The Gate
THE GATE (15)
D: Tibor Takacs
Vista (John Kemeny)
Canada 🇨🇦 1987
92 mins
Horror
W: Michael Nankin
DP: Thomas Vamos
Ed: Rit Wallis
Mus: Michael Hoenig & J. Peter
Robinson
Stephen Dorff (Glen), Christa Denton (Al), Louis Tripp
(Terry), Kelly Rowan (Lori), Jennifer Irwin (Linda)
Low budget Canadian horror from the 1980's which hasn't
dated too well but for its time the special effects are rather impressive, especially considering the meagre roots of the production.
This almost feels like two films with a change in tone
towards the end of the second act, it starts with two kids discovering a hole in their back garden which leads into hell, unleashing demons unto the earth. They then manage to seal the gate,
but something has remained within this realm.
There's some effective scary moments, but the end descends
into ludicrous comic-book territory and tries too hard to make sense of something which should have been left open for a viewer's imagination to fill in the gaps.
Hugely enjoyable for its duration, but not enough to merit
a sequel (Gate II: Trespassers, released a few years later). Cheesy 1980's horror fun.
6/10
