THE GATE [1987]

THE GATE is a terminal for the wicked to unleash Hell on suburbia. Two inquisitive adolescents, Glen and Terry, cannot resist the powerful urge to treasure hunt in the newly exposed hole in the backyard ground of Glen’s home. The excavation of a tree has provided a whole new world for the boys to explore, until Glen is ordered by his father to fill the void. Although Glen is disappointed, he and Terry at least have a prize to crack open from their dig: a crystalline rock. The same day of the tree’s removal, Glen’s parents discuss their three-day trip and the terms and conditions their kids must abide by, as they apprehensively decide to leave Glen in the supervision of his naive, sixteen-year-old sister, Al. The first night of their parentless vacation, Glen and Terry finally break the rock apart, which prompts a foreign message to appear on the notepad lying underneath it. After Glen and Terry read the script aloud, the evening takes a turn for the worse, and the two following days reveal evil demons, monsters, and zombies that have escaped from Hell through the passageway the boys accidentally created. Heavy metal guides them on their quest to conquer.

THE GATE tells the story of a fantastic horror adventure that you’ll undoubtedly want to pass along to future generations. You will be captivated from the very beginning with Glen’s distressing nightmare, a mere foreshadow of the grim days ahead. The mischief and nonsense leading up to the more frightful moments inject a lot of extra life into an already sensational plot-line. Glen’s snappy comebacks in back-and-forth combat with Al and her bratty, unsympathetic acquaintances are priceless, right along with Terry’s extensive air guitar performance. When the terror kicks in, the situation becomes not only insanely creepy, but tragically depressing. The demons deliberately terrorize Glen, Terry, and Al based upon their past experiences and fears; the beasts use the vulnerability of the innocent humans to dig deep into their minds and hearts for maximum impact, even producing manifestations of dead loved ones. The abundance of monsters take on all shapes, sizes, and numbers, ranging from a group of foot-tall devil babies to a single, four-eyed lizard creature the size of a house. Glen proves himself as an ultimate warrior using clever tactics to defeat the tourists from Hell in a legendary battle of good vs. evil.

Rating: 9/10
Director: Tibor Takács [NOSTRADAMUS, RATS, SPIDERS]

Cast: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp
Country: Canada|USA