The Gate (1987)
CANADA/USA --- horror
Dir: Tibor Takács
Well, this one isn't so ethnic in any direction. It's more American than anything. But I believe it was filmed in Canada. When it comes to kids in horror films, a lot of filmmakers shy away. Especially when we're talking about them being the protagonists. Well, they can easily be victims, and nine times out of ten they will be sexually active teenagers. But kids? As in the prepubscent kind or preteens who read comic books and boys have not yet found interest in girls kinda kids; no not really. Some classics that put kids in harms way have been made in the eighties, in the all-or-nothing pre-Columbine, pre-warning label days like The Lost Boys or tamer fare like The Monster Squad, but they're rare to find nowadays. Unless they're horror-lite like a R.L. Stine kinda film. This rears our attention to a rare little gem I used to watch alot on WPIX channel 11 in NYC as a kid . . . namely "The Gate".
A young Stephen Dorff (BLADE) stars as Glen, a boy who discovers a hole in his backyard made from a meteor. The hole happens to be a portal into a demoniac underworld. Glen's parents of course go away for the weekend when Glen and his friend Terry play some heavy metal backwards. This of course in accordance to Al Gore's wife, truly unearths the demons from the gate. What happens next is a kinda kid-friendly "Evil Dead". Glen and Terry must close the portal as they and Glen's older sister are attacked by droves of tiny demons. The special effects are decent enough to hold your attention and give some thrills throughout. It helps that the film doesn't talk down to the kids and just lets it play out as a nightmarish situation that must be stopped. Find this on DVD and give it a watch, you won't be disappointed.
CANADA/USA --- horror
Dir: Tibor Takács
Well, this one isn't so ethnic in any direction. It's more American than anything. But I believe it was filmed in Canada. When it comes to kids in horror films, a lot of filmmakers shy away. Especially when we're talking about them being the protagonists. Well, they can easily be victims, and nine times out of ten they will be sexually active teenagers. But kids? As in the prepubscent kind or preteens who read comic books and boys have not yet found interest in girls kinda kids; no not really. Some classics that put kids in harms way have been made in the eighties, in the all-or-nothing pre-Columbine, pre-warning label days like The Lost Boys or tamer fare like The Monster Squad, but they're rare to find nowadays. Unless they're horror-lite like a R.L. Stine kinda film. This rears our attention to a rare little gem I used to watch alot on WPIX channel 11 in NYC as a kid . . . namely "The Gate".
A young Stephen Dorff (BLADE) stars as Glen, a boy who discovers a hole in his backyard made from a meteor. The hole happens to be a portal into a demoniac underworld. Glen's parents of course go away for the weekend when Glen and his friend Terry play some heavy metal backwards. This of course in accordance to Al Gore's wife, truly unearths the demons from the gate. What happens next is a kinda kid-friendly "Evil Dead". Glen and Terry must close the portal as they and Glen's older sister are attacked by droves of tiny demons. The special effects are decent enough to hold your attention and give some thrills throughout. It helps that the film doesn't talk down to the kids and just lets it play out as a nightmarish situation that must be stopped. Find this on DVD and give it a watch, you won't be disappointed.
