Rating: *
Starring: Ema Horvath, Chris Milligan, Brittany Falardeau
Well, shit. Look at that.
When The Gallows got released back at 2015, it barely made anything promising for itself as a supernatural found footage/slasher hybrid, but it did obtained a 
Ditching the Found Footage approach after three to four something minutes, Act II follows teenage Youtuber Auna Rue who aspires to be an actress by joining her school's theater group (That's good!) but blunders an audition. (That's bad!) Looking for another way to make a name for herself, she takes the advice from one of her online fans to try reading lines from a more known play (That's good!), only said play happens to be The Gallows, which is said to curse anyone who gets involved with it. (That's bad!) Thinking none of the supernatural consequences that might await her, Auna proceeds and actually impresses the theater group with her new readings (That's good!), but now the curse of The Gallows is hexed upon her and the murderous figure known as Charlie is out to get her. (That's also bad. For more tiresome reasons. Can I go home now?)
So, remember that slasher Smiley back at 2012? This movie is a near carbon copy of that flick, down to its focus on a mentally tormented protagonist whose whiny attitude failed to mend any kind of connection to my interest and a stupid twist that came out of nowhere concerning a death cult worshipping Charlie like some sort of harbinger. (Yeah, spoilers and shit. I don't care, the movie sucks. Y'all will be thanking me.) Due to this, there are more poorly-paced supernatural spookiness and drawn-out "my life sucks because teenager!" talk going on here than actual noose killings and boogeymen stalking, a fact that infuriates me as this movie was showing some potential of being a creative bodycounter with Charlie finding more ways to strangle and hang people than just with his noose, all the while rocking some sweet cinematography. One scene involving some sheets and Charlie's silhouette is a perfect example of a wasted opportunity as it wonderfully blends the menace of its paranormal killer with an unexpected weapon of choice, but we have to throw all of that away because Act II wanted to be more inclined to teen drama tropes of boyfriends, unappreciative parents and the downside of popularity with some added flavors of ghostly "scares" and slow psychological and physical breakdowns. Apparently teen drama about a bland character have bigger priorities over working scares and/or a killcount in horror movies...
To be fair, lead actress Ema Horvath as Auna Rue did an amazing job acting onscreen, it's just that the material she's been given to work with is so damn boring and dull, that I was hoping the producers filmed this in secret, pondered about it halfway only to abandon it and never speak of it again. But instead, they filmed it in secret, went all the way to finish it, sent it out there for our eyes to be subjected to, leading probably half of the horror community baffled why The Gallows (2015) even got this sequel? Who demanded it? How many of us demanded it? I, despite liking the original Gallows, definitely didn't saw a need to continue Hangman Charlie's onscreen horror Odyssey, so who is this supposed to target? The minuscule number of fans that I'm very certain is only around the hundreds? How's that a promising market?Why the hell am I asking you all of these questions?
Bottomline, if you like the original Gallows, you're good and set with that. Never bother yourself to see this, though I'm positive that tiny nagging voice inside your head would convince you otherwise eventually so should that happen, a word of advice: prepare a drink and a back-up movie. Something nice and worth your time. You will need it...Bodycount:
1 boy found snared and wrapped dead in a swing set
1 dog found hanged
1 female strangled with a measuring tape
1 female hanged on a gallows
Total: 4
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