This
play is so depressing, it makes Clifford Odets sound breezy and fun. Yet, it is
perversely popular with drama students, because of its body count. Charlie
Grimille died in a freak accident during the high school production that opened
the first film, so now gothy kids like to invoke his spirit Candy Man-style
with internet readings. The so-called “Charlie Challenge” yields plenty of
YouTube stats for an aspiring teen thesp, but it is still a very, very bad idea
in Chris Lofing & Travis Cluff’s Blumhouse-produced sequel The Gallows Act II, which opens tomorrow
in New York.
Nobody
takes Auna Rue very seriously, least of all her parents, largely because of her
acting ambitions. Nevertheless, she agrees to be shunted off on her older
sister, so she can attend a 90210-ish high school with a prestigious drama
department. Of course, she humiliates herself in her first monologue attempt,
but she rebounds after posting a Charlie Challenge.
Rue’s
socials are exploding and the classroom feedback for her Gallows monologue is rapturous. However, there will be a price to
pay. Most likely, the spectral hangman stalking her eventually intends to
collect. Technically, Charlie Challengers are supposed to hang themselves, but
he seems to have no qualms about targeting the people around her.
Horror
fans who take the genre seriously will probably find Act II terribly annoying, because of the ways it undercuts the
prior film’s mythology. It also refuses to definitely commit to the fundamental
nature of the evil at its core. Instead, it tosses out contradictory jump
scares, which suggest both supernatural and sinister human agencies at play.
Admittedly,
the play-that-kills Macguffin has promise, but the excerpts we hear of The Gallows are so dreary, nobody would
want to see a special one-night only production at a horror convention. It is
also hard to buy into the enduring fascination it supposedly holds for so many
shallow teens. Honestly, looking for logical consistency in Lofing &
Cluff’s screenplay is a fool’s errand.
It
is a shame how completely the film unravels, because Ema Horvath displays a lot
of energy and offbeat screen charisma as Rue. Plus, she develops some
surprisingly fresh chemistry with Chris Milligan playing Cade Parker, a
sensitive jock and potential love interest, at least until the film decides to
lurch in a completely different direction. Dennis Hurley is also far more
interesting than the rest of the supporting ensemble’s cookie-cutter base-line
as Mr. Schlake, the drama teacher, so it is too bad he doesn’t have a more
substantial role to play.
It
would be an absolutely torturous process to try to explain and justify the
relationship between later scenes with those coming earlier in the film, in
terms narrative continuity. Perhaps more importantly, this sequel just isn’t
all that scary or suspenseful. Not recommended, The Gallows Act II opens tomorrow (10/25) in New York, at the
Cinema Village.
