The Gate

Dear Timecop, I know I haven't written to you in many years, but what can ya do. Sooo, when you go on your next mission to kill bad people in the beforetimes, could you pick up a copy of this and hand it to my 12-year old self? He'd really appreciate it since it's one of those movies that's just a tad too scary for kids, which makes them exactly the right ones to see as a kid. Cheers!

Kid oriented horror movies always run the risk of having to keep it too tame to entertain the adults too, and while "The Gate" isn't actually very scary, it does have some decent creature effects here and there and it does skirt with real scares on a few occasions. In the 80's movies used to be far more liberal with what they thought kids could handle, which is just fine by me. It sure beats "Bratz".

I seem to remember liking this when I saw it as a youngster, although I couldn't remember much about it. Watching it now, it's a bit daft, and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but there is an undeniable charm to it. The young cast do fine, and the Harryhausen-esque stop motion effects have some appeal. There probably were a few tense moments along the way...folk who liked the 80s retro action in Stranger Things might find something to enjoy here.

Pretty much perfect horror movie for kids. It's sweetness, charm and creepiness come from an astute understanding of how kids think and feel. It's approppriately lighthearted and naive yet dares to deal with dark subjects and finds a proper way to do it with horror that works on multiple levels. I wouldn't say it's deep or spectacular but engagingly well observed, tightly structured and tonally satisfying. The pretty much all child cast was astoundingly decent for this time and genre.

Those little minions look great. Every budding director should be forced to watch this movie to understand that you can convey what you want without a computer most of the time. The film itself is a bit like a dry soda cracker. It's like an assembly line of soda crackers and occasionally there's one with peanut butter on it. I've used soda crackers to describe movies before. I don't know what's wrong with me. I shouldn't be allowed to review movies, honestly. Anyway: soda crackers are okay.

Recent exploration of a sinkhole-cum-gateway to hell resulted in the discovery of a scruffy young boy with an adorable smile and unpolished, yet promising acting talent. Extensive medical tests revealed that the boy's DNA was an exact match with that of present day B-movie lointhrob, Stephen Dorff, despite the fact it is well documented that Dorff is an ageless chimera pieced together in a East German laboratorium from the amputated limbs of former Olympic power-lifters.

Very, very few horror movies star kids with almost no reference to adults. Starts off cheap and small, ends up damn near apocalyptic. Backmasking, stop motion animation, genuinely terrifying shit like the kid having to stab himself with broken glass and zombies bursting out of the wall. This movie scared the pants off me when I was young.

I didn't have a gate to hell in my back yard when I was a kid, because I GREW UP IN HELL! SO FUCK YOU NANKIN! It may have cool effects, but it also features a very young and annoying Stephen Dorff. In this movie it is more like Stephen DORK! HAHAHAAHAHA! HAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hahah. Ha.. ha... Haha.. Hahaha.. Dork... HAHAHA .. Ha. Hahaha. Hah.. ooh man... Dork.. haha... good one... hahaha... hah.. ha... Dork.. mmmhaha ... .... .... .... ... ... .... ... ... ... ... hehehehe.

Every now and then I start to yearn for an eighties fix, and this fit the bill. Those animated clay figures are something else.

Just shut up ... ... ... faaaag. Kids in movies today just dont use fag enough. The 80s.

On all the video-rental trips of my childhood, The Gate somehow evaded me, no doubt nestling somewhere on the shelves betwixt crude teen movies and horror nasties. Or perhaps the censorious parental hand swapped it at the counter! As in many 80s hits, suburban normalcy is torn asunder, and spooks and weirdness abounds - albiet a lot nerdier and weirder. Tropey fun with cool FX, positive sibling bond and empowered final-girl-ish older sister. A nostalgia delight that feels right at home in 2020.

For such a beloved cult classic, I was not expecting it to be this bad. Wow. The acting is not good, the story is not good, the effects are awful even for the standards of the time, & the pacing is dreadful. It feels about 40 minutes longer than it actually is. So many nothing side characters, inauthentic sentimental moments, unfunny attempts at comedy, predictable twists, & dumb decisions. The hell was the eyeball hand thing supposed to be? I really wanted to like this one, but it was blegh.

Best coming of age movie of the 80´s? Parents go away for the weekend leaving the daughter in charge. She throws a party and the son accidentally opens a gate to hell.

