Although many horror films feature kids as protagonists, The Gate is a rare example of one that seems directly targeted at a younger audience.
A lightning strike topples a tree in the backyard of young Glen (Stephen Dorff) and his older sister, Alexandra (Christa Denton). After workmen remove the debris, Glen finds a small, but valuable, rock called a geode where the tree once stood. His best friend, Terry (Louis Tripp), thinks there could be a larger geode buried in the hole left by the tree. Digging into the ground to find it, Glen and Terry unwittingly trigger a series of events that opens a gate to a hellish underworld.
Although many horror films feature kids as protagonists, The Gate is a rare example of one that seems directly targeted at a younger audience. Each of the three young characters is fleshed-out much more so than you’d expect for a horror movie. (It’s the parental figures that are stereotypical cardboard cutouts.) There also is an undercurrent of humor that runs throughout the entire movie that keeps things relatively lighthearted. While there are some gruesome moments, once the movie gets going, the overall feel is more akin to riding a roller-coaster than entering a haunted house.
Michael Nankin’s script is meant to appeal to teenagers, but does so on a level that hasn’t aged particularly well. For example, Terry becomes an expert on the demonic forces he and Glen have unleashed by reading the liner notes of a heavy metal album. I don’t think today’s teenagers would relate to that in the same way kids did in 1987. It also takes about 45 minutes before the movie hits its stride which may be longer than today’s audiences are willing to endure. For older audiences — particularly those that were teenagers in the 1980s — The Gate will undoubtedly strike a nostalgic nerve.
It might not sound like I enjoyed The Gate very much but that’s not the case. I found its kids-only approach to horror refreshing if not exactly top notch. Director Tibor Takacs has delivered what I would describe as a gateway film to the horror genre. (No pun intended.) It maintains an enjoyable balance of goofy and ghoulish that is honestly a lot of fun.
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
Buy on Amazon!
