Devil's Gate

Set in the fictional town of Devil's Gate a federal agent teams with a local officer to investigate a missing wife & child. Trouble is their investigation leads them to the unbalanced husband and his trap filled home.

I expected horror, it was advertised as horror..........it's not really.

Milo Ventimiglia and Shawn Ashmore star in this interesting but ultimately flawed sci-fi movie which looks great but lacks in too many areas that matter.

Jonathan Frakes from Next Generation also stars and is particuly good, shame his role was a tad too small.

I liked the plot I did, even though I'm not a big sci-fi guy I think they did a good enough job here and left it open for potential sequels. Sadly it doesn't flow all too well and something just didn't sit right for me.

Watchable effort and this may really appeal to some, for me it was a deeply average offering.

The Good:

Decent plot

Jonathan Frakes

Great opening sequence

The Bad:

Poorly paced

Seriously, stop killing pets in every damn movie

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Milo Ventimiglia plays unhinged characters far too well

I would happily live in that house, yes I'm weird

The film features some really fantastic photography, and also really awesome visuals. The story itself was rather creepy and mysterious. The film was shot almost in monochromatic grey where other colors were not well defined. I'm not sure if this was the intention to blend in with the theme, or if it simply appears that way. The acting in general was good, and I enjoyed the mysterious feel to the film. The film has an interesting twist that changes everything we thought we knew about the father looking for his son...

I'm not going to spell out the synopsis since it's been done before. This seemingly low budget thriller does a fine job putting all the pieces together. The acting, for the most part is adequate. The fx are a lot better than what I've seen in films with a much bigger budget. The director (Clay Staub) does a great job of hiding the monster until it couldn't be hidden any longer. With the exception of some CGI you never get the feeling that this is a cheap and cheesy student film. But by far the crowning glory of the whole project is the brilliant cinematography. Miroslaw Baszak does an excellent job of capturing the bleak and dreary landscape to the point that you don't want to visit the area, let alone live there. His interior shots are perfectly lit, giving the desired creepy-old-house affect while still allowing us to see what's going on. Editing, sound design and the score all complement the film so seamlessly that you never think about them - you experience them. The story is nothing new. (But what is these days?) It combines elements of several other stories we've all seen before. Which isn't to say that it's bad, it's just not ground breaking. All in all the completed project is something that all cast & crew involced should be proud to have been a part of.

This film is overwrought and overacted and fits well into the middle of M. Night Shyamalan's middle years of film making. It does kind of look cool at times and some of the creature work is okay, with a couple of creepy scenes. Unfortunately, it leaves itself wide open for a sequel, but one hopes that won't happen.

FBI Special Agent Daria Francis (Amanda Schull) is assigned to travel to Devil's Gate, a small town in North Dakota, to investigate the disappearance of Maria Pritchard (Bridget Regan) and her son Jonah. Her prime suspect is the husband and father Jackson Pritchard (Milo Ventimiglia), who lives in a farm in the middle of nowhere. However Sheriff Gruenwell (Jonathan Frakes) asks Francis to let Jackson alone since he would be a good man. Deputy Conrad 'Colt' Salter (Shawn Ashmore) heads with Francis to interview Maria´s sister and she leaves her house convinced that Jackson may be hiding them. When they arrive at his farm, Jackson assaults Maria and she enters the house to investigate, and finds a weird thing. What is Jackson hiding?

"Devil´s Gate" is a surprisingly good and underrated sci-fi film. The screenplay is intriguing and the lead cast (Amanda Schull, Shawn Ashmore and Milo Ventimiglia have good performances. The conclusion after the initial credits is a cliffhanger for a possible sequence. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available