Just when you think life in the suburbs couldn't get worse......well we all know how its gonna go. Instead of pedophiles and Kevin Spacey being source of our terror now we get mini demons living under a tree.
No not these guys
This movie also has the distinction of introducing the world to a young Stephen Dorff, he made his movie debut here and depending on your opinions of his acting skill he's been terrorizing us ever since.
I suppose there's a similarity there
So what is this movie about anyway. Well its your typical story of a gate to hell located under a tree that's all. So Stephen Dorff plays Glen, your typical 80's middle class kid, who has an older sister named Al with annoying friends and a weirdo friend Terry who is into both geology and satanic records. Straight out of John Hughes this set-up. Anyway the night after a storm/nightmare the tree in the families backyard is struck by lighting and falls down. Glen awakens to the sound of workers in his backyard removing the very tree that was struck in his dreams.
Smoke is normal from a hole in the ground right?
Once they're done Terry and Glen go to the backyard and uncover a Geode just below the dirt surface, the boys retrieve it but not without Glen getting a splinter and bleeding onto the area the tree was so you just know thats gonna end well. Anyway once inside Glen and Al's parents decide to leave for the weekend and leave Al in charge, this bein the 80's of course the first thing she does is decide to throw a party.
Talk about timeless fashion
So with Al and her friends throwing a party downstairs Glen and Terry decide to open up the Geode they found in the backyard. Once open the contents spill onto a sheet of paper and spell out some kind of incantation. These being kids and obviously not that smart they decide to say it aloud (Note to everyone out there, NEVER read words that appear out of nowhere cuz it never ends well) and from then on literally hell breaks loose. During a sleepover Glen sees his walls seemingly stretch while Terry sees a ghost of his dead mother, which turns out to actually be the dead family dog. This obviously freaks out Terry who remembers a heavy metal album he has at home (obviously he'd have it and obviously random metal bands all have ancient satanic knowledge) that might as be well called exposition cuz it lays out all we need to know about the coming demons.
Ozzy ain't got nothing on Sacrifye
Anyway after listening to the record backwards for the secrets (remember this is the 80's so every metal album had a hidden backwards meaning) the boys decide they should be safe as long as noone puts a sacrifice in the hole for the "old ones".....which is exactly what Al does by throwing the dog down there instead of taking it to the SPCA or whatever you do with them. There's a mall to go to people!! This completes the summoning and releases the evil which first appears as a bunch of foot tall minions intent of dragging you down the hole to release their master.
What the "Real Housewives" look like without make-up
So this being a horror movie i'm not gonna spoil every surprise, i mean the point of these blogs is to get ya to go watch them ya know. But suffice it to say all kinds of supernatural happenings occur and our main cast gets picked off one by one until we're down to just Glen. Realizing that all the means for the big bad ancient one to be released have been met Glen realizes its down to him to save the world.....
Dont worry, Stephens got this
"The Gate" is an example of the numerous reasons stop motion and practical effects will always be better then CGI. Yes you can tell how the effects are done and yes they don't look seamless but they add to the aesthetic of the movie in a weird way. Also how imagination and creature design can go a long way to taking what could be a ridiculous concept and make it work. Its the kind of plot that if you think about it too long the whole thing falls apart (How did they not find this hole when they were building the house in the first place?) but because of the pacing and the constant stream and variety of monster effects you never have a chance to think about it. This being the an 80's movie the unique mix of terror and cheese give this movie a more light feel then it should at times considering this is a movie where faces get ripped off and numerous children are killed.
Eye see you need a hand
Even more impressive is what they accomplished on a nothing budget. This movie was made for $2.5 million and grossed $14 at the theatres. It even lead to a sequel "The Gate 2" which was horrible but still was an attempt to launch a franchise. There was even talk of a 3D remake in 2010 but that hasn't happened as to date. So do yourself a favor and check out "The Gate" as soon as you can, as a matter of fact just click the link below and your on your way.
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