Heading into the last week! The double feature for tonight is 1987’s The Gate and the follow-up The Gate II. The sequel was made in 1990 but did not see a U.S. theatrical release until 1992. While both are about teenagers opening doors they ought to leave alone, they have very different ideas about how to handle the demons that come through them. I enjoyed The Gate. The Gate II does not quite measure up, but I can appreciate what it set out to do.
The Gate fits my theme, so I figure adding the sequel was okay.
It has a wonderfully simple premise. After a tree comes down in Glen’s (a very young Stephen Dorff in his first movie) backyard, he and his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) find a geode in the hole it leaves behind. Through a combination of blood, strange writing that appears on one of those "magic-slate" tablets.
Of course, Terry has a heavy metal album from the band "Scarifyce," whose lyrics hold the key to what they have let loose. It is not long before the boys comprehend they have made a gateway for demons called "The Old Ones".
The whole thing is very much 1987. One can feel the Satanic Panic in the air, yet the film has some fun with it. Terry has the metal records and the occult knowledge to tell when things are going wrong. The heavy metal album in question is more useful than corrupting. The boys have called forth demons, all right, but the music isn't the evil.
I also enjoyed the practical effects quite a bit. Randall William Cook oversaw a combination of miniatures, matte work, forced perspective, and other visual effects, and the movie is all the better for it. The little minions are particularly creepy because they feel like physical entities in the room with the kids as they crawl and swarm.
What I liked the most is the model rocket. When the climax comes around, Glen figures the rocket is a symbol of "love, light, and purity" and can be turned on the demon. He launches it into the creature to shut the gate. It is a fine idea. Most horror films would have the characters cast a spell or hold a relic or weapon. Here they take something of Glen's, something from his family and youth, and make it the means of destruction. The film isn't cynical about it. Love and light have their place. If the story is pushed hard enough, a kid’s model rocket can end an ancient demon. I like that. The symbolism is what is important.
Then there is the matter of the heroes being real kids. They are not twenty-something actors playing at being teens. Glen and Terry are young enough that the situation is truly overwhelming, so it is more satisfying to see them fight back. A modest horror movie, for sure, but it knows what it is and, for the most part, does it well.
Also known as "The Gate II: Trespassers." The sequel gets off to a good start with Louis Tripp returning as Terry, or Terrence as he is now called. Glen and his family are gone, and Terrence is older and lonelier, with a home life to match. His mother is dead, and his father is an alcoholic. He makes a point of returning to where the first Gate was because he thinks the demonic power there can set things right.
Its a good idea for a sequel. The first film had the children opening the gate by accident; this one has one of them doing it on purpose once he is older. Terrence understands the danger and does it anyway. That puts a darker cast on the proceedings. There is no curiosity here, only desperation.
They have also altered the demon. Instead of a horde of faceless minions, Terrence calls up a single entity to grant wishes. They are appealing at first but are bound to go bad or become repulsive. The filmmakers wanted this one to be a trickster of sorts, not the swarming type in the original. Very good thinking.
Only the execution is an issue. Even with a more ambitious premise, the film is slower and less imaginative, and it has lost some of its charm. The wish-fulfillment side of things ought to open up all sorts of possibilities for the movie, but in too many ways it comes off as smaller and flatter than the original. But I like what they set out to do, though.
In truth, the sequel has more horror than The Gate was. There is a greater focus on the cost of having your way, on desperation, addiction, and corruption. Terrence’s father seems to work a miracle in getting sober and his life back, but we are left in no doubt that anything from the Gate will require payment. That is the film at its best. Terrence has no designs on power, he just wants his dad to get his life back.
It recycles the notion of pitting light and love against the dark, this time via Terrence’s mother's jewelry box. Its a good enough thematic carry-over even if it does not have the same impact as the model rocket.
So, yeah, The Gate II is not as good. I respect it nonetheless.
NIGHT SHIFT and Jackson Connections
You could put either of them in NIGHT SHIFT without much trouble. The first provides the sort of occult mishap that would happen in Jackson. Two kids find something odd in the yard, read what they shouldn't, add some blood and a measure of incomplete knowledge, and before you know it, there is a hole in the Veil. It almost writes itself!
I like how The Gate uses the heavy metal record; in Jackson, the parents would be quick to point the finger at the music and D&D as the source of any demons. They would be wrong for the most part. The record isn't evil; the kids have simply stumbled onto something real that everyone else took for fantasy. That is a more serviceable form of Satanic Panic for NIGHT SHIFT. The adults blame the music out of ignorance of the mechanics, while the kids know enough to compound the problem. Terry would be right at home with the occult kids in Jackson.
But the sequel offers me something I like even better: the kid who grows up and figures out that the power that nearly put him under can still be useful. Very NIGHT SHIFT really. One of the Jackson survivors returns after his life has gone to pieces, remembering the demon or ritual that was his undoing and what it was capable of. This time it is not an accident; he opens the gate by choice. Much darker. That's how I want the supernatural in Jackson to be. Magic is hazardous but not without value. If it didn't deliver, nobody would be drawn to it. The finest kind of temptation is one that works. For a while anyway.
In fact, Terry is a bit like my Darren Vale. In his first adventure ("Am I Evil?"), he is just a little jerk who happens on some real magic. In his next adventure, "Land of Confusion," he has made better use of his power and trapped all the PCs (and a lot of NPCs) in his own world.
Final Thoughts
I have had more fun with The Gate than with some of the movies I have put in front of me lately. The practical effects hold up well, the kids are likable, and the heavy-metal occultism is entertaining. I am fond of the straightforwardness of putting down an old demon with a model rocket of love and purity.
The Gate II is a step down, but I admire the ambition. Bringing Terry back and having him put himself in the path of the Gate, rather than stumbling into it again, is a far better concept. The first is the more enjoyable movie. The second is the darker one and perhaps the superior horror idea. But it is not the better film.
Still. I have spent worse than three and a half hours.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2026
Viewed: 40
First Time Views: 27
No comments:
Post a Comment