Charming and unscrupulous 80's horror, mainly aimed at younger audiences that outgrew the childish monsters of "Gremlins" but that are still a little too fragile to watch the real demons of "Hellraiser". Even for adult viewers, "The Gate" can be enjoyable as long as you can get past the silly plot and typically teenage acting performances. The story centers on three teenagers, Glen (Stephen Dorff was a better actor at age 14 than he is now) who's obsessed with toy-rockets, his sister Alexandra (busy discovering boys and slumber parties) and pal Terry (obviously having issues). They discover a deep hole in Glen's backyard and, for no particular reason; ancient demons decide to make this their passageway to take over the world. "The Gate" is a well-intended and often professionally made film, with subtle parody (towards metal music, abandoning parents
) and imaginatively animated demons. Its only flaw is that director Takács takes it all too seriously. The screenplay desperately tries to be convincing while it clearly doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. Make-believe bogeymen suddenly turn out real, dead dogs keep on moving from their place, etc etc
I'm sure that, if Takács had focused on the irony more, his film would now be regarded as a minor classic. Instead, it's just a bit of forgettable fun.
