The Gallows

On October 29, 1993, Beatrice High School student Charlie Grimille is accidentally hanged and killed after a prop malfunction during a presentation of the play The Gallows. His parents, along with the whole audience, witness the tragic event.

Twenty years later, on October 28, 2013, the school attempts to put on a new performance of The Gallows. Reese Houser is excited, as this gives him a chance to grow closer to his crush Pfeifer Ross. His friend Ryan Shoos is dismissive of the play and comes up with the idea to vandalize the set. Reese is reluctant to take part but agrees when Ryan promises that he'll be able to console Pfeifer afterwards, giving them a chance to kiss.

Later that night, Reese, Ryan, and Ryan's girlfriend Cassidy Spilker sneak into the school, begin to dismantle the set, only to hear Pfeifer, who saw Reese's car, in the hallway. Knowing they cannot continue the vandalism with Pfeifer there, the group tries to leave but finds that they have been locked inside, and there is no cell phone reception. Disturbed, Cassidy admits the trio's real reason for being in the school, which angers Pfeifer.

As the group tries to look for a way out of the school, they see the set reassembled then find news coverage of Charlie's death that includes an interview with his girlfriend Alexis. They also discover that Charlie was not supposed to have performed that day, and was only on stage because he was the understudy for the main actor, Reese's father Rick.

The group becomes separated when Reese runs off with the light, with Ryan being left alone. As he searches for Reese, he sees various things, such as a half-finished plate of food, a cup of coffee, a hidden room with a mattress and bed frame, and what looks like a body hanging from above. When the group is reunited, they hear footsteps above them that stop above Cassidy. She is then yanked into the air by seemingly nothing, leaving her with burns on her neck that look like rope burns.

They all come back to the stage, where Pfeifer points out an air conditioning duct that they can escape through. Angry and frightened, Ryan calls for Charlie, terrifying the group. When he climbs up a ladder to reach the vent, he is thrown off by an unseen force, and his leg is badly broken. When Reese, Pfeifer, and Cassidy leave Ryan, the door is slammed shut, and they are locked out of the stage where Ryan lays helpless. The group eventually get on stage, finding only Ryan's phone. The audience then sees footage from the phone.

Ryan sees the door slam, then a figure holding a noose. The figure disappears before he is pulled away by the neck by a fly rig. As the night progresses Cassidy is killed by Charlie Grimille dressed as the Hangman, a character from The Gallows. Reese and Pfeifer unsuccessfully try to escape the spirit and end up on the stage, where the spirit begins to choke her. Realizing that the spirit is Charlie and that he wants them to act out the final scene (in which Reese and Charlie's characters are hanged), Reese and Pfeifer reenact the scene. However, when Reese puts the noose around his neck for the final portion, he is hanged and killed by Charlie. Once he is dead, Pfeifer and Charlie, now appearing as an adult, both bow, and Alexis, who was watching the performance, gives a standing ovation.

The police enter a house where Pfeifer and Alexis are living and watching footage of Charlie’s death, showing that Pfeifer is the daughter of Charlie and Alexis. When one of the officers attempts to question Pfeifer and Alexis about Charlie, Pfeifer warns him, saying, "You shouldn’t say that name." The officer then calls for his partner, who witnesses him being dragged by a noose, killing him. Upon turning around, Charlie appears, then attacks and kills the policeman, as the screen cuts to black.

• Reese Mishler as Reese Houser
• Pfeifer Brown as Pfeifer Ross
• Ryan Shoos as Ryan Shoos
• Cassidy Gifford as Cassidy Spilker
• Price T. Morgan as Price
• Jesse Cross as Charlie Grimille (1993)
• Melissa Bratton as Alexis Ross (2013)
  • Alexis Schneider as Alexis Ross / Mary (1993)
• Theo Burkhardt as Rick Houser (2013)
  • John Tanskly as Rick Houser (1993)
• Emily Jones as Ryan's mother
• Travis Cluff as Mr. Schwendiman
• Mackie Burt as Cheerleader

On June 24, 2014, New Line Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film.[3] On December 10, 2014, it was announced the film would be released on July 10, 2015, in the United States.[4] Though the film is set in Lofing's hometown of Beatrice, Nebraska, all of the scenes in the theatrical version of the film were shot in Fresno, California.[5] Several scenes in the first cut of the film were shot in Beatrice, but those scenes were dropped when Blumhouse Productions picked up the film. Those scenes were featured in the DVD and Blu-ray releases of The Gallows.[5] The actors performed their own stunts, and no major CGI was used in the film, Lofing said.[5]

In August 2017, it was announced that The Gallows Act II was filmed secretly.[22] The film was released on October 25, 2019 in theaters, on demand and digital by Lionsgate.[23]

• The Gallows on IMDb
• The Gallows at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Gallows at Metacritic