'80s Fun/Forgotten Sequels: The Gate/Gate II

Portals to Hell are like pretentious Nicholas Cage films, everyone has seen one. I mean, it's like 'oh, big deal- Hell is opening up and spewing its unholy contents upon the Earth. Whatever.' Seriously though, these films are two early ones to cover such a strange idea. To make things all the more interesting, both stories involve young people doing it without the aid of adults. How well do these films stand the test of time though? Can an obscure film from 1987 and its sequel compare to our modern fare? Find out in my two reviews, starting with...

The Gate

The film begins with a child (Stephen Dorff) who runs from his room and hides in his tree house, only for it to be struck by lightning and fall. Oh wait, this is all a dream...or a vision, since the tree was in fact struck by lightning that night. In the hole is a large chasm that draws the imagination of our young hero. His nerdy friend comes over and they discover a geode, which only makes them more interested. A strange sub-plot involves the boy's love of firing model rockets into the air. It's not like it's going to come into play in the finale...which it is. The parents decide to go on a trip and leave him alone with his sister. Faster than you can say 'I hate this cliche,' the girl has all her friends over for a party. Unless this turns into Slumber Party Massacre IV, it's a pretty unnecessary. Some spirits start to come out, but we don't actually get any monster effects for at least forty-five minutes. A monster film that dares to hold its hand close to its chest? Oh, the humanity!

*

When the monsters show up, they are pretty weird. Most of what you get are these tiny little creatures that actually resemble the tiny monsters from Subspecies. To make things stranger, these effects look better than the ones in that film, which was made four years later! The whole thing actually is based around a series of accidental events that are a bit silly. Then again, this is the reason that we get a giant four-eyed, four-armed monster showing up, so I can live with that. In a Rare Case, the battle between a young boy and a giant monster is very one-sided. My favorite part of the film is the sub-plot involving a metal band that apparently wrote the prophecy of the gate on their record insert! Thanks a strange deus ex machina involving a rocket, the day is saved. Mind you, the dog is still dead, so it's not all positive. The End?

*

This movie is good, but may not work for everyone. It is an 80s horror film, but it has no graphic murder, teenage sex or boobs. In addition, it is not built around introducing marketable villains to create a film series. Mind you, this does not always work- i.e. Neon Maniacs- but it was an interesting idea. As for the actual film, it is well-made, builds up properly and does not feature bad writing. We get some bad teenage cliches, but they don't kill the film. For 22 year old optical effects, they look damn good. Maybe you can get away with it if you put heart and soul into it? I'm just saying. Speaking of souls...

The Gate II: Return to the Nightmare

I bet you're wondering what has happened to Stephen Dorff's character right? Well, screw you, said the producers and they made the film about his nerdy sidekick. Sequel or sidequel- you decide! A few years later, things are not going well for our gangly hero. His dad- who was only hinted at, but not shown in Part 1- is a drunk and cannot get a job. In addition, he is bullied by two guys named John and Moe. He also is in lust with a girl who happens to be doing 'the old tongue-dance' with one of the two people he hates. In a questionable bit of logic, he decides to re-open the gate to hell, get a demon and use it to grant him wishes! Yeah, that is a good plan, dumb-ass! Fortunately or unfortunately, the bullies interrupt the ceremony to mess with him, but a demon still makes it across. It ends up in our hero's room and, one silly action scene later, it is placed in a jar. He begins to make wishes with it, including getting his dad a job and getting a sweet car. This helps him get close to the girl, so it's all win. When is the shit going to go down?

*

This proves to be an ironic choice of words, as everything they wished for turns into literal shit the next morning. Clean-up time is fun time, kids! Not only that, but his dad relapses and crashes a plane on the runway...which they did not choose to show us. The two thug characters from earlier discover the demon and decide to use it to grant wishes, apparently missing all the literal shit from earlier. They get scratched by the demon when it makes a break for it and begin to transform. Even the solace of a fancy bathroom in a French restaurant does not put a stop to the transformation. Our two heroes try to escape the now-mutated men, but end up getting sucked into another dimension! I mean it literally and not in the 'I'm going to send you to the next dimension' sort of way. A barrage of bad special effects are bombarded upon us before the hero manages to stop the monsters, at the cost of his own life.

*

Wait, that's too much of a downer. Let's just have our hero get out of his coffin and walk off, followed shortly by the two men. Ah, that's much more PG. The End.

*

Yeah, this movie is not exactly as good as the first one. It is not as terrible as its internet reputation makes it out to be though. The story is an intriguing one, although it is not executed in the best way. The acting...is about what you expect. Now, as far as the special effects go, what the hell happened? The ones in The Gate are actually good and this movie's (made three years later, mind you) are not. Shouldn't it be the opposite way? I'll give the film some credit for its interesting make-up work and monster design, but their optical effects are just god awful. Ironically, I saw this movie first, since the original film was out of print when I saw this movie in January. Now the original is available once again and the sequel is out of print. On the plus side, you are now free to watch the better film.

*

Up next, a parody film from another country that even I am surprised that I saw it. No, it's not good, by the way. Stay tuned...