Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 2:18:18 GMT
They had this for $7 on Prime, so I said why not? I remembered watching this several times with my brother on HBO when we were kids. I think it holds up. The effects are cheesy by today's standards, but these guys still look creepy: A fun 80's horror flick from a time when everything you needed to know about conjuring demons could be found on a rock album
|
|
|
Post by MCDemuth on Jan 30, 2019 2:47:46 GMT
Yeah, I watched this movie on cable, back in the day, too! I seemed to recall that I enjoyed it...
And so, a few years ago, I purchased the movie on DVD... If my recall correctly, It was still good. 7/10
Now that you have started this topic, I'll have to watch it again.
|
|
|
Post by masterofallgoons on Jan 30, 2019 15:00:20 GMT
Definitely saw this on cable back in the day as well. I always laughed at the effects a bit, but also enjoyed the ideas and themes and the set up. I was always a sucker for those movies where the kids were alone and were forced to face unspeakable odds that nobody else would understand.
I understand there's a sequel that some say isn't so bad, but I've never seen it.
Also the non-Keanu from Bill and Ted was attached to a remake for a while I think. Who knows if that will ever happen?
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Feb 10, 2019 14:08:31 GMT
A staple of my 80's cable TV viewing. Dorff owes his career to this one.
|
|
The Pumpkin King
Sophomore
"Just because I cannot see it, doesn't mean I can't believe it!"
@splattermatter
Posts: 261
Likes: 271
|
Post by The Pumpkin King on Apr 25, 2019 11:43:10 GMT
I think "The Gate" has so many great things going for it, it falls in the category of forgotten, '80s cult horror films. One of the best times I think for horror movies. I first watched it brand new at like age six, I was scared. Got to love that old '80s parenting, ha. Movies that scared me from that time I now love, for nostalgic and quality purposes. For me, no horror movies today make me feel scared the same way; maybe just a small-small handful upon first viewing, but it's rare. Now I watch these old movies just to remember what it felt like to be scared all over again.
The Monsters: The thing that still works so effectively about this movie today is it's special effects. I was always a huge fan of stop-motion animation and I think this is one of those last few movies that use it perfectly. The sets and costumes (rubber suits for the little creepy guys) gives such a memorable look. It's easy to forget the villains and minor villains in horror films if done wrong. Example, "Ghoulies", villains who I easily forget about more and more as time goes on. The little creepy guys in "The Gate" are full of tiny expressions if you watch them closely. Lol, and I think they're just referred to as demons, but they are little, and creepy. The 'Workman' zombie villain in the wall was equally as effective, I thought he was the most random villain in the movie. But hey, during a decade with dozens of zombie movies, why not have a zombie in this movie. It made me wonder when first watching this if a Workman could have died in one of my house walls. And I wonder why I have nightmares of zombies today. When the Workman zombie slowly falls and becomes a pile of those little demons, best, my favorite scene. And the ending of this movie for me was that ending every person watching deserved. You get the giant demon with the menacing breathing, which almost felt like an 'Alien Queen' like introduction. "Aliens" was only released the year before, except the giant demon came across as more stiff, with no lower half ha. I remember just seeing that huge portal the demon crawled up out of, it's really an eye capturing ending for a fantasy-horror movie. And I particular don't like fantasy movies that are overloaded on puppets and what not. "The Gate" is an excellent fantasy-horror movie of its time.
The Characters: I still love everything about this movie, even minus the special effects. It has a very dreary and lonely feel to it, empty streets and giant yards, which my '80s neighborhood felt like. The teens also act like typical teens, mischief and curious. Glen (Stephen Dorff) and Terry (Louis Tripp) acted like believable young kids I grew up around. Outcasts slash nerds, but nice outcasts and cool nerds. And I really do think Glen and Terry make up a huge part of the success of this movie. Teens, kid teens, are hard to care for in a horror movie especially from the '80s; let alone have the acting chops to pull off emotional and physical scenes. Corey Haim (Silver Bullet) and Corey Feldman (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) are two similar aged kid teen actors I can think of who also acted with charismatic performances. However, this was only Dorff and Tripp's first movie. I know the writer, Michael Nankin, wrote the script when he was unemployed and recently divorced. He based it on the nastiest thoughts from his childhood. The characters Glen and Al were depicted as being more mischievous than shown in the final film, and the demons spread to the rest of the town, where they would drag neighbors out into the streets to kill them. The gigantic demon was also originally envisioned as being made of bloody entrails. But because of budget restrictions we got a more wholesome family version of the story taking place around and in Stephen Dorff's house.
I remember once seeing "Gate 2: The Trespassers" when it was released on VHS, but I really couldn't base an opinion on it today. I just remember the atmosphere, horror style and locations not being as surreal as the first film. It almost felt like you had just watched the 1989 "Pet Sematary" movie, and then watched "Pet Sematary II" expecting the same thing. Not to mention both movies had the same director from the first to second movies for both franchises, released in that transitional period of going from '80s horror to '90s horror. I do know in "Gate 2: The Trespassers", actor Louis Tripp reprised his role, but I really don't remember him in it that well.
"The Gate" will always be one of my favorite '80s cult horror films. Not a movie I plan to watch over and over again, but not one I'm going to complain about either. Movies should feel as refreshing as this one all the time. The story is quite unpredictable and unique, especially when you talk about demon films. It's not in your face with the title of, "Night of the Demons", which I also love but is more cookie-cutter-slasher of older teens having sex and getting killed etc. This movie is 8/10 for me. Like Terry says in the film, "Demons aren't gonna ring the doorbell!"
|
|