Surprisingly, the horror genre is uninterested in children. How many good horror films will you find that are appropriate for children? There aren’t many, which is terrible because many of these kids enjoy being scared.
This is why so many of them are exposed to horror through something that is completely improper for them. There are only a few good films among the few options available to them. The Gate was an example of a film that attempted to appeal to a broad audience.
This low-budget horror classic from the 1980s isn’t particularly frightening, but it does have a unique quality that sets it apart from other slasher films.
The plot is not overly sophisticated and would appeal to children. It has all of the hallmarks of a good entertainer: early adolescent protagonists, a distinct malevolent force, and amusing humour.
This film captures everything that was great about the 1980s, from the wonderful electronics to the rock tunes that include satanic instructions when played backward. The story seeks to employ elements that irritate kids and easily shock them.
You’ve got a family dog that dies unexpectedly, parents who turn into devils, and the worst dread of being stalked by ghosts while the elders are away.
Overall, it’s an underappreciated gem that deserves to be remembered. Yes, it isn’t the most terrifying thing you’ll ever watch, but if you want to introduce your youngster to horror without disturbing him or her, this could be the perfect choice. We’ll take a short look at The Gate in this video and tell you everything you need to know about it.
The detailed plot
Glen is a twelve-year-old boy who is a pleasant, brave, and inquisitive young man. He experiences a scary nightmare in which his house appears to be abandoned, and he rushes to his tree-house in the middle of a downpour.
After being struck by lightning, the tree falls to the ground. When Glen wakes up, he discovers that the tree in his backyard has fallen, and the workers who are removing it have discovered a strange geode.
Glen is accompanied by his geeky older friend Terry as they investigate and discover the geode before taking it home. Glen has a 15-year-old elder sister named Al, and their parents leave town for a few days. They instruct them to have no parties, but like any 80s horror flick, the instruction of having no parties leads to one organized by Al in the very next scene!
While the celebration is in full swing, Glen and Terry break open the geode and find some strange inscriptions inside on a notepad. They read these aloud and head downstairs just as the party-goers are trying out a levitation game.
Somehow, they manage to levitate Glen, and this is the start of the paranormal things that are about to be unleashed. The same night, Glen has strange visions of his bedroom walls stretching as if something is underneath.
The most horrifying moment is when Terry caught a glimpse of his dead mother and went ahead to hug her. However, it turned out to be the dead family dog Angus that had apparently died of old age! The very next day, Terry brings a metal album to Glen that has some strange lyrics, which is based on the Dark Book.
Terry comes up with the theory that the strange, seemingly endless hole in the backyard is simply a gateway to the domain of evil elder Gods. He believes that the chain of events resulted in it being opened, and that if a sacrifice was placed within, it would trigger an evil revolt.
Meanwhile, they are completely unaware that a friend has put the dead dog into the pit, and the summoning process has already begun! Terry and Glen unearth a part in the infamous Dark Book that can close the gateway, and they believe their efforts have been successful when they find the hole in the backyard closed. What a mistake they made.
That same night, a nightmarish horror is unleashed into the house. The corpse of the dead dog is found in Terry’s bed, and a swarm of moths break through Glenn’s window! Al is attacked by a demonic arm that tries to pull her under the bed, and Terry and Glen barely manage to save her.
They make an effort to flee the demonic house, but just as they open the door, they find Glen’s parents. To their horror, they are actually disguised demons, and soon, the father’s slimy decomposing head falls on the ground! They also witness tiny demons swarming the backyard, and consequently make a desperate attempt to find the Dark Book in the basement.
When it catches fire, their only hope is the Bible, so they rush to the pit with the holy book. The zombified corpse of a construction worker who died during the construction of the house bursts through the wall, providing little reprieve. Terry is dragged into the barricade, which is then sealed behind them.
Glen obtains their father’s firearm, but it is of no use when a demonic Terry reappears to assault them. Al stabs it in the eye, and as the brother-sister duo hides in the closet, the zombified construction worker grabs Al and takes her away.
At this point, Glen realizes that the sacrifices are complete, and the gates to the other world would now be fully open. He makes a last-ditch attempt to use the rocket that he had given Al for her birthday to stop the hellish Old Gods from taking over.
