Gate II - Das Tor zur Hölle

Sequel to the surprisingly good first film boast the return of the original film's director, Tibor Takacs , and writer, Michael Nankin. However, this sequel is minus a before-he-was-famous Stephen Dorff and instead has supporting actor Louis Tripp taking over as the lead. He was a pretty funny supporting character in the original, playing the heavy metal nerd who accidentally opens a gate to hell in his friend's backyard by playing a metal album backwards and reading ancient words off of the album. This sequel picks up after the events of the first film, and Tripp and some new friends once again opens the titular gate to have the little demons do his bidding. As you'd expect, things don't go as planned and the new group of teens find themselves running for their lives and trying to figure out how to once again close the gate. This sequel features more stop motion special effects, as well as more monsters, which was a lot of fun. However, lost in this sequel is the childlike Steven Spielberg sensibility. The first film felt like a horror movie version of "E.T." "Explorers" or "The Goonies," but this sequel felt more like a straight horror movie. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but that was a strength of the original film. Overall, despite note being as good as the original, this sequel is well worth watching for fans of 80s horror films (even if "Gate 2" was released in 1990).

Obviously not learning his lesson from "The Gate", the young man from the first movie again opens a gateway to another dimension. This time he uses the power to get wishes, but the demons don't give you wishes for free, you know? (Obviously, he hadn't seen "Filthy McNasty" at this point.) While I would have liked to see Stephen Dorff return for this sequel (his absence is poorly explained), at least we are treated to Louis Tripp, who is just as geeky as ever (though no longer sporting the Angry Dwarfs jacket or rocking out to Sacrifyx). As I say in my introduction, he thinks that opening a gateway is a good idea... and brings along three people for the ride. A hot chick by early 1990s standards (Pamela Adlon) and two greasers.

Some aspects of this film were really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. The demon (or "minion" to use their term) getting high and causing a serious car incident was nice, and the idea of wishes turning to feces gives a whole new twist to the idea of "wishes in one hand, poo in the other". I really liked the visual of a minion in the jar -- where can I get a pickled minion? And if the stop-motion technology is this advanced in 1992, where was it for "Basket Case"? (Granted, that was much earlier, but how hard could it be?)

What I didn't like about the movie was how forced it seemed, how dull most of it was, and the fact that a fair amount of the plot just doesn't make any sense. Tripp knows how to conjure demons and how to send them back, but waits for the right climactic moment to do so instead of finishing the job right away (not unlike how James Bond's villains don't shoot him when they have the chance). For example, he creates a box that has to be thrown into a pit (like the ring that must be thrown into Mount Doom) but just waits until after his girlfriend is almost sacrificed to Satan. Why? The end is also really cheesy (but I won't say what it is, you'll have to rent this one from Netflix).

Despite my feeling this is a shadow of the original, it was still entertaining and I would have gladly welcomed a third film. There's a certain mythology about this series that I enjoyed, and I would rather sit through something like this than a film of a similar idea that just has no sense of itself. While this movie is not a comedy, clearly the crew wanted to have fun and it shows.

If you really liked the original, this is worth a view. Unlike other sequels, this has the same director and star, so the continuity is very decent (how many sequels spin off from the original intent -- "Leprechaun" comes to mind). If you thought the first one was "just alright", I'm willing to bet this will greatly disappoint you. But hey, a bad 1980s or early 1990s film is still better than the average film today, in my opinion.

While it never once achieves the pure creepiness of the original, this inevitable sequel to 'The Gate' is more palatable than one might expect. Michael Nankin and Tibor Takács (who wrote and the directed the first film) smartly take the material in a refreshing new direction here with a now older Terry willfully re-summoning the demons under the belief that he can manipulate them to grant wishes. The mythology driving this plot deviation is never too well explained, but there are several great moments as he manages to capture one such demon and keep it in a cage (the special effects for the creature are phenomenal). The film also manages to achieve lots of laughs thanks to some deft black comedy as it turns out that all the wishes the creature grants are only ever temporary. A French restaurant scene is especially funny as two bullies who have stolen the creature see their wishes turn inside out, one of them having to wipe away excrement that used to be money, while the other finds his face oozing like crazy - all this much to the bafflement of the posh restaurant staff. Unfortunately the film looses its way towards the end with an over-the-top ancient ritual battle/climax that lacks the subtlety of the film's earlier special effects; the upbeat ending is also terribly jarring. For the most part though, this is as wildly inventive a sequel as one could ever really hope for.

Louis Tripp returns as Terry in this completely odd sequel to the surprisingly creepy The Gate. It's been a few years since the events of the last film where a crater leading straight to hell showed up in a suburban backyard and caused all kinds of nightmarish terror. Even after witnessing all the horror, Terry decides it's a good idea to try and bring hell back on earth, so he does a ceremony that's crashed by a few bullies who want to use the powers of hell for their own good.

It turns out that the creepy little minions from the previous film are a lot more harmless than originally thought and can be used for good if you know how to channel their energy correctly.

Gate II is a sort of confusing sequel that has a few inspired and creative moments here and there with some pretty decent effects to keep the viewer interested, but it's not a must see event for horror fans and it might have been best to leave The Gate as a stand alone movie.

The Gate II is just as good as the first in its own little way. It lacks the character build up and (if it where possible)the budget the original had, Yet it brings new depths with it in the introduction of 3 new teens.

I recently bought both The Gate I and II from an on-line auction and these are the original rental boxes and tapes which give you more feeling of the movie as it brings back the memories of watching them with your pals in the 80's and the shock and horror you felt when you first saw the monsters!

Back then the budget of the movie and the acting did not matter, As teen-ages all you wanted to see was the blood, Guts and gore. Now looking back as a more mature horror movie buff, These movies still have a magical feeling to them even if they do not have the fear factor of way back yonder. I love the old horror movies of the 80's, They played such a big part in a lot of teenage lads and lasses lives and this supper little number should be shown the respect it deserves.

In my view this movie just for the sake of the fun factor should be given an 8/10. Get your hands on a copy of them both if you can and enjoy the memories!