The height of PG-13 rated 80's horror

This was something of a surprise hit in its day and is not without its pluses. The on-screen tykes are likable for a change; the dialogue rings true (one kid's cry of "Suck my nose till my head caves in!" ranks as one of moviedom's more imaginative taunts); and the story unfolds with genuine suspense. The demons -- more of your cliched Gremlin-esque minimonsters -- are disappointing, though, and the murky night photography pointlessly oppressive.

Boy dances with dead dog. Girl dyes hair purple. Other boy avoids the apocalypse with the help of 1980's thrash metal album liners.

Rewatching the movie, the special effects look basic and the acting is so-so, but this movie was the absolute height of entertainment when I was in grade school. It's still a decent story, and you get to see Stephen Dorff as a little kid!

what a funny 'not really meant to be funny' movie from the 80's. gotta love stuff like this, its wholly demonic is some parts which is excellent and then it gets corny. REALLY corny. but it's tasty corn. good stuff.

Pretty fun and the child actors are surprisingly good. I think it would work better for kids/young teens though, I can imagine it creeping out a few of them too.

okay movie

has a lot of cool stuff going on, and you gotta love stop motion demons. the kids weren't annoying little brats like i expected going into it.

I'm sure if I had seen this at age 12 it would be a nostalgic juggernaut. I didn't, so it 'merely' serves as a very good kid's horror that is a bit scarier than the rest. Confident direction, hilarious forced perspective special effects, and an atmosphere that feels almost more 80s than the actual 80s makes this a really fun movie.

Cool movie that terrified me as a kid.

Convoluted mythology slows down the first act, but when things get going it really dishes out the chaos. While aimed at children, it barely caters to them, flaunting around dead dogs, blood on walls, decomposing faces... A zombie kid getting stabbed in the eye with a barbie doll (yes, you see it. Yes, there's blood). I'm not sure the story makes a bit of sense; nor do I think the King of Evil, most likely a spiritual being, would be defeated by a single firework. But dammit if it isn't fun!

If memory serves me correctly, this is the flick that has a kid fighting demons with a model rocket. Good times, with an 80's flavor.

Terrbile cookie cutter story has some surprisingly decent special effects.

I dug the Harryhausen style effects and the ending had some decent tension, but otherwise this film is a disorganized mess.

This was one of my favorite horror films growing but and its still lots of fun.

I always forgot the name of this movie and it's so simple.

I saw this years ago when it came out. It's a decent 80's Goonies style movie with fun creature effects. Didn't realize the child star was Stephen Dorff.

That one kid was so fucking kvlt.

Pre-teen horror, Poltergeist (1982)-ish but less slick. A Lovecraft-ian vibe with some charming effects and 80's-ness.

Great effects, I loved this movie when I was a kid.

This is a Hollywood style kids version of an Italian horror movie. Certain parts were probably nightmare fuel for children in the 1980s.

Pretty bad movie but Randall William Cook's sfx are amazing.

The original idea is interesting, but the script is pretty terrible. Also, by the third act the clearly run out of ideas. The effects are not that bad (except the final demon which is horrible).

The acting is so bad it's funny, the plot is bizarre, and the effects are pretty damn nice. You'll be surprised how entertaining it can be.

I kinda think that anyone who really appreciates the story is too young for all the horror elements, and anyone who appreciates the horror elements is too old for the story. The special effects are above-average at least. I would have liked to see a wider variety of demonic creatures, but the ending makes up for any areas that might have otherwise been lacking.

This movie is proof that cgi ruins horror. The little creatures in this movie, which I'm pretty sure were claymation, looked real. That made this movie extra creepy. This is pretty much what you'd expact from a 1987 horror fantasy movie. It was good, some parts were hilarious. If you see a family picture where your family's all dead, I don't think the reaction "...forget it" is working.

Some awesome effects in this film.

Really quite good special effects from this small production

More of a hole where magical things happen (wink, wink)

A movie I remembered fondly from childhood, spoiled by a second viewing. Looks like I developed annoying qualities like "taste" and "standards" during the interim period.

You've been BAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDD!!!!!!

Gayest use of the word fag.

I'm sure it was a hit back when it was released, but I'm ranking it for watching it first time today, so no extra points for nostalgia. The SFX are pretty good for the day though.

The little demon fellows are cool.