He is interrupted by the emergence of a massive, serpentine demon that pats him on the head disdainfully before returning into the hole. Glen discovers that he has a working eye in the palm of his hand and proceeds to stab it mercilessly.
Glen uses the battery-powered launcher to fire the rocket at the giant demon when it reappears. It detonates, and Terry, Al, and their family dog Angus are brought back to life in the blink of an eye. The youngsters’ primary concern now is explaining to their parents how the house became so messed up.
The Cast and Crew
The picture was a commercial success, and the cast and crew are to be commended for putting up a fantastic performance. The film had a low budget of around $3 million, but it managed to gross $13.5 million at the box office. The film’s success spawned a sequel, The Gate II: Trespassers, but viewers did not respond well.
The character of Glen was played by Stephen Dorff, who is easily the most successful member of the cast as of today as he has later starred in popular hits like Blade, Immortals, and Public Enemies. The child actors were pretty impressive, with Terry and Al, played by Louis Tripp and Christa Denton respectively, brilliant in their respective roles.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be true about the cast’s adult members. Glen and Al’s father was particularly stiff, and we’re pleased he vanished within the first few minutes of the film! After The Gate, Louis Tripp had an interesting career path. He dropped out of the acting business, changed his identity twice, and even relocated to Australia.
It’s been said that he converted to Satanism in real life, which would be a huge impact from a part! Overall, the acting performances were adequate for a children’s horror film, and the director deserves full credit for working so well with such a small cast.
Speaking of direction, the work of TiborTakacs leaves nothing to complain about. He makes the best possible use of a potent script by Michael Nankin, and the narrative is fluent and entertaining.
The special effects expertise
Small monsters and the 1980s go together like peanut butter and jelly, and the love affair continues in this film. Critters, Puppet Master, Gremlins, and Ghoulies, and Ghoulies It’s just men in rubber costumes and some creative forced perspective, where actors in rubber suits were made to appear tiny in relation to the camera and the humans.
They were 15 feet below the set and a few feet behind it. The furniture around them was enlarged,giving the size effect. The position of the lights and camera was critical because it cleverly hid the separation between the two levels of the set.
However, these little demons are well-realized, and their vicious characters are rather intriguing. Besides this, the movie features a huge stop-motion monster that rises from the ground in the climactic moments.
The creature-effects are not some Harryhausen masterpiece, but it is still nicely done, and we loved the striking personality of the antagonist. The feeling of superiority it brought with it, and the disdainful treatment of the young kid when it finally arrived was all part of something incredibly strong that had come to the party. The arrival, however, was rather short-lived as the rocket made quick work of it.
Apart from the monsters, fans and journalists alike have applauded the minimalistic effects. For example, optical effects such as the floor collapsing to expose a passage to hell were expertly executed.
We really enjoyed the sequence in which the zombie collapsed to the ground and disintegrated into a swarm of miniature devils. Another dramatic impact is shown when Glenn acquires a third eye on the palm of his hand! Randall William Cook, the film’s SFX supervisor, used his own hand and eye in the scene to create the desired effect.
His other notable works include the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Puppetmaster, The Thing, and Ghostbusters, so you can well imagine the kind of expertise that he brought to the table.
A word on the sets
Most moviegoers will be surprised to learn that the house and backyard depicted in the film were partially fabricated. We say partially because, while the house was real, the design was nothing like the one depicted in the film.
The house, for example, had no rear door, yet the screenplay required one. To meet the requirements, the creators had to construct an exterior exit with new brickwork and stairs.
The hole in the ground was a crucial shot, and there were quite a few scenes around the region. The crew made use of close-up shots taken in the studio, and this part was entirely artificial.
The tree was never really cut because the movie was shot in Canada, where it is illegal to cut trees of that age. The makers had to scout for an old dying tree and made the set to the location of that tree just for that one scene where he walks towards it!
The Gate was shot in Toronto, and the numerous backyard shots were not shot in the actual backyard of the home. They chose a new housing construction project and took advantage of the open spaces for better filming.
Because the area was not overly populated, there were no inquisitive neighbours to disrupt the production process. Construction workers and trucks were building residences in the complex around the sets, and the crew simply gated off the area until they finished shooting.
