O Portão

Don't let the PG-13 rating and the "if it's not gory and new, it's no good" critiques fool you. This could possibly get an R today, and is a great horror-fantasy that I loved as a kid and still love now. All of the actors turn in great performances (including a very young Stephen Dorff who proves here that he was a great actor from the start), and I have no idea how anyone could dare to criticize the quality of these great special FX. To me, "The Gate" is an example that sometimes a low-budget film, if done well, looks much better than big-budget swill could ever wish to be. The only less than totally impressive special effect is the big monster that shows up, but it's no better or worse than the computer-generated monsters we're accustomed to today, plus the fact that it WAS done on a low budget should make it more worthy of respect when it probably looked state-of-the-art back then. All of the rest of the creatures are great. Like in "Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn" (another great movie with even lower budget creature FX), if I were to run into some monsters in real life, I would expect them to look as real as this! Another thing I loved about this was the fact that, despite idiotic people who write all the time that this movie is making a comment against heavy metal, "The Gate" actually poses an interesting idea that sometimes the knowledge of some of these heavy metal rockers can be positive and helpful, no matter how "evil" their image might be. If you watch this movie, you might see what I mean. This is definitely a PG-13 horror movie that deserves a lot more respect than it's gotten.

The Gate is a bit of fun for adults and pre-teen kids alike.

Its a nice adventure story that draws you in, keeping you entertained throughout.

The effects are pretty cool, low budget but effective.

Far from award winning but even further away from terrible, The Gate will give you a giggle and keep the kids hiding under the bed :)

I have such fond memories of 'The Gate'. Thankfully, I enjoyed it just as much as an adult as I did way back then.

Hungarian director Tibor Takacs brought us the unforgettable horror thriller 'The Gate'. I'm not sure whether to call it a classic, but it certainly is a memorable film. It is a very well made film in the time before CGI. Sure, most of the visual effects doesn't hold so well by today's standards, but whenever I watch an old movie, I view it for what it is and envision it for what it must have been back in the day. In the 80s they had to rely on practical effects - real film making as opposed to doing everything on computer in post production nowadays! They also made use of stop-motion photography, as you'll clearly notice when the giant demon makes its appearance.

The acting is very good, and the little demons especially are well made (in a time before CGI, that is). Some of the practical effects are truly amazing and its wonderful how total chaos ensues during the final act. The film also delivered a few really funny moments, without the humor being out of place or being slapstick. Then there's also the more serious moments, like Glen (Dorff) dealing with the loss of the family dog. These were emotional moments I'm certain everyone who has had to bid farewell to a furry family member can relate to. I enjoyed the characters and the character development. Interesting to see a very, very young Stephen Dorff here...

I absolutely love 'The Gate' and will easily rate this among my many favorite 80s horror films. A real gem of a movie.

Ah, the pleasures of horror movies and nostalgia. I was about 18 or so when this was first released, and I wandered to the theaters with my friends to watch this movie based on all the TV ads. Yeah, ads that included those little dwarfed demons with mean faces and sharp teeth. Hey, for 1987 that was seriously cool - and done very well! But at the time, I came out of the theater thinking, "Eh, it was okay." Years later, sick and not in the mood to move, I flipped through the channels late at night and found "The Gate" about to come on. I thought, "Eh, for nostalgia, why not?" I was surprised by how much I loved the movie! I'd forgotten it starred Stephen Dorff (he was unknown back then), and I was disappointed to learn that his sister in the movie (Christa Denton) didn't really go on to do much else. She was cute. Whatever happened to her??? Besides the cool suburban and 1980's atmosphere (not to mention the clothes and hair - oh yeah!), the movie's story is the fun type of cheese that still keeps your eyes glued to the TV. Cool effects, a no-brainer but engaging story, and the kids are fun to watch. It's also on DVD at a cheap price, and I bought it the other day. Not bad. It's full screen (bummer), but the picture is pretty good. No extra features though (bummer again). But still, very worth of owning. I just watched it again lastnight. And yes, it's still so fun!

Believe it or not, this was much better than I initially anticipated. I expected one of those God-awful, cheesy special effects, mindless eighties horror films - a decade I think was a low ebb for that genre in general. I got to see a 35mm print of The Gate and was impressed with several things. Now before I get out of control here, make no mistake, this is not a great film even in terms of the horror genre, but it is a bona-fide campy, cult favorite from the eighties with good reason. The story is ridiculous about some hole, as a result of an old tree being destroyed in a family's backyard, having demons living down deep in its bowels. A rock band that died tragically also is involved, or at least the record album on hand complete with a huge history of demonology attached. Add a couple more-than-precocious boys, a bunch of teens, looking dreadfully eighties-style, attending a party while the parents are away, and some freaky little demons and you have much of The Gate. The little demons are cute and spooky and the director Tibot Takics actually visualizes them rather nicely - particularly in an era when special effects for horror and science fiction films were quite low in terms of quality. The director was also able to create some suspense and some interesting characters with the 2 small boys in particular. Stephen Dorff and Louis Tripp play Glenn and Terry respectively and give the film some heart. There is not much to recommend as far as the remaining cast is concerned, but The Gate delivers some solid scares, some atmospheric settings and direction, and some surprisingly good special effects. Good campy fun!