The Gates

Plot

A serial killer has been sentenced to death by electric chair in London in the 1890s, but in his final hours, he puts a curse on the prison he is in, and all of those in it.

Cast

Career villain Richard Brake who is severely wasted here alongside John Rhys-Davies who is just in wall to wall abysmal movies at this stage of his career. A deserved nod however to Michael Yare who was great here.

Verdict

The cover filled me with mixed emotions, Richard Brake? Fantastic, the rest? Amateurish. I thought hey even if it's bad at least Brake will deliver a great evil twisted psychotic performance as always and who doesn't love John Rhys-Davis!? Well, it actually managed to screw my first point up rather impressively. What do I mean by that? Well Brake is the antagonist certainly, but he's barely in the movie at all and when he is it's fleeting and he doesn't really speak at al. In fact honestly I'd be surprised if he has a dozen words of dialogue in the entire movie and isn't even on screen with kills either, his presence is pretty non-existent so that's a major flaw and blatant false advertising!

The setting is interesting, the concept though cliched is fairly engaging and the film does have a few well constructed moments. Sadly then it descends into the realm of the generic and hits you with a very weak ending that is simply lazy and uninspired.

The Gates isn't bad, it's just a shadow of it's potential and that's even worse.

Rants

I get the overwhelming impression lately that a lot of movies suffer with a writing issue that starts with a writer coming up with a concept and.......nothing else. They come up with the premise of a movie, but no middle, no end just the general concept. So we're hit with that, excited about where it's to go and then the quality dips offensively and ends uninspired like they had absolutely no ideas beyond the concept. I see it all the time and it's so frustrating, if writers could come up with more than the mere basis and create a full story that would be great. Otherwise you get The Gates!

The Good

Passable premise John Rhys-Davies Nice setting

The Bad

Brake is wasted Potential squandered badly Weak finale.

When I stumbled upon the 2023 horror/thriller "The Gates" here in 2024 and seeing that it had Richard Brake on the cast list, then there was no doubt about me sitting down to watch it.

Writers Tim Reynolds and Stephen Hall, with the latter also being the director of the movie, put together an enjoyable supernatural thriller with a good storyline. The storyline included the creation of the EVP (Electrical Voice Phenomena), which was a nice touch. It is an atmospheric thriller, where the writers gradually builds up the suspense and piles up elements of a supernatural dread.

Something that worked against the movie was the pacing of the narrative, because it was rather slow and bland at times, without much of anything thrilling or exciting happening, and that made sitting through 111 minutes of the movie somewhat of an ordeal at times. So either a more round-handed trim in the editing or a more spruced-up storyline would have served the movie well.

The acting performances in the movie were good from the entire cast ensemble, and with the likes of John Rhys-Davies and Richard Brake at the helm, then you're in capable hands. Richard Brake brought his usual devilish charm and sinister charisma, while John Rhys-Davies brought a level of class and Shakespearian atmosphere to the movie. Michael Yare (playing Lucian Abberton) and Elena Delia (playing Emma Wickes) definitely put on good performances as well.

The colors and lighting used throughout the course of the movie were definitely enhancing the atmosphere of the movie tremendously, making it seem and feel like a distinct 1890-period set movie. As did the wardrobe, sets and props department, I liked that level of dedication to making the movie feel authentic. It worked marvelously in favor of the overall feel of the movie.

While "The Gates" certainly is a watchable movie, I was expecting a bit more from a movie with Richard Brake and John Rhys-Davies. And I have to admit that this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, because the storyline just doesn't have the contents to support more than a single viewing.

My rating of director Stephen Hall's 2023 movie "The Gates" lands on a five out of ten stars. It was as if the movie buckled in under its own ambition to deliver more than director Stephen Hall could muster.

First, it's a rather long movie for the substance. They really go to lengths to draw things out unnecessarily. The script is painful to listen to. It's very sophomoric, and the over-baked archetypes make the acting pretty cringe. I actually really like. John Rhys-Davies from other movies. Elena Deliia also does a good job with a poor script. However, Michael Yare should seek employment as something other than an actor. It's like watching a junior-high school student attempt acting for the first time. What makes it all worse is, even though there are a few good actors, there is absolutely zero synchronicity between the cast. None of them mesh well together, so it makes it really difficult to try to enjoy what little gems there are to this story. This could have been done a million times better, and they obviously had the budget for it.

John Rhys Davies stars in this. But at the age of 80, the blunderbuss vocal energy of his Raiders Of The Lost Ark days are gone. Then again with the stilted, monologue type dialogue he and the rest of the cast are given to work with, it's not surprising. In fact, it is so uninspiring and dull, that I found it actually painful to listen to, so only lasted 30 minutes of the 1 hour 50.

Which is a pity, as the production quality is decent. Convincing Victorian sets, street scenes, and costumes and a decent soundtrack, show an attempt to be above the B movie bracket.

Plot wise, I cannot really comment much. Victorian death row prisoners, new fangled electrickery, sciency stuff, mixed with dead prisoners ghosts and paranormal shenanigans. It all sounds too familiar.

Go watch penny Dreadful instead.

Throughout most of the performance, we watch the characters gracefully move around the stage, creating an exciting spectacle. The climax gradually grows closer to the finale, attracting our attention with the supernatural frenzy of an unsettled spirit belonging to an evil sorcerer. Out of nowhere, as if materializing from another world, the character "Maria" suddenly appears - why and for what purpose?... The humorous situation develops as rapidly as it ends :) But why was this introduced, you ask? :) - I don't know either :))) The otherworldly manifestation causes a whirlwind of demonic fun - a flickering light bulb built into a musical instrument turns out to be a powerful magical force :)))))) - hands grab the viewer's face, leaving him puzzled. What's going on here? - Even I ask myself this question with good reason :)))) Finally, the climax comes - a confrontation with a vile sorcerer. The characters use a glowing light bulb inside a musical instrument, and thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the actors, this brings wonderful "fruits" - the absurdity ends the performance, leaving the curtain down and not saying goodbye, subtly hinting at a future sequel. :)))) Admittedly, this scenario was conceived by artificial intelligence - I have no other explanation.