strangely appealing
Added 7/28/2009
I know horror movies from 1987 aren't as scary today as they used to be, but I still remember being a child of the 80's and the whole horror genre back then and how disturbing those movies were as a child.
This is one of the more interesting movies. It's obviously not particularly scary, whether it's because I'm an adult now, whether I've become used to horror movies over the years, or just because it's somewhat old (or because it failed). But the story is good enough I suppose.
Two little kids find a way to bring demons to the surface from a hole in the one boys back yard. The older sister comes along for the adventure, and brings her two teenage friends (who both dislike the one little boy and constantly pick on him).
The one scene that impressed me the most was that giant creature that started rising and growing in the center of the house, and grew large enough to look inside the little boys bedroom where the boy was seen frightened for his life. That creature reminded me of the lizard boss from the original Silent Hill game that appeared on the Playstation in the face and movements.
Overall, it's no classic, and it's not scary, but it's entertaining fun.
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Enjoyable time waster.
Added 7/19/2009
Mediocre late 80's supernatural horror that would have benefited from some gratuitous violence/gore and nudity. I saw THE GATE when it first came out and for all these years I've thought that the kid opened up the gate to Hell by backmasking a heavy metal album. That would have been cool! But I was wrong cause the pit just [...]ing opens up when a tree falls down. How lame.
Anyway, so this [...]in hole opens up in a family's suburban backyard and nobody really thinks that its strange that this large hole just showed up and keeps reappearing every time you fill it in. Random [...] happens: a kid cuts himself near the hole; some [...] [...] buries a dead dog in the hole and BAM! Faster than you can say "What happened to Christa Denton's career?" you get a bunch of ugly little minions running around tearing up [...]. They looked pretty menacing at first, but outside of the clawing up a door and unorganizing your closet they're pretty harmless. The one troll from CAT'S EYE was scarier. But I don't think scary was what THE GATE was going for...hum...now that I think of it I have no idea what the [...] this movie is trying to do, but still somehow even with the low budget and lack of action THE GATE is an alright movie and a enjoyable time waster. You could definitely do worse, like anything with Will Smith.
Director Tibor Takacs went on to direct the smash hits SABRINA (the teenage witch) GOES TO ROME and MANSQUITO.
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Great movie but a meh DVD!
Added 5/8/2009
Glen (Stephen Dorff) is your average pre-teen boy who gets grounded for the weekend with his sister Al (Christa Denton) as she throws in a party. However Glen with his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) discover a weird hole in the ground and uses a special demonic rock album with magic spells on summoning demons yet they get one hell of a night literally when they discover that hole leads to the gates of hell where demons and evil spirits terrorize them for the night but can they close the gate to hell?
Excellent and highly underrated cult 1987 supernatural horror thriller favorite that was a runaway suprise box-office hit in may of 1987. The acting even by debut actor Stephen Dorff who would become Deacon Frost from "Blade" were superb and even the special effects including the mother demon are excellent for it's time. I like the movie's concept of an average suburban backyard being a hole straight to hell and a rock album that can actually summon demons, this movie does offer memorable moments like the eye in the hand and some gore for a PG-13 rating. It's a winner in my books that has a nice HP Lovecraft tone to it and spawned a sequel in 1992 with an upcoming 3D r-rated Remake in the works.
This DVD is bareboned with a bad transfer and only in fullscreen with no trailer, but hopefully MGM will get the rights to 1 and 2 in a clean polished double feature in time for the new movie.
Also recommended: "Poltergeist", "Suspiria", "Silent Hill", 1408", "Pet Sematary", "City of the Living Dead", "House By The Cemetery", "Hellraiser 1, 2, 3 and 4", "The Omen (1976)", "The Exorcist", "The Haunting in Conneticut", "Night of the Demons", "Event Horizon", "Gremlins", "The Fog (1980)", "Demons 1 & 2", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "Cat's Eye", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Evil Dead 1 & 2", "Mirrors", "Burnt Offerings", "The Haunting (1963 and 1999)", "House (1986)", "Ghostbusters 1 & 2", "Twilight Zone The Movie", "Pumpkinhead", "Making Contact (a.k.a. Joey)", "End of Days", "Constantine", "The Frighteners", "The Pit", "The Gate 2", "Stephen King's IT", "Ghostbusters 1 & 2" and "The Beyond".
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Discontinued why?
Added 4/29/2009
Can somebody tell me why this dvd has been discontinued? it's going for a ridiculous price on here! this movie needs to be a part of a 2-pak with parts one and two.
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A true freak-out movie...
Added 4/22/2009
On it's own, the movie itself is easily a 5 out of 5 in the reviews. It's creepy and disturbing and most of us have feared some of the stuff that happens to the kids in this movie happening to us when we were kids.
