THE GALLOWS (2015) Ending Explained

[Music] hey everybody welcome to found flicks on this ending explained we'll be looking at one I've gotten a ton of requests for for a long time the found footage style of the gallows where a group of teens are faced with the malevolent spirit of someone that died in their high school theater decades earlier you know I get tons of requests for all kinds of different movies to cover and some of them I can't help but just wonder why and the gallows is definitely one of those because it's pretty terrible and I can see why the ending would be confusing it's because the story isn't coherent and to me the biggest issue that undermines the movie is its use or misuse really of the found footage style generally for a found footage movie there is a very specific reason baked into the story that explains why people are filming everything in the first place like trying to catch supernatural occurrences in your house and paranormal activity filming for a ghost hunting shows such as Grave Encounters or producing a documentary as in the Blair Witch Project the entire idea is based around the found footage aspect and this helps add to the realism of the story as well as giving the audience an understanding of why the characters are filming things all the time the gallows on the other hand does not do this it's just some random idiot filming things for no reason the only time any reason is even brought up is a brief mention of saying it's forward the play but obviously no one asked him to film or it was an assignment or anything he's just filming stuff that's it to me it makes the whole thing feel like it doesn't really fit into what works when it comes to found-footage movies and it's more just like using cheap cameras and shooting it cheaply because it's cheap okay now that we got out of the way why the movie inherently doesn't work to me let's check out the gallows breaking down the story and explaining the ending the good news is there is plenty for me to make fun of our story begins in 1993 with an apparently accidental tragedy during their performance of a play at a high school appropriately called the gallows which from what I can gather is the story of two old tiny people the may in August being a criminal and they're in love and then the guy gets hung at the end great play the lights go black and when they come up the lead boy Charlie is roped up on the gallows hearing the characters crimes being and sentenced to death but that death turns real when the prop malfunctions and Charlie drops killing him to the horror of everyone in the audience we didn't jump forward exactly 20 years to 2013 where seemingly tied to the anniversary of Charlie's death the high school theater class is doing the gallows once again with the intent to finish the play this time the lead in their revival is Reese a jock by Nature and a pretty horrible stage actor no no she'll be safer the female lead is played by Pfeifer a hardcore theatre student that we learn Reese has a crush on then there's Reese's best bud Ryan who's the one Manning the camera and this guy's found it's insufferable as you could possibly imagine constantly making fun of Reese for being in the play and pegging other theater nerds in the face with a football because theater is dumb and not manly at all while football is super cool I guess and since he's the one behind the camera we get to spend a lot of time with this dumb ass yay gathered in class we learned that tomorrow is the big day of the performance and the strangely accurately seeking Pfeifer has something to show everyone program she's made up that are exact replicas of the ones from 93 okay you guys are taking this tribute thing a bit too far and even the teacher says they had trouble getting the school board to approve them doing it in the first place hi can we do the same play where that kid was killed 20 years ago no of course not why the hell would you do that just do Oklahoma or something ah whatever who cares go for it ever since Charlie's death everyone believes that his spirit still lingers in the theater people watching the rehearsal mentioning odd things that have happened there over the years and see some of this for ourselves when Ryan tugs on the stage rigging rope and another one moves on its own spooky there's another blonde woman amongst the observers who no one knows but was seen at every step of the production who mentions that Charlie had a girlfriend and was devastated by what happened him having a girlfriend being a detail to the legend that the kids were apparently unaware of Ryan continues to be a jerk and taking the piss out of Reese for doing the play realizing after seeing notes from Pfeifer in his script the real reason he's doing it and like a total jackass immediately chases Pfeifer down and reveals Reese's crush seriously why would anyone ever be friends with his dude is still adamant about finding a way to get Rhys out of doing the play and gets a lucky break discovering that the back door to the theatre is broken and can't be closed which I'm pretty sure the school would find a way to chain up or something but this provides the perfect opportunity for Ryan to hatch a brilliant scheme break into the school later that night and wreck the stage so his buddy doesn't have to do the play and look like a total dork even though Rhys never suggests wanting to back out it's entirely Ryan that is weirded out by it Rhys even says that he has people counting on him and doesn't want to disappoint Pfeifer so the entire scheme is really for Ryan's own stupid desires not even considering what his friend actually wants regardless of his hesitation he goes along with the plan Ryan also bringing along his cheerleader girlfriend Cassidy who is also a delight can you please explain to us I don't see it no wonder these two are dating the back door is wide open allowing them to get inside but find the theatre completely dark and weirdly the lights aren't functioning luckily they have Ryan's camera light to continue onward they get their first taste and the weird occurrences from the legend when Ryan