Halloween Month: The Gate

As a kid, one of the videotapes I’d often see in rental stores was a movie titled “The Gate.” Whenever I would see that cover art, I always thought to myself that it would probably be really scary and have a creepy mood/tone. Just thinking about it left a lot to my imagination. Despite looking freaky, I knew I’d want to see it after working my way through more entry-level horror films. Sure enough, I eventually watched the movie not long after my parents got satellite TV. A friend was hanging out with me one day and we saw that it was on HBO, so we decided to watch it.

Did it live up to my childhood imagination? Sort of. I didn’t find it all that scary, but the weird eerie tone I expected was definitely there. On top of that, I found the movie really entertaining and loved the effects.

Released in 1987, The Gate follows a young kid named Glen who’s played by Stephen Dorff in his first film role. That’s right! The same Stephen Dorff who played the bad guy in Blade. Yes, he was a kid once. Yes, it’s hard not to think of his later roles when watching this. I tend to have these reactions and thoughts when watching any actor who got their start in horror films and has went on to great success. Yes, that includes Kevin Bacon’s role from Friday the 13th. Cue the obligatory Kevin Bacon quote from Guardians of the Galaxy.

So anyway, the movie follows Glen as we open the film with a nightmare. He dreams that his treehouse is struck by lightning after he climbs into it. When he wakes up, he finds that the tree has fallen over and is being cut up by workers. As it’s being dragged away, it drops a geode that catches his attention. His friend Terry tells him about geodes and wants to dig in the spot to look for a bigger one that they could sell.

Yeah, it’s hard not to think back on this Simpsons moment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After they crack a large geode open, they find that it leaves some writing on a notepad. They read the words out loud (yeah, probably not a great idea) and manage to open the hole further, releasing an evil presence. From here, weird things start happening and they realize that they have opened a gate which unleashes demons from hell. These demons then wreak havoc and need a couple sacrifices in order to take over the world. So basically, these kids gotta close the gate, fight for their lives, and save humanity from a doom that even Kevin Bacon couldn’t save us from.

It’s a pretty straight-forward plot, but it’s effectively told and well-paced. The main characters mainly consist of Glen, Terry, and Glen’s sister Alexandra (or Al for short). As the story progresses and stakes rise, they realize they have to come together to fight off these demons. The chemistry between them is very believable and, even though they’re in danger, they manage to have little moments of some levity here and there. It’s nice seeing how these dynamics add to the film.

And then there’s this scene…

Oh boy… this is a scene that I’ve been dying to share ever since I saw it, and ever since I knew I wanted to review this movie. No matter how many times I watch this part, I always find it amusing due to the acting and delivery of the line, “Yooou’ve beeeen baaad!” I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t become a meme or something. It’s so out of nowhere and over-the-top.

That’s just one of many cool things about this movie. The effects are fun to see and mostly consist of stop-motion, as well as some shots where the little demons are actually people in suits and filmed with forced perspective. The movie had a pretty low budget, but what they were able to achieve is pretty impressive.

There’s not a whole lot I don’t like about this movie, but one thing that does rub me the wrong way is how unlikable Alexandra’s friends are. They make derogatory and distasteful remarks to Glenn and Terry, and don’t add much to the film in the long-run. I’d mostly attribute this to how they were written, it would’ve been nice if they weren’t so one-dimensional. When I think about it, this kind of thing did seem common in 80’s movies with bully-type characters. I’m not fond of it, but in hindsight, they don’t detract from the film too much.

That thing aside, this is a really cool movie and I do feel it’s a good horror film to start with if someone’s wanting to get more into the genre. It’s not too scary, but still manages to have an ominous tone that pulls you in. The score is also fantastic and perfectly captures the creepy otherworldly feel, while also sounding pretty uplifting at the end.  Sometimes it feels more like a dark fantasy film rather than a horror film, and I really like that.

One really surprising thing about The Gate is that when it first released, it performed very well, grossing around twice it’s budget and, ultimately, earning $13.5 million by the end of its theatrical run. For a film made on a pretty low-budget at the time (roughly $6 million), this is very impressive. It even got a sequel in the form of Gate II: Trespassers, but that didn’t prove to be as successful.

There was going to be a remake a while back that would’ve been directed by Alex Winter, but it seems to be either cancelled or in development hell. Storyboards are out there and H.R. Giger was attached as well, but the film just never happened. I’m usually neutral on the idea of remakes, but this is one that I’d be interested in seeing if it ever does get made. It would especially be neat if it uses ideas from the original script, which was apparently darker.

Whether we see a remake or not, we’ll always have the original to revisit. The Gate feels special in that it’s very self-contained and doesn’t rely on being big and fancy. Come to think of it, the low-budget seems like a blessing in disguise, because what the filmmakers pulled off is very effective and they were able to get good performances from the actors. On top of that, the main characters are pretty well-developed and likeable. Glen, Terry, and Alexandra do what they can to look out for each other and their chemistry feels very believable.

In short, this is one I definitely recommend if you love 80’s horror films. It’s fun, spooky, and manages to have heart in the right places. Check it out!

So until next time, don’t go digging around in creepy suspicious holes.