Terror Transmission

The Gate – 1987 – Canada/USA – Lionsgate

The twelve year old boy in me loves this film. He also loved the lingerie section in the old Sears catalog, so what the fuck does he know, but at least this film still manages to get me excited 20-something years later. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the Sears catalog was a little boy’s dream before the days of airbrushing… er, wait a second here. Ahem! I mean, The Gate was a real gem of a horror film that was geared towards the 13 and under audience but managed to present enough scares and inspired effects to delight movie nuts of any age. Written by Michael Nankin and originally planned as an over-the-top adult horror romp, the film rights were bought by the Canadian production company Alliance, who toned down the carnage and limited the scope of the picture to appeal to a younger audience. The finished film played out like a John Hughes directed early-teens film, with horror in place of humor, but with the same theme of children struggling towards adulthood and responsibility. Without the killer soundtrack, I might add, although I did search for that fictional Sacrifyx album for years!

The plot is simple and straightforward (much like that beige negligee on page 247!). Glen and his inchoately pubescent sister Al are being left alone for the weekend so that their parents can get some private time together for some swinging BDSM. Glen’s rebellious metal-head friend Terry swings by for some recreational insect-torturing in the backyard, and the two of them crack open a mysterious geode Glen found that morning when a tree stump was removed from behind his house. A mist swirls through the air and spells out an ancient incantation, which Glen unknowingly reads aloud, and the supernatural powers that emanate from the pit in his backyard are loosed. Paranormal shenanigans ensue until the family dog, Angus, croaks under mysterious circumstances and is buried for the sake of convenience in the backyard pit. With the dead dog serving as a sacrifice, the pit opens up a gateway to the netherworld unleashing dozens of diminutive and dastardly demons who terrorize the kids and scramble to secure two more sacrifices which will usher in the earthly reign of their dark lords.

A largely effects-driven film, The Gate also took great care to touch on several of the more salient fears of adolescence, which explains its timelessness and resonance with audiences to this day. Everything from the premature absence of authority to the monster under the bed are used to stirring effect, with some excellent jump scares thrown in for good measure. Some holdovers from the original, more adult-oriented script, such as a family photo gone gruesomely wrong and the particularly effective zombie-in-the-walls, are unnerving and remarkably horrific for the requisite restrictions given a PG-13 film. The filmmakers and talented young cast took great pains to establish their characterizations as believably motivated and well realized, with Stephen Dorff leading the way as the rather constipated looking Glen, and Louis Tripp bringing a fine vivacity to his role as Terry. The backwards masked occult lyrics from the fictional metal band Sacrifyx (think Venom meets Spinal Tap!) was a timely spoof grounded firmly in reality. Well, my reality anyways, as I was one of those kids struggling to spin my music in reverse for that hidden message of power (nobody fucking told me that it didn’t work with CDs!!!).

And, oh, the wonderful effects! The dazzling effects wizardry was realized by Craig Reardon and Randall William Cook, who pulled out all of the best from their bag of tricks and became the film’s greatest asset. The minions were filmed using costumed actors shot in forced perspective on large sets to convince us of their diminutive stature, and the effect shines splendidly. The workman zombie has to go down as one of the finest examples of monster makeup ever filmed, and the claymation monster at the climax of the picture would have made even the great Harryhausen proud. This eye-candy is more than enough to cover some of the silly and illogical gaps inherent in the script (as well as the PG-13 cop-out of an ending) and several fine flourishes (such as the liberated monster patting Glen’s head in appreciation) raise the work unto another level entirely.

Lionsgate did a fine job with their widescreen presentation and some fun extras are featured, the best of which is Nankin relating the origins of the story, the worst of which is Cook arrogantly singing his own praises. Don’t go throwing away your old fullscreen versions, however, as the new cover art is ludicrously akin to a Harry Potter image, entirely blaspheming one of the great horror film one-sheets of all time. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, fuckwads!

So get out your Venom and Killer Dwarf back-patches, put together that idle model rocket in your closet, dust off your old Sears catalog and get ready for a highly enjoyable trip back to the good old days before the transgressions of CGI animation and airbrushing! Everybody chant now – “Aka Kuto Alla Neta”!

Oh, and one last thing. Was that really Dorff’s hair, or was he wearing a coiffure-like batting helmet during production due to some heretofore unknown head injury? Hydrocephalus? Autism? Overprotective parents? I guess we shall never know…

Jason’s Grade: B