Hellgate (1990)

A motorcycle gang kidnaps a young woman, Josie, from a diner and brutally kills her. Many years later, the girl's father finds a magic crystal that can bring the life back to dead objects. ... See full summary »

Director:

William A. Levey

Writer:

Michael O'Rourke

Stars:

Ron Palillo, Abigail Wolcott, Carel Trichardt

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ron Palillo	...	Matt
Abigail Wolcott	...	Josie
Carel Trichardt	...	Lucas
Petrea Curran	...	Pam
Evan J. Klisser	...	Chuck
Joanne Warde	...	Bobby
Frank Notaro	...	Buzz
Lance Vaughan	...	Zonk
Victor Melleney	...	Jonas
Len Sparrowhawk	...	Deputy no. 1
Alan Granville	...	Deputy no. 2
Lynda Powell	...	Waitress 1958
Kimberleigh Stark	...	Waitress 1989
Craig Freimond	...	Gas Station Attendant
Alan Pierce	...	Fast Freddy

Storyline

A motorcycle gang kidnaps a young woman, Josie, from a diner and brutally kills her. Many years later, the girl's father finds a magic crystal that can bring the life back to dead objects. He uses it to re-animate his daughter. He lets her seduce any young man that comes to visit the small town and then kills them. Four young students, two boys and two girls spend a vacation near the town, Hellgate. They hear about the story and get involved.

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Plot Keywords:

student | magic | small town | diner | crystal | 

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Taglines:

Beyond the darkness terror lives forever.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA South Africa

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 1989 (France)

Also Known As:

A Porta do Inferno

Filming Locations:

South Africa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Distant Horizon, Ghostown Film Management

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Pam: [to Josie] Take this, you zombie bitch!

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Soundtracks

"ROMEO AND JULIET"
By Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (as Tchaikovsky)
By Arrangement with Brunton Gold Classics Associated Production Music

User Reviews

Give The People What They Want; - Nude Horseshack!

I really have to ask myself what I expected from a movie that has Ron Pallilio from Welcome Back Kotter as the male lead sex symbol. Not much, I guess and that's exactly what I got! Not much! When I popped the DVD of Hellgate on I realized less than five minutes into it that I had seen this movie over ten years ago. You don't forget acting this bad! So the movie starts with three friends waiting for their fourth friend Matt (Horseshack!) to show up at their vacation spot. They while away the time telling ghost stories. One girl deadpans the tale of The Legend Of Hellgate, which is apparently the next town over. In a flashback we see an attempted rape gone bad that happened in Hellgate in the '50s. A bunch of no-good-nick bikers are at the malt shop and they decide to grab the big cheese mayor of Hellgate's daughter Josie and drive away with her. None of the town folk try to stop them. They drive Josie to a secluded area and rip her skirt off and Josie runs around in black underwear, bobby socks and sneakers looking like she should be doing an 80s aerobics video. (I swear they hired Abigail Wolcott to play "Josie" because she had nice legs...She even "strikes poses" while being carried away and raped! ) Well, her father - who is a dead ringer for Gomez Addams- comes to rescue her and in the process Josie gets iced.

Later on a guy in a mine finds a strange crystal that has the power to reanimate dead things. Here is where the cheesy special effects ("done by the people who did the effects in Hellraiser and Hellbound " the box trumpets!) debut as we see a very fake looking bat, a very fake looking fish and a very fake looking turtle spring back to murderous mutant life. (The turtle scene is actually pretty funny). Josie's papa goes to Josie's shrine (even her headstone has breast implants!) and reserrects Josie so she can lure people to the ghost town for him to kill. Why? I don't know why! Josie picks up Horseshack on the side of the road and seduces him. The seduction scene is a laugh riot! the music is insane! And I had never realized what a bad actor Horseshack is until I saw this: Even his sex scenes are unconvincing! And he's a pretty small guy. When he's lying in bed with Josie naked he's so small compared to her that he looks like a doll! Hahaha! Matt meets up with his friends and drags THEM to Hellgate . Why? I don't know. But they go. And of course they run afoul some zombie ghost town people who chase them around and try to kill them. Josie falls in love with Matt for reasons unknown and Matt's girlfriend is not amused.

Will Matt stay with the living dead girl or go home with his plain Jane girlfriend? Or will the zombies and John Astin's doppelganger kill him? Hellgate is a terrible film all the way around with bad acting, bad script, bad special effects, etc. but there was something FUNNY about it that kept me watching so if you like bad movies like I do you might actually find some entertainment in watching HELLGATE. I will watch it again one day just to watch Josie strike strange Vogue-like poses, a dead turtle bite someones face off and to see Horseshack in the raw again. Comic gold all three!

Speaking of bad movies, if you are lucky you will get the two disc set that not only has Hellgate but also has The Pit. The Pit is even funnier than Hellgate, a real laugh riot! So check that one out! Peace!