goes off on his own breaking into another kid's locker for prank purposes and he doesn't notice as another Locker behind him swings open on its own then slamming shut as he simultaneously closes the other nothing scarier than locker doors back in the theatre they proceed to [ __ ] [ __ ] up breaking random things and kicking over the potted plants oh no how will we ever replace our potted plants you monsters they then set their sights on the gallows themselves beginning to unscrew the structure and removing the noose ryan tells Rhys to do some lines from the play and he's still not very good he's coming for me no one else even with lots of dramatic pauses hearing a huge bang they think it's most likely the janitor but decide it's for the best to abandon the destruction and get the heck out of there on the way out they come across Pfeifer who's there for some reason giving the lame excuse that she saw Reese's car and came to check it out okay sure that doesn't sound suspicious or unbelievable at all Pfeifer if that's even your real name oh it is off on their own Pfeifer asked Therese what they are doing here re stumbling forwards as usual saying they're here to practice the play and that he's not feeling confident I'm not sure why you're not feeling confident buddy he's coming from Ryan is insistent they finish the job but Cassidy is ready to back out especially after her phone mysteriously has no signal but no one is going anywhere as the backdoor that's always open is now closed up tight and find all the doors around can't be budged the Spirit has the group trapped right where it wants them perhaps wanting to one-up Ryan's jerkiness Cassidy reveals to fight for the real reason they're here to ruin the play but their pointless teenage squabble is put on hold when Ryan steps back on stage inexplicably finding the noose has returned to the gallows and the stairs leading up to it have been reassembled looks like somebody wants to make damn sure this play happens no matter how many plants they try and knock over with nowhere else to go they try the school's office phones but all the lines are dead leading them to an open door hearing strange static sounds coming from the end of the hallway in another room they discover the source is an old TV and VCR with white noise playing that suddenly turns red and a vintage news story from 93 is played time for a backstory dump the newscaster reporting on Charlie's death which they ruled a freak accident they then move on to an interview with his previously mentioned girlfriend and the kids realize the woman at the theater who mentioned her was actually Charlie's girlfriend all these years later the story continues that Charlie wasn't supposed to play the lead but rather the hangman and only took over the part after the original actor got sick when seeing a picture of the cast and crew something terrifies Reese who bolts out to a display containing the same picture falling to the ground in shock turns out that it was actually his dad that was originally set to play the lead in the play and got sick resulting in Charlie taking over and getting killed making this whole thing pretty much about his spirit getting revenge on Reese why it didn't try to kill his dad who was actually sort of involved I have no idea Ryan brilliantly gets separated from the others coming to the open door for the maintenance room here's more thumps and odd noises but nobody is there but judging by the stuff left out the janitor hasn't been gone too long oh there is hanging dead from the ceiling in the back room that patty was nearby he reunites with the others Reese explaining what they learned about his dad but is cut short when they hear thuds of footsteps walking on the floor above the stopping right past them an invisible force lifts city into the air choking her and they managed to get her free and escape but the encounter left some serious bruises on her neck that seemed to be getting worse taking action Ryan ascends a ladder in an attempt to reach an air vent that could lead outside but has flung off the ladder by the spirit breaking his leg literally in the process good theater gag guys nice one trying to get him help they leave him alone and the theater doors promptly seal shut Ryan looks around the empty theater turning back to the site of a hangman figure standing there when he turns back it's gone and Ryan takes a moment to catch his breath only for a news to appear out of nowhere lifting him high into the rafters vanishing in the darkness and when the others are allowed back in only find his camera left behind Rhys thinks he's found another way to get out through the locker room but the Spirit again forts their planned unstacking all of the stuff he piled up a phone begins to ring in one of the lockers which Rhys mash is open seeing it's his dad calling but when he answers only hears himself on the other end saying the same monologue from earlier about how he wants me from the play and extremely terrified Cassidy how does a lone bathed in red light looks good enough for poster to me the hangman floats forth behind her then standing silently she grabs the camera looking closer at her injury that is definitely getting worse damn supernatural rope burns but that won't be a problem much longer as she turns back the hangman isn't there but now the rope is around her neck getting dragged down the hall the others showing up moments too late as the camera battery finally dies good thing they have to deciding to pull the fire alarm Pfeifer is worried that Charlie is going to find them Rhys reassuring her as a shadow looms closer then the hangman again appears behind Pfeifer sending them running up to the rafters with the spirit right behind them they bust through another door but Pfeiffer is too afraid to go on just as the fire alarm stops suddenly which Therese is a good thing and means the police are here now all they've got to do is get back downstairs to get rescued about to duck under some pipes they hear rattling nearby and when turning back to the pipes there are ropes covering everything we get it you're the hangman