Believe it or not, this was much better than I initially anticipated. I expected one of those God-awful, cheesy special effects, mindless eighties horror films - a decade I think was a low ebb for that genre in general. I got to see a 35mm print of The Gate and was impressed with several things. Now before I get out of control here, make no mistake, this is not a great film even in terms of the horror genre, but it is a bona-fide campy, cult favorite from the eighties with good reason. The story is ridiculous about some hole, as a result of an old tree being destroyed in a family's backyard, having demons living down deep in its bowels. A rock band that died tragically also is involved, or at least the record album on hand complete with a huge history of demonology attached. Add a couple more-than-precocious boys, a bunch of teens, looking dreadfully eighties-style, attending a party while the parents are away, and some freaky little demons and you have much of The Gate. The little demons are cute and spooky and the director Tibot Takics actually visualizes them rather nicely - particularly in an era when special effects for horror and science fiction films were quite low in terms of quality. The director was also able to create some suspense and some interesting characters with the 2 small boys in particular. Stephen Dorff and Louis Tripp play Glenn and Terry respectively and give the film some heart. There is not much to recommend as far as the remaining cast is concerned, but The Gate delivers some solid scares, some atmospheric settings and direction, and some surprisingly good special effects. Good campy fun!

This would usually be the kind of film I like, as I tend to love demons and monsters and things whatever film they're in. However this turned out to be a distinctly average, politically correct, teen-orientated horror film and boredom quickly sets in as we are treated to an insight of this boy and his family's life. The film seems a lot similar to POLTERGEIST in this respect. Is there anything more annoying than whining American children? I don't think so. Especially when they're in the form of a young Stephen Dorff (later going on to play the bad guy in BLADE),an incredibly bad child actor who at least grew up to exhibit some acting abilities.

However the boredom is relieved by some good special effects in the form of a number of small demons, who generally try to drag some people into the gate. Things actually get good when a big, tentacled Lovecraftian monster rises out of the hallway and the film becomes entertaining. Unfortunately, as it's a film made for children nothing very scary happens, and there's a real let down at the end when all the people we thought were dead (even the dog) come back to life and live happily ever after. That's right, nobody dies. There's no blood either. Couldn't the film-makers just leave them dead? The acting is nondescript, and the only parts worth watching are those with the monsters in which do make up for the rest of the mundane story. It's just a shame that these good monsters are stuck in such a lame film. If they had been in a real Lovecraftian film, something starring Jeffrey Combs perhaps, or something involving Brian Yuzna, then it all could have been so much better. Oh well. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say...

Glen (Stephen Dorff) finds a geo after they pull out a tree. He and his friend Terry Chandler (Louis Tripp) dig for more geo, uncover a deep cavern and find a magical rock. Their parents are going away for 3 days and they reluctantly let his sister Al (Christa Denton) to be in charge without a babysitter. Al disobeys her parents to have a party. Terry and Glen split open the rock and open the gate releasing the tiny demons. They are eventually trapped with Al and her friends Lori Lee (Kelly Rowan) and Linda Lee (Jennifer Irwin).

This is a pretty good small B-horror movie. The three young leads do a great job. The effects are fun with a good effective mix of forced perspective and stop-motion. As always, it is a big plus to put little kids in danger. This is no exception. The tiny demons are both funny and super creepy. It's another kind of fear to be attacked by a large number of tiny creatures.