Lockdown Viewing Guide: The Gate
Nemesis here again and I’m going to take you on a jaunty little trip into horror territory in this iteration of The Lockdown Viewing Guide. The Gate, released in 1987, is an easy viewing horror flick that can be enjoyed by families. With some scary imagery and mild language, it is the perfect horror film for families or a relaxed night where you don’t want hardcore horror action you have to steel yourself for.
The Gate (1987)
As I said above, The Gate is a nifty little supernatural horror film starring Stephen Dorff (Blade, Immortals) in his first feature film. Rooted firmly in the mid 1980’s, this film plays on many of the common horror and pop culture tropes of the time; most notably the rumored ties between heavy metal music and demonology. More on that in a bit.
The movie’s central character is twelve year old Glen played by the aforementioned Dorff. Glen is a lonely child, estranged from his sister who has found new pursuits in high school friends and crushes. His parents are typical of many eighties parents; exhibiting a mild neglect and a shocking, at least to modern sensibilities, enthusiasm for leaving their 15 year old daughter and twelve year old son alone at home for an extended weekend. Glen’s sister Al, played by Christa Denton (Not My Kid, The Bad Seed), is not a bad kid but feels the pull of new horizons as is so often the case when an older sibling enters high school and beyond. Central in this relationship is a present Glen had bought to give to Al on her sixteenth birthday. Previous to the events of the film, both Al and Glen had enjoyed model rocketry as a hobby and Glen had bought Al a new launcher so they could launch a particularly powerful rocket that Al had built. The present sits lonely and forgotten under Glen’s bed, his excitement to give it to her gone.
As the movie opens, Al and Glen’s parents are seen leaving for the weekend leaving Al in charge. Predictably, Al immediately calls her two best friends, the meddling Lee Twins, over for a sleep over. In order to mollify Glen, Al also lets him invite over a friend, Terry played by Louis Tripp (Gate 2, Detroit Rock City), to spend the night. If Al and Glen have mildly neglectful parents, Terry’s father has all but abandoned him and Terry shows all the rebellious spirit of a child who’s father plies him with gifts while being physically absent. As Al entertains her friends Terry introduces Glen to heavy metal album brought to him by his father. Without going into all the gory details, the album contains the means to open a portal to the underworld, albeit with some unwitting help from the two boys. Manipulated by demonic forces, the boys come into the possession of a geode; part of a ritual to open the gate to “The Old Ones”. When Glen’s dog dies, Al’s would be paramour dumps the body of the dog into a sinkhole in the backyard…completing the ritual with the blood sacrifice of the 
animal. The rest of the movie is pure horror fare featuring zombies, nightmares and excellently stop motion animation creatures in the style of Harryhausen. Eventually, both Al and Terry are captured by the creatures and Glen is rewarded for his unwitting help in aiding the return of the demons. However, Al uses the power of true love, the rocket he and Al built together, to vanquish the demon and restore the world if not the their house. With that the movie ends though I’ve often wondered what happened when the parents got home and found a smoking pit where their living room used to be.
As I stated previously, this is an enjoyable film. It is not exemplary in any sense of the word. However, not all movies need to be stand out pieces of artistic vision. Sometimes an enjoyable flick and a bowl of popcorn are all you need. This flick is perfect for that. If you’re looking for a little eighties fun complete with heavy metal, demons and blood sacrifice…this is the movie for you.
Lockdown Rating – 3.5 of 5 Stars
Directed by Tibor Takacs
Produced by John Kemeny
Written by Michael Nankin
Starring – Stephen Dorff, Louis Tripp, Christa Denton
Cinematography – Thomas Vamos
Stop Motion Animation by T. Dow Albon
Production Company Alliance Entertainment
Distributed by New Century Entertainment
Country of origin – Canada
Author Profile
- Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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