The Doorway

When a true Hollywood film nut asks "Why do they make B-class Horror movies?" the answer is: because people want to see them, of course.

But, why do people want to see them? The answer is quite simple:

1) Bad Acting: There is nothing better than drinking beer and watching untalented people pretend to act. This movie had some great bad actors. But, it also had some semi-decent actors. Don Maloney's character became really funny as the movie wore on (and bears an uncanny resemblance to Paul Giamatti, which may be why I thought him so hilarious).

2) Cheesy Special Effects: Fingernails growing out of fake hands. Makeup from the local Halloween store. Blood that shoots in direct squirt-gun streams. Blue screens of death. What more can you ask for? This film had it all!

3) The Plot: There's always two girls and two guys, the haunted house, and the resident paranormal expert. There are the excuses they make to keep themselves in the house (I mean, after having a severed hand feel you up in the shower, would you seriously stick around?). Again, this movie had it all.

4) Naked girls: This is probably the most important reason anyone would watch a B-movie. It's a guaranteed boob fest! I was only disappointed in that we never got to see Tammy in the buff. Oh well, there were plenty of others.

All in all, The Doorway was a great B-movie that had all the elements that us B-movie fans love.

Writer/director Druxman draws from previous films of his producer Roger Corman (such as "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Dunwich Horror") to deliver a well-done ensemble piece about the doorway to hell.

Filmed in Ireland, but presumably set in Massachusetts or New England, a group of four teenagers and their lecturer dare to uncover the dreaded doorway despite their horrific encounters with a demon. It is not clear whether they are brave or stupid.

Scheider's role is lamentably too small to have an impact despite top-billing. It's the kids we care about despite their immaturity.

The writer/director knows we've seen it all before, so while the film is played straight, the tongue is firmly in his cheek. The humour is not out of place, but the frights are genuine.

Stay tuned for the wrap-up, it's satisfying though you will feel like a victim of a practical joke. The fate of the surviving two teenagers might have made a great sequel.

Really, what does happen to characters in horror movies when the "horror" is over?

I watch this movie a couple of time and i see a lot of mistakes in this movie, the part that Evelyn floating in the air, when she face to face with rick and the gang, it doesn't show her whole body floating in the air, half cut. on the lower part of the dress. you can barley see her sanding on something to make her look like she floating in the air, another scene, when evenly was trying to attack Tammy and Owen, in that scene when Evelyn try to go float after them,i think the actress was standing on a wagon to make look like she floating in the air, when she floating after Tammy and Owen, on the bottom right you can see a bald head man pop up half way, you don't see his face just the head, he was the one them pushing her in the movie to make it look like she was floating in the air, now that seen that, know i how they make looked like she was floating, LOL

I was hoping their was a part 2, reason why because to understand how Evelyn and Walter meet, this movie the doorway leave me with a lot of question???

B-film? Yes.

Cheesy style homage to yesteryear horror films? well, sort of.

At times intriguing and other times laughable but the most haunting thing about it was I felt as if I had seen it all before...and I had. Slightly updated effects (which certainly didnt enhance the film) and a couple slightly re-arranged plot lines but this was definately a thinly-masked remake of the 1981 The Evil starring Richard Crenna. For those who enjoyed this film find a copy of the original and compare. For those thinking of watching The Doorway, find the Evil and enjoy a slightly more interesting (and original) b-horror film.

A rather mild horror movie; if not for a couple of sex scenes, it could easily have been a TV movie. Plot holes abound (one example: why would there be a secret passage from the 18th century leading from the upper floor of a house that was burned to the ground and a new building put ther 200 years later?), cardboard acting, characters doing things that anyone with an IQ bigger than their shoe size wouldn't do...

It's got a few fun moments, but overall it's a sub-par film that managed to get Roy Scheider because his bills were due. If you're looking for an extremely formulaic, predictable film that might provide a few laughs, it might be worth watching. If not, then this one's not for you.