHOTO: WARNER BROS.]
The Gallows
BY ERIC HENDERSON ON JULY 7, 2015 GO TO COMMENTS (0)
Though the device is always used as a means of ramping up tension, POV horror films cash in their claim on veracity the moment viewfinder guidelines or a "low battery" warning flashes on screen. Unless the intention is to put the audience in the position of identifying with an omniscient phantom cinematographer, that's not how cameras work. None of that text is ever actually imprinted on the video itself, most consumer-level cameras can't handle the darkness so crucial to horror films without constantly dipping out of focus, and there's certainly none capable of capturing surround-sound mixes. So sweeping realism (or something close to it) off the table, what other motivations would a filmmaker have for using the by-now shopworn device?
If The Gallows, from writer-directors Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing, can be used as a case study, the answer is obfuscation, plain and simple. Obfuscation from a shaky premise, from a scenario that lacks basic credibility even in the realm of the supernatural, and even from simple pacing problems. Admittedly, The Gallows opens with a truly upsetting prologue. Flashing back to 1993, the static VHS image presents a believably amateur high school production of some Crucible-adjacent historic pageant, the exact sort of drama that could turn students off from the subject of American history for good. With chatter from proud parents punctuating the silence of flubbed lines, the sequence ends in pandemonium after a platform on stage opens up underneath a young be-noosed actor. Again, the idea that a working noose would actually be put around a child's neck in a high school play is ludicrous, but the video's warped, static-flecked feel of an outtake from one of those "Banned from Television" compilations they used to shill during episodes of Jerry Springer lift it above all such issues.
Flash forward to 2013. (The film evidently put in some purgatory time on the shelf waiting for distribution.) The same high school is preparing its revival of the play in honor of the 20th anniversary of that fatal accident. You read that right. And because this is a school where drama is apparently but mandatory, the hapless captain of the football team is set to play the central martyr role. His insufferably sardonic sidekick takes to documenting the train-wrecks that are the final rehearsals, and it's those bad-faith videos that form the remainder of the film's running time. Convincing his wooden pal that there's no way he can go through the embarrassment of actually stepping onto the stage, they devise a plan to sneak into the theater the night before the curtain rises and trash the set. From there, it's strictly a high-tech spin on one of those Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
For all the shakycam realism The Gallows exhibits, its protagonists seem to exist in a clichéd high school oligarchy (e.g. jocks on top, theater geeks on bottom) not even the most reactionary "It Gets Better" reenactment would indulge. That might not have been such a huge problem if the movie's presumably purposefully shapeless editing didn't force you to spend almost half the film's running time living out their simultaneously tedious and irritating subjectivity before getting to the good stuff. By the time the movie starts borrowing the right tricks from [REC] and its ilk (and to reasonably decent effect with at least two or three well-executed shocks from misdirection within the frame), no amount of sharp, unmotivated panning can dance around the hollowness at its core. A shame, really, since this former techie could've unabashedly ridden for a horror flick about the dangers of pissing off the theater geeks of the world.
DIRECTOR(S): Travis C

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Musim panas ' 90 panggilan untuk musik & penulis TV Mengikuti @Slant_Magazine FILM | MUSIK | TV | DVD | PERMAINAN | BLOG | FITURFILM REVIEWMenciak Sebuah adegan dari tiang The Travis Cluff dan Chris Lofing. [FOTO: WARNER BROS.]Tiang gantungan OLEH ERIC HENDERSON PADA 7 JULI 2015 PERGI KE KOMENTAR (0)Meskipun perangkat selalu digunakan sebagai sarana untuk meningkatkan ketegangan, film horor POV uang mereka klaim kebenaran saat jendela bidik pedoman atau peringatan "baterai" berkedip pada layar. Kecuali jika tujuannya adalah untuk menempatkan para penonton dalam posisi untuk mengidentifikasi dengan sinematografer hantu mahatahu, yang adalah bagaimana kamera bekerja. Tak satu pun dari teks yang pernah benar-benar dicantumkan pada video itu sendiri, kamera tingkat konsumen yang paling tidak bisa menangani kegelapan sangat penting untuk film horor tanpa terus-menerus mencelupkan tidak fokus, dan tidak ada yang pasti mampu menangkap suara surround campuran. Jadi menyapu realisme (atau sesuatu yang dekat dengan itu) dari Meja, apa motivasi lain akan pembuat film untuk menggunakan oleh-sekarang shopworn perangkat?Jika The tiang gantungan, dari penulis-Direktur Travis Cluff dan Chris Lofing, dapat digunakan sebagai studi kasus, jawabannya adalah kebingungan, polos dan sederhana. Kebingungan dari premis yang goyah, dari sebuah skenario yang tidak memiliki dasar kredibilitas bahkan di bidang supranatural, dan bahkan dari masalah mondar-mandir sederhana. Diakui, The tiang membuka dengan prolog benar-benar menjengkelkan. Berkedip kembali ke 1993, VHS gambar statis menyajikan produksi meyakinkan amatir sekolah tinggi beberapa kontes bersejarah yang berdekatan Crucible, tepat jenis drama yang dapat mematikan siswa dari subjek sejarah Amerika untuk kebaikan. Dengan obrolan dari orangtua bangga punctuating keheningan flubbed baris, urutan berakhir dalam kekacauan setelah platform di panggung terbuka di bawah noosed menjadi aktor muda. Sekali lagi, gagasan bahwa jerat bekerja benar-benar akan diletakkan di sekitar lehernya dalam bermain sekolah tinggi menggelikan, tapi video menyesatkan, nuansa bebercak statis outtake dari salah satu dari mereka "Dilarang dari televisi" kompilasi mereka digunakan untuk penjudi selama episode Jerry Springer Lift itu di atas semua seperti masalah.Kilat ke depan untuk 2013. (Film ini jelas menempatkan dalam beberapa waktu purgatori di rak menunggu distribusi.) Sekolah yang sama sedang mempersiapkan dengan kebangunan rohani yang bermain untuk menghormati 20th Anniversary dari kecelakaan fatal itu. Anda membaca bahwa benar. Dan karena ini adalah sekolah yang mana drama adalah rupanya tetapi wajib, Malang kapten tim sepak bola diatur untuk memainkan peran sentral martir. Sidekick nya tak tertahankan sinis diperlukan untuk mendokumentasikan kereta-bangkai kapal yang latihan terakhir, dan itu adalah video niat buruk-yang membentuk sisanya dari durasi film. Meyakinkan sahabat kayu bahwa ada tidak ada cara ia dapat pergi melalui rasa malu benar-benar melangkah ke panggung, mereka menyusun rencana untuk menyelinap ke teater pada malam sebelum tirai naik dan sampah set. Dari sana, hal ini sangat berteknologi tinggi spin pada salah satu cerita menakutkan untuk kirim dalam gelap.For all the shakycam realism The Gallows exhibits, its protagonists seem to exist in a clichéd high school oligarchy (e.g. jocks on top, theater geeks on bottom) not even the most reactionary "It Gets Better" reenactment would indulge. That might not have been such a huge problem if the movie's presumably purposefully shapeless editing didn't force you to spend almost half the film's running time living out their simultaneously tedious and irritating subjectivity before getting to the good stuff. By the time the movie starts borrowing the right tricks from [REC] and its ilk (and to reasonably decent effect with at least two or three well-executed shocks from misdirection within the frame), no amount of sharp, unmotivated panning can dance around the hollowness at its core. A shame, really, since this former techie could've unabashedly ridden for a horror flick about the dangers of pissing off the theater geeks of the world.DIRECTOR(S): Travis C