Having grown up on records, we often ran them backwards to try to hear secret backmasking messages in them - though we never actually did. Our basement was damp, dark and creepy - purely the turf of the washer, dryer and the furnace. My babysitter when I was young was often my older sister, and we made it a point to spook each other with games like "Bloody Mary" and attributing every little creak, crack and groan the house made in the night to something coming to get us.
Back then, my young mind would turn the shapes of my coat rack, lamps and even my robe on the back of my door into menacing shadows that I was certain were monsters. Then there were the storage cabinets that took the place of the space normally under a bed. I was certain that more than once I heard a soft *snick* sound of one of them opening in the darkness. On more than one sleepover, my friends and I made attempts at contacting "the other side" with a cardboard ouija board with a plastic pointer sporting mole foam feet.
The Gate plays on those fears nicely and I love the movie.
So, why give it only 4 stars? Well, I had to subtract something for the presentation. The print is pretty rough and it's present only in a 4:3 "Full Screen" format, instead of its proper wide screen aspect ration of 1.85:1. The movie dates itself a bit here and there, too, but overall my only complaint is with the presentation.
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"The Gate" Opens Up Humor and Horror for Kids of All Ages
Added 10/22/2009
I first saw "The Gate" on HBO in a lonely motel room in 1988. The finale had
a haunting quality that stuck with me. I was excited to finally get a good
widescreen DVD of this Canadian-made kid's chiller starring the gifted 12-year-old
Stephen Dorff. Some critics have complained that the first half is dull. I
disagree-- I think they gave a realistic, though "Leave It To Beaver" style,
grounding to the story, with much humor and knowing dialog. You are slowly
pulled into a harrowing yarn with foot-tall goblins, a mummified walking corpse,
and a majestic four-eyed Demon Lord worthy of The Great Harryhausen.
The character played by Dorff is a brave little guy, assisted by his typical teen sis,
and a "Harry Potter" looking buddy who digs the Satanic Rock Group "Sacrifyx--
whose members all died in a plane crash!" Oh smell shades of Lynyrd Skynyrd!
You never know when an elaborate album booklet will prove useful to combat Evil!
That kid poses in a floor mirror wearing a "robe" and intoning the pompously sinister
screed of the album narrator, who warns that the "Old Gods" (H.P. Lovecraft-style)
yearn to get back into our world and take it over.
The yarn builds to an apocalyptic conclusion which spews a diabolical "Wizard of Oz"
style tornado out of a backyard pit to threaten the World As We Know It. The wrap-up
with Dorff hugging his "best buddies" reminded me of another great and heart-tugging
curtain line, "There's no place like home!" I strongly recommend "The Gate" for kids'
Halloween parties; it's funny, scary, amazing, and even imparts worthwhile values.
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we got DEMONS.....................
Added 10/21/2009
This is a little great demon classic from the 80's. Two boys unleash little demons from hell, well more like a hole in the backyard. This movie got everything good acting, great storyline, and a dead guy in the well. I admit I don't care for the new dvd cover, but still a must own.
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A true 80's cult horror fave that deserves it's DVD edition!
Added 10/12/2009
Glen (Stephen Dorff) is your typical 12 year old boy who has a pal named Terry (Louis Tripp) are having a nice weekend together as Glen's parents are gone away with his sister Al (Christa Denton) babysits them and throws a party. However Glen and Terry discover a weird hole in the backyard and use a special demonic rock album to summon whatever there is from that hole, yet it does happen as they accidently unleash demons and many evil forces turning their night into hell for real as they must find a way to shut the gates to hell forever.
Excellent cult 80's supernatural horror thriller from Canada became a runaway box-office hit in May of 1987 here in the US and Canada, this movie marked the debut of Blade actor Stephen Dorff as a young boy. The film does have a nice concept of how a rock album can be used to summon evil forces and satanic rituals and has marvelous special effects for it's time like the demons and many other memorable moments that are kind of graphic for a PG-13 rating like the eyeball in the hand sequence and some stabbings. This is a very HP Lovecraft kind of haunted house and occult thrill-ride that never lets go and pulls you in as it's pure fun for everyone and always been one of my favorite horror movies for years.
This DVD is a true improvement over the bareboned edition with brilliant remastered picture and sound quality with extras like audio commentary, trailer, and featurettes
Also recommended: "Poltergeist", "Hellraiser 1 & 2", "The Gate 2", "Gremlins", "Pet Sematary", "Silent Hill", "House By The Cemetery", "City of the Living Dead (a.k.a. Gates of Hell)", "The Haunting in Connecticut", "Suspiria", "Demons", "House (1986)", "The Fog (1980)", "Pumpkinhead", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Night of the Demons", "Candyman", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "End of Days", "The Fog (1980)", "Wicked Little Things", "Cat's Eye", "1408", "Ghostbusters 1 & 2", "The Frighteners", "Nightbreed", "Evil Dead 1 & 2", "Stephen King's IT", "The Shining", "Prince of Darkness", "The Pit" and "The Beyond".
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