The falling Zombie of the workman was a dummy
The zombified construction worker slumped to the ground after getting hit by a stereo, which was one of the most horrific scenes in the film. If you watch the movie, you’ll notice that the fall is pretty difficult, and a fall from an actor in a suit on a hard surface may be very dangerous.
As a result, the creators utilised a dummy that landed on a little piece of plywood suspended at human floor level. This eliminated the possibility of a stuntman being injured as a result of the shenanigans. We don’t often recognise the brilliance of a small special effects team, but they overcame the limitations of a low budget to create something that even movies with costly CGI can’t match.
The Unknown Story of the Original Script
We’ve discussed how the narrative suits children several times in this video, and The Gate is a perfect example of a children’s horror film. Michael Nankin’s original draught, on the other hand, was quite different.
He wrote this while going through a tumultuous divorce and a period of unemployment. His rage spilled over into his work, and he channelled it into compiling the nastiest memories from his own youth.
He even drew on some of his personal experiences, such as the account of the construction worker who died during the project. Michael had moved into a new house when he was only four years old, and he actually had a friend named Terry who told him about the workman dying when the house was built. The original script was much darker and more violent than the final one, and here are a few instances of how The Gate could have turned out!
The protagonists, as envisioned by Nankin, were much more mischievous, and you wouldn’t really sympathize with what happened to them in the course of the movie. Glen and Al were supposed to be little sadists who would rip apart the wings of the captured moths.
The hole produced by the tree uprooting was originally intended to be one dug up by Glen and Al’s elder brothers, but it was cut from the final text. They tried to dig a hole to find China, and Michael Nankin remembered doing something similar with a pal when he was a kid. Even when it comes to the demons, the film is a softer version of the original script.
These demonic beasts were going to take over the entire town, and Michael had arranged for the residents to be slaughtered on the streets as part of the diabolical conquest. The gaping hole would continue to grow larger in size, and eventually, the entire neighborhood would be sucked into this.
The dog, Angus, wouldn’t be coming back to life as it does in the end, and even the demon-lord that appears in the climax would look very different. Nankinintended for a more human-like appearance that would be made up of blood and entrails.
It all worked out for the best, and we had a very entertaining movie on offer. However, we cannot help but imagine the dark and horrifying narrative that could have been instead of this family-friendly drama!
We Missed Out on some H.R Giger brilliance
Alex Winter was scheduled to direct a 3D version of the film. It went into development and was set to be released in 2011 before being cancelled. The film would stick to the original plot and be another PG-13 fantasy drama with the emotional rollercoaster that is common in children’s films.
Kerric Macdonald would write it, although the concept would be based on Nankin’s original script. Only the visual effects would be upgraded, and the storyline would be slightly altered to reflect present circumstances.
HR Giger, the master creature designer, would be in charge of the new creatures. We never got to see what he had in mind for the new monsters, but we bet they would have been an absolute showstopper!
Our final take on the movie
The Gate is an intriguing film to watch with your children, and there aren’t many like it! This rare breed of film has just the proper amount of terror to enthral children without frightening them to sleep! We were enthralled by the fast-paced, suspense-filled story.
The special effects are also a standout element. It was not uncommon for a low-budget horror film in the 1980s to feature tacky aesthetics! However, while the budget is limited, the effects are creative and well-executed.
You wouldn’t get the campy vibe at any point, and some of the moments are quite creepy even for adults. Some interesting characters thrown into a mix of things are icing on the cake, and the young protagonists of Terry and Glen are kids that every child will relate to. Glen needs to grow in self-esteem, and Terry simply needs to become more mature.
The Gate has a decent dose of humor, and even in the scariest bits, the makers introduced some funny stuff to lighten the mood. However, the director did not shy away from building up the tension throughout.
The detailing in the narrative and the way they cover up every little story arc is praiseworthy indeed. The sappy feel-good ending might be frowned upon by some, but you have to remember that the makers did not want to disturb the kids with something too morbid.
Yes, The Gate may appear old by today’s standards, but if you can look past the gimmick and glitz, you’ll find it to be a worthwhile movie. There are few finer movies to give your children their first taste of terror, as we’ve discussed several times in this video.