The Gate
| Directed by: | Tibor Takács |
|---|---|
| Written by: | Michael Nankin |
| Cast: | Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp, Kelly Rowan |
| Studio: | New Century |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Official Site: |
The 80’s went through a phase when they shelled out movies like The Monster Squad, Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Goonies. Pre-teen adventures of an almost all child cast pitted against some kind of supernatural force.
Here the parents have gone out of town, and left the house all to the kids and their underage party guests. So when the demons from hell take over the house, it’s up to the kids to save the day.
These kids provide a lot of laughs for the most part with their B—movie acting skills and their wacky hairdos, like the one chick who looks like she got her head caught in a box fan. And I got a bit of a Wonder Years Kevin and Paul vibe from the two main kids. lil’ Dorff had that kind of whininess about him and his pal was a dorky know-it-all with one bitchin’ Killer Dwarfs jean vest.
Out of all the other kid-friendly spookfests out there, I’d have to say that The Gate stands out as one of darkest. You could traumatize kids with some of this shit. Kids seeing pictures full of dead family members, even attacked by parental imposter monsters with gooey cave-in faces, and a gigantic Kraken looking monster.
Not to mention those tiny stop-motion goblins. Those things honestly freaked me out. And ya gotta give props to a movie that uses a Barbie doll as a weapon!
BOTTOM LINE: I had a decent time with it. It does feel like it takes a while to pick and it is aims more towards the younger horror novices, but there are some creepy little monsters and some fun stop-motion effects. Highly recommended for Halloween time kiddos!
Finally rewatched this the other night and sadly it doesn't hold up. Followed it up with Blade. It was a Dorff double feature at two very different points in his life.
I have to say, it is super refreshing to know there's someone else out there who's seen (and been entertained by) this movie! This was my default, guilty-pleasure horror movie growing up. And yes, some of the imagery was disturbing at such a tender age. The eye ball in Dorff's hand got me every time!
This film creeped me out when I was a kid. I haven't watched it since and I imagine it wouldn't hold up, haha, I'll keep my old memories of this one I think.