The Gate (1987)

Kids, left home alone, accidentally unleash a horde of malevolent demons from a mysterious hole in their suburban backyard.

Director:

Tibor Takács (as Tibor Takacs)

Writer:

Michael Nankin

Stars:

Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stephen Dorff	...	Glen
Christa Denton	...	Al
Louis Tripp	...	Terrence 'Terry' Chandler
Kelly Rowan	...	Lori Lee
Jennifer Irwin	...	Linda Lee
Deborah Grover	...	Mom
Scot Denton	...	Dad
Ingrid Veninger	...	Paula
Sean Fagan	...	Eric
Linda Goranson	...	Terry's Mom
Carl Kraines	...	Workman
Andrew Gunn	...	Brad

Storyline

Two young boys accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the two kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that literally begins to take over the Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

child protagonist | friendship between boys | boy | monster | supernatural power | 

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Taglines:

There's a Passageway - A Gate Behind Which the Demons Wait to Take Back What Was Once Theirs.

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The small demonic minions are played by actors in rubber suits, and shot in forced perspective.

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Goofs

The word "business" is misspelled in the note to Terry from his father.

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Quotes

Al: You mean you guys were serious about that demon stuff?

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Connections

References Romper Room (1953)

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Soundtracks

YES IT'S TRUE
By Julia Bourque
Performed by True Confessions
Courtesy of Bomb Records

User Reviews

A great horror-fantasy

Don't let the PG-13 rating and the "if it's not gory and new, it's no good" critiques fool you. This could possibly get an R today, and is a great horror-fantasy that I loved as a kid and still love now. All of the actors turn in great performances (including a very young Stephen Dorff who proves here that he was a great actor from the start), and I have no idea how anyone could dare to criticize the quality of these great special FX. To me, "The Gate" is an example that sometimes a low-budget film, if done well, looks much better than big-budget swill could ever wish to be. The only less than totally impressive special effect is the big monster that shows up, but it's no better or worse than the computer-generated monsters we're accustomed to today, plus the fact that it WAS done on a low budget should make it more worthy of respect when it probably looked state-of-the-art back then. All of the rest of the creatures are great. Like in "Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn" (another great movie with even lower budget creature FX), if I were to run into some monsters in real life, I would expect them to look as real as this! Another thing I loved about this was the fact that, despite idiotic people who write all the time that this movie is making a comment against heavy metal, "The Gate" actually poses an interesting idea that sometimes the knowledge of some of these heavy metal rockers can be positive and helpful, no matter how "evil" their image might be. If you watch this movie, you might see what I mean. This is definitely a PG-13 horror movie that deserves a lot more respect than it's gotten.

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Gate

Filming Locations:

Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD2,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,258,063, 17 May 1987

Gross USA:

$13,539,458

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,539,458

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Century Entertainment, The Vista Organisation, Alliance Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1