with the ropes already jeez they keep going anyway finding a photo of the 93 cast waiting for them looking back up to a rope hanging along with the hanging bodies of Ryan and Cassidy Rhys apologizes to Pfeifer saying this is all his fault which it really is tries to again reassure her that he won't let anything happen to her returning downstairs Reese's the back door is wide open to outside he bolts across the stage and makes it out but quickly sees that Pfeiffer isn't with him hearing her choking and coughing inside sending him back in to help her and I will definitely regret that in a second he finds her still being choked on stage as the house lights come on and we then cut to a wide shot looking down over them so Charlie brought his own ghost camera apparently the two performed the same finale scene from the play and even in this desperate situation he's still a pretty bad actor they hug and she starts to sob as the rest of the lights come up highlighting the gallows understanding that Charlie only ever wanted him Reese steps up to the noose placing it around his neck Pfeifer weirdly doesn't stop performing the scene screaming out to him by his character name he yells back at her to stop calling him that as the hangman appears flashing in and out of sight then drops him hanging Reese his body lifelessly swinging as the lights go out leaving only a spotlight on Pfeifer who does a traditional curtain call bout seen holding hands with the hangman in the audience someone who begins to clap seeing it's Charlie's girlfriend oh boy they're behind everything we then cut to police investigating a house seeing pictures of Charlie's girlfriend and Pfeifer together coming to a slightly open door the officer pans around seeing a shrine of articles and such about Charlie's death footage from 93 playing on the TV and on the bed Charlie's girlfriend and Pfeifer stare blankly the police officers seeing it's Charlie on the screen calling out his name don't say that name Pfeifer warns he Warley yells out to another officer seeing him getting slammed into the wall the hangman then manifests in front of him attacking okay if you didn't catch all the nonsense that just went down Charlie's former girlfriend and his daughter Pfeifer obviously are in cahoots with the hangman as it was Pfeiffer that coaxed Reese into joining the play in the first place in order to enact their plan of killing him the whole thing was to get revenge on Reese's dad for inadvertently causing Charlie's death 20 years ago but again why try to kill his son his dad is still alive and everything so why not try to get revenge on him instead it also doesn't make sense story wise for Charlie to want revenge because what happened was an accident they never indicate that Reese's dad was a jerk or set Charlie up or anything it again was an accident and really his fault I mean he got sick that's all that led to Charlie taking over the role nothing untoward on Reese's dad's end whatsoever so revenge for what him getting a cold I honestly don't get it perhaps an even more egregious story error isn't in relation to the timeline that they've established so for Pfeifer to be Charlie's kid his girlfriend would have to have been pregnant with her before he died but our story takes place 20 years later that unavoidably means that Pfeiffer would be 20 years old and thusly no longer in high school it's just oh they could have made this work in the story oh she got held back or is new this year or something but they didn't even bother making it make sense with a timeline they established it's just like they didn't give a crap that nothing in the story even adds up okay just breathe I don't want to damn them completely as when I looked into the history of the movie an initial version was entirely completed before it got picked up for distribution and after this it was heavily reshot and edited into the version released so I don't know maybe it made sense at some point in its original form and then the studio was just like who gives a crap about the story just make sure it's got jumpscares in it that's all the kids want and maybe they're right but that stuff drives me crazy turns out the entire original version of the movie is on the blu-ray so out of morbid curiosity I watched it and it does kind of make more sense than the release one and even make some references to why Ryan is filming everything and in the original ending it's still Pfeiffer in the hangman aka Charlie responsible but she's not his daughter merely someone just obsessed with the story so again it at least makes more sense but still isn't very good and hey maybe the sequel to gallows ACTU will wind up being a vast improvement similar to Ouija and Ouija - yes there is a sequel to this movie and it's not in production it's completely done and in the can and has been for quite some time at least a year from what I've read I'm not sure why it hasn't been released yet but Jason Blum actually recently mentioned that it will finally be coming out in the next nine months guess we'll have to wait and see all right that'll do it for this ending explained on the gallows obviously I don't have an issue covering bad movies as in some ways they're more fun than having to use my brain a lot so feel free to send me video suggestions of any kind to my social media accounts at thumb flicks thanks folks what did you guys think of the gallows and its ending are you looking forward to the gallows act - what's your favorite bound footage movie of all time let me know your thoughts in the comments below make sure to LIKE subscribe and follow thanks for watching conflicts cx-9

Channel: FoundFlix

Views: 2,834,710

Keywords: the gallows, the gallows 2015, the gallows ending, the gallows ending explained, ending explained, ending, explained, the gallows trailer, hangman, the gallows 2, gallows act II, charlie grimmile, trailer, clip, final scene, end scene, original ending, alternate ending, gallows real, found footage, foundflix ending explained, foundflix

Id: 4DtGRz7iV5Q

Length: 15min 48sec (948 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 29 2018