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

A mystery thriller with solid acting, solid production (tv-scale) and well, a story that boild down to its core is VERY standard (todays term: generic) and predictable, even the end is a genre cliche par excellence.

Anyway, if you like such movies with a little X Files taste, you may dare to watch, it won't kill you, but just don't expect anything outstanding like some of those super-positive (fake!?) reviews try to sell you. An okay watch for a rainy afternoon with nothing else to do.

1. Fists cause more damage than bullets. 2. The preservation of your job and is more important than the preservation of the human race. 3. The generator worked because it worked before.

Worth a watch on dvd or netflix. I gave it a four. Would have given it a 5.5 if the lead character "Milo Ventimiglia" who plays Jackson Prichard wasn't such a bad actor. Interesting story / plot..somewhat dull overall but not bad. directing, camera, angles, lighting, scenery etc.. are all good.

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.