The Gallows Act II (2019)

 This must have came and went quickly because it just appeared on a movie channel one day and I discovered it -- Epix was the channel -- and I understood why. It blows. The twist at the end regarding sacrifice really was set up to just knock our socks off, but, instead, the lead of the film is made to look like a total fool. Auna (Ema Horvath) is pretty, awkward teen whose parents never gave her much attention and never took her desire to pursue acting seriously. Auna's sister, Lisa (Brittany Falardeau), is a burgeoning fashionista with her home decorated with mannequins and patterns, tools for building wardrobe from the ground up. Auna goes to live with Lisa and attend a drama school, but her first "tryout" in front of an acting coach and class on stage is a total failure. One day in a computer class, Auna gets a message from the mysterious user, "AlmostFamous99", convincing her to take a Charlie Challenge which includes conjuring the presence of the stage acting teen who accidentally hung himself when a gimmicked gallows suffered "equipment failure". The first Gallows had the gimmick of the "found footage" filmmaking technique, while this "Act II" uses some phone camera at the beginning and a bit of YouTube and social media but mostly goes the cinematic route. Gradually, of course, throughout the film, Auna is driven to the breaking point, seeing a mark on her neck (robe burn/injury), unable to get rid of an old Stage Play of The Gallows found in the library, but extraordinarily able to act on stage reciting text from that play without even remembering doing it much to the praise of her teacher and class. Bombarded by messages from AlmostFamous99, pushing Auna towards a voluntary sacrifice (pretty much telling her to hang herself), with Charlie in Hangman mask hanging Lisa's dog then attacking Lisa, the film indicates there is no escape from her ultimate demise.

The film has Cade (Chris Milligan) up and talking to Auna, with Auna clearly excited about this Abercrombie and Fitch model being so nice to her. The twist at the end identifies Auna as a patsy, an easily duped rube who fell for this guy because he was some pretty boy with rich acting parents and tender approach to her. 

So Auna is among millions of YouTubers hoping their site will build an audience so she can become popular and attain a certain following. Her videos are often innocuous "moments in life" snippets gaining around 199 folks subbing her. It isn't until she takes AlmostFamous99 up on the Charlie Challenge that objects and furniture begin to move in her room and the Hangman's presence seems to become more and more a hassle she can't be rid of. Not sure why Lisa suffers as well because of what Auna done because it wasn't Lisa who participated in the Charlie Challenge.

In the beginning of the film, one among friends reads from the Gallows Stage Play book, and it would appear two of them are choked by swingset chains. That Gallows book in Auna's possession seems to be a major source of Charlie's power and ability to torment those who might call upon him.

Blumhouse's attachment to it seems to be a pox on the horror studio powerhouse, since "Act II" would appear to be their most horrendously reviewed film to date. While I can see an appeal in Auna since she obviously just wants people to like her and find some place where she can be welcomed, the film always seems to emphasize her as this outcast never quite able to fit in. I noticed on Letterboxd and IMDb user comments, Auna is mentioned quite a bit as an annoyance. As the lead of a horror film, Auna has this big smile that erodes into misery the longer she's sleep deprived and is terrorized by Hangman. Does she ever do anything I personally found cringe? Besides a disastrous stage fright "audition" for her acting class and how her condition worsens mentally and physically affects her life, I think Auna, without the baggage, would be such a great friend and girlfriend. She has such a heart, it is clear Auna should be very popular. For whatever reason, the film sees fit for Auna to struggle among people despite clearly having a radiant personality. It is kind of forced, really. I think that is a problem I had. I just don't believe Auna is the kind of young woman who seems to be the selection as patsy for a game that results in hanging through manipulation. 

The worst special effects sequence to me is Auna seeing Cade supernaturally hung by rope through the floor of a treehouse during a hallucination. There are a few scenes where Hangman is silhouetted at a distance that I didn't think were too bad, though his closeups with characters weren't as impactful for me. Lisa's house has mannequins in it, so with hooded Hangman as the supernatural killer, there are instances where the director could play around with visual tricks. Though the overuse of sound design jumpscares gets to be a bit much...I just felt it was a last ditch effort to pull some jolts out of a film lacking in them.

The twist with the group congratulating their "main star" on a job well done in regards to using influence to encourage an agreed-upon hanging death on a literal gallows did absolutely nothing for me. I did notice how the twist works for some viewers, though. Can't trust anybody, it seems. I guess I wish Auna wasn't portrayed as such a gullible, naive dimwit...she's too sweet a character to be so discarded. 1.5/5