ThiefHott Too much of everything

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

GazerRise Fantastic!

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Saul Marcus Can I really be objective about this film. Things we see in childhood are perceived differently.This movie is what it means to be 13 years old, up late at night, and finding yourself engrossed in a world of fantasy, horror, and magic. A film to cherish.What is about this film. The stop motion animation, the eye, metal band lore. The ending and what kills the demon. This isn't a movie of cliché, and not about people doing stupid things while the villain tracks them down. I think people underrate it, b/c in a way it is a silly fantasy film, but it does take itself seriously and is not campy garbage.

GL84 After finding a hole in his backyard, a teen and his friends learn the hole is a gateway to Hell and is unleashing diminutive demons upon their house-party and forces them to stop the creatures' evil plans.This was quite a fun and enjoyable kid-friendly effort. One of the better aspects here is the film does a rather fun job of building to the actual infestation of the demons as there's some cheesy scenes to really make this work. The hole's appearance at the very beginning and its contrived openings along with the discovery of the strange rocks starts this off rather well, and with the supernatural lights and party levitation tricks which all come along together very well. Best of all, this one manages to tie these factors into their true significance with a heavy metal record that not only gives them the final clue that something's going on but also the tactics needed to fully resolve the situation rather than what was commonly done at the time which meant being the root cause of it all simply for being loud and aggressive. This is pretty novel and unique which gives it some rather clever marks for its story that makes the resulting supernatural-themed action so fun as the effects of the gate opening weave throughout this. There's the creation of the second pit beneath the house, the abduction of their friends and the initial haunting dreams to go along with these scenes as well as the frantic finale which features everything from tiny demons crawling throughout the house to the fight against the multi-limbed monstrosity that appears at the end which provides this with plenty of rather enjoyable action-packed scenes that come off quite fun due to the supernatural bent to these scenes. Along with the rather appealing child-friendly storyline, there here are enough for this one to hold off the film's few problems that pop up in here. One of the bigger problems here is the fact that there's very little actual involvement of the main gateway towards the kids, as the main half here tends towards scenes involving them being home with their friends rather than anything of any significance against the titular gateway. The supernatural activity is kept to such a minimum that it really feels in a back-seat against the film's main point which is the teen angst drama of being unable to connect with his sister as she grows up as this particular storyline overwhelms the movie so much to the detriment the more horror-centered elements found in the second half the other flaw to this one is the absolutely banal and ridiculous special effects used for the demons here, with some really bad stop-motion photography that's jerky and obvious and just plain up-front about its origins which really tends to lower this one somewhat. Overall, these here are the film's flaws.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

YaoiQueen333 I would have never guessed in a million years that a PG-13 horror movie actually existed in the 80's. I knew horror was big then, but big enough to make a movie for the under eighteen? I was definitely going to have to watch The Gate.This fun, campy horror flick is about Glen (Stephen Dorff) and his best friend, Terry (Louis Tripp), accidentally finding a gateway to hell in Glen's backyard, and with the help from a rock band that had written songs about the gate, try to close it up. Unfortunately, all doesn't go that well. With Glen's parents gone for the weekend and his big sister, Al (Christa Denton), in charge, this can only mean one thing: demons.The downside about the demons, though? Well, actually there are two things. One, they're about the size of a newborn kitten, which sort of takes away what could have been something good and "scary" (though if you were about ten when watching this, it would have given you nightmares compared to anyone over thirteen.) However, considering it is a low-budget movie that does involve kids, I'm sure they couldn't make them too challenging of demons (they were actually rather stronger than you would have suspected!) The other downside is that it takes nearly fifty minutes for anything even remotely scary to happen (the very first incident is when long creature-looking arms are grabbing Al's leg from under a bed in Glen's room.) After that, the movie becomes a wonderful roller coaster ride, but then the ride slows down and before you know it, it's time to get off.When the bed scene is over we actually get a little – and I do mean just a little – gore! Now I'm not talking gore as in The Thing, but the gore was good enough for the movie and to not make anyone queasy. As far the special effects go, today they would have been considered "bad", but for the era back then they're actually rather decent. The kids do a satisfying job on their acting, especially Louis Tripp! This is definitely a classic any fan of the 80's must see!

Woodyanders Nice kid Glen (a fine Stephen Dorff in his film debut) and his amiable heavy metal music nerd best friend Terry (a solid and likable performance by Louis Tripp) inadvertently release a powerful supernatural force from another dimension through a mysterious hole in Gleen's backyard. If the boys don't figure out a way to close said gate right away, these lethal demonic beings will bring about hell on earth. Director Tibor Takacs and writer Michael Nankin eschew the usual graphic gore and cheap nasty scares found in a majority of 80's slasher fare that was trendy at the time in order to put a welcome and refreshing emphasis on eerie mood and nerve-jangling suspense. The gradual build-up in the opening half leads to a delightfully surreal and nightmarish second half which culminates in a lively and exciting climax. Moreover, the main characters are well developed and genuinely appealing: Dorff and Tripp make for engaging leads while Christa Denton brings an endearingly spunky charm to her role as Glen's sweet older sister Al. Jennifer Irwin and Deborah Grove are amusing as the vapid Lee sisters. Nankin's screenplay boasts several cool offbeat touches: Terry learns about the gate by listening to a hard rock album from an obscure band, the telephone melts, a shambling zombie workman bursts out of the walls, and Glen winds up with an eyeball in the palm of his hand. Kudos are also in order for the dazzling array of excellent and impressive special effects: The giant stop-motion animation beast seen towards the end is truly gnarly while the diminutive demonic minions are quite creepy and funky. Takacs and Nankin bring a positively infectious go-for-it enthusiasm to the material that's impossible to either dislike or resist. Tomas Vanes' slick cinematography and the spirited shuddery score by Michael Hoenig and J. Peter Robinson are both up to par as well. Best of all, there's even an upbeat central message about how the power of pure love can effectively conquer evil. An incredibly fun and worthwhile 80's creature feature winner.