Cemetery Gates (2006)

User Rating:

4.0/10   

Director:

Roy Knyrim

Writers:

Pat Coburn (story)
Brian Patrick O'Toole (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Trespassers will be eaten!

Plot:

A genetically mutated Tasmanian Devil is "liberated" by two eco-activists and set loose in a woodland cemetery.

Plot Keywords:

Tasmanian Devil | Film Making | Mutation | Juggalo

Cast

Reggie Bannister	...	Belmont
Peter Stickles	...	Hunter Belmont
Aime Wolf	...	Dr. Christine Kollar
Nicole DuPort	...	Kym
Kristin Novak	...	August
Ky Evans	...	Tony
John Thomas	...	Enrique
Chris Finch	...	Matt
Karol Garrison	...	Earl Martin
Bill Lloyd	...	John Martin
Greg McDonald	...	Ben (as G. Scott McDonald)
Stephen Van Dorn	...	Alex
Howard Berger	...	Stoner Dude Doug
Gregory Nicotero	...	Stoner Dude Michael
Aristide Sumatra	...	Ed the Fisherman

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Graveyard Filmworks

'Bloody' well done!

The B horror movie lives! No, this isn't John Carpenter or Steven Spielberg … or even Tod Browning … but it isn't half bad. 'Cemetery Gates' is a slightly original variation on the traditional B horror theme. One variation is that the main group of protagonists are filming their own horror film when true horror strikes THEM.

Anyone who likes blood and gore will love this one. The plot isn't great shakes, but it holds up as well as any B horror plot. We have brain-dead college kids, including a girl with a bra size bigger than her IQ. One improvement in this film is that at least here the big-chested bimbo isn't pawned off on us as a 'graduate student' or someone who would have to have considerably more brains than she has. These are just friends of a college student wanting to make a zombie movie as his class project. One can imagine that three of the six students would probably have flunked out in another year, had they all lived. Of course one does wonder why he would entrust his film to dope-smoking bums and a bimbo.

The student making the film (Peter Stickles) is the son of an unprincipled scientist (Reggie Bannister) who has mutated a Tasmanian devil, turning it into something akin to the man-eating cartoon creature in Bugs Bunny cartoons. The beast, 'Precious,' is pretty cool and can really put the hurt on its victims, all of whom die much slower than they would like.

The film is not without some interesting background. The old cemetery where the kids are filming their zombie film contains a memorial marker for 200+ miners killed when nearby tunnels were flooded in 1925. Apparently the bodies were never recovered and our teens fall through sinkholes into the labyrinth of tunnels that includes skulls and mummified bodies. Naturally Precious makes this her home after being released in a nearby state park.

Without giving the plot away, you could say 'Many are called; most are eaten.' For B horror fare, this is a pretty satisfying production, with good special effects, plenty of blood shooting, dripping, spurting, flowing, etc. The acting from the no-name cast is solid and the handful of attempts to move the plot away from a stale B horror formula appreciated. This isn't the one to do a major term paper on in a film theory class, but is perfect for relaxing with on a late Friday or Saturday night!