Starring Christa Denton, Stephen Dorff, Deborah Grover, Carl Kraines, Kelly Rowan
Directed by Tibor Takács
Distributed by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
The idea of a “kid’s” horror movie is not a new one, though it is definitely not territory visited often. Sure, we’ve got Goosebumps and the like, but theaters seldom play host to a full length horror show for your eight to tween set. Thankfully, we can all relive the 80’s via DVD and miraculous Blu-ray in this day and age. While The Gate only enjoys a DVD release for now, it’s no less a banner moment for horror fans and their children looking for those starter films that won’t leave them scarred for life.
Glen (Dorff) and Al (Denton) spend their days in the typical younger brother/older sister struggle for dominance. That is to say, Glen demands attention and his sister does her best to ditch him. This leaves Glen to his own devices, which usually leads to chaos and destruction of property. When he teams up with his manic metal loving friend Terry (Tripp), the odds of destruction triple. The pair unwittingly uncover a hole that has contained little creatures who serve “the old ones’; an obvious nod to Lovecraftian themes. Things quickly escalate and the trio find themselves as the last line of defense between our pleasant world and demonic hordes with voracious appetites. How could children battle such forces? Hollywood finds a way!!
As this movie was made for kids, the look is often well lit, even when in (what should be) dark places. It’s clear the filmmakers explored every potential scene thoroughly and made decisions based on not wanting to freak children out too badly. Barely a drop of blood is dropped, even where there should be. One is reminded of Something Wicked, This Way Comes which I’ll still argue is an immensely creepy movie designed to torment kids into young adulthood. There is more blood in THAT Disney movie than you’ll find in The Gate but not by much of course. Never the less, there is an unsettling nature to this film, even years later as I watch as a (somewhat) full grown man. The undead workman in the wall is still a fantastic piece of makeup, even under the scrutiny of modern HD clarity. I’d say the giant Harryhausen-esque monster at the close of the film looks even better than my memory of it. It’s a pretty impressive accomplishment and testament to the filmmakers that this movie holds up so well and achieves a timeless quality. Save one amazing hairstyle on a female character (which you can probably see among teens today), you’d never even be able to pin down the movie as a product of the Eighties.
The Gatekeepers with director and writer talking about the creation of this film is also very revealing, answering every question that was left! It’s fun to watch creators of a film like this dispel all the myths I’d heard over the years and at the same time, reveal how different it was to make a movie at that time. The original theatrical trailer is also included.
The Gate is a MUST HAVE movie for all horror fans and this special edition is absolutely worth the meager sixteen bucks! Lord knows who that hipster explorer kid is on the cover of this new DVD edition, but it’s easy to forget that he’s there while you enjoy owning a movie that’s nearly impossible not to love. With the charm of E.T., non threatening action akin to The Monster Squad and some quality low level creeps, consider this the first horror movie you can show your kids, opening them up to a whole new world that will make them the twisted individuals we will one day call … our readers.
Special Features
4 1/2 out of 5
Special Features:
4 out of 5
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