THE GATE [1987] [Blu-ray] [1987 / 2018] [Vestron Collector’s Series] [UK Release] There’s a Passageway . . . a Gate behind which the Demons wait . . . To take back what was once theirs!
When best friends Glen [Stephen Dorff] and Terrence “Terry” Chandler [Louis Tripp] stumble across a mysterious crystalline rock in Glen’s backyard, they quickly dig up the newly sodden lawn searching for more precious stones. Instead, they unearth THE GATE – an underground chamber of terrifying demonic evil. The teenagers soon understand what evil they’ve released as they are overcome with an assortment of horrific experiences. With fiendish followers invading suburbia, it’s now up to the kids to discover the secret that can lock THE GATE forever . . . if it’s not too late.
Canadian horror film is directed by Tibor Takács. With their parents away for the weekend, teenagers Glen [Stephen Dorff] and Al (Christa Denton) get excited by the discovery of a strange crystalline rock in their backyard and elect to start digging into the ground around it. However, the pair soon find they have found the gateway to Hell and have unwittingly unleashed a terrible force into the world. Will they be able to seal the portal before the Earth is overrun with evil?
FILM FACT: The first draft of the script was written by Michael Nankin when he was unemployed and recently divorced, basing it on “the nastiest thoughts from [his] childhood.” Glen and Al were depicted as being more mischievous than shown in the final film, and the demons spread to the rest of the town, where they would drag neighbours out into the streets to kill them. The gigantic demon was originally envisioned as being made of bloody entrails. The house was a real home in Toronto, but an exterior exit had to be constructed for the production, featuring bricks, stairs, and a bug zapper. Beyond the backyard was a new housing development, so the crew erected a fence around the yard to block the construction vehicles and workers from view. The effects used to create the demons included stop-motion animation as well as forced perspective, wherein actors wearing rubber suits were made to look minuscule by their position relative to the camera and to the human characters. Randall William Cook, the film's special effects supervisor, used his hand and eye to create the scene where an eyeball appears in Glen's palm. A 3D-remake directed by Alex Winter was in production; it was initially set for a release in 2011, but no release occurred at that time.
Cast: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp, Kelly Rowan, Jennifer Irwin, Deborah Grover, Scot Denton, Ingrid Veninger, Sean Fagan, Linda Goranson, Carl Kraines and Andrew Gunn
Director: Tibor Takács
Producers: Andras Hamori and John Kemeny
Screenplay: Michael Nankin
Composers: J. Peter Robinson and Michael Hoenig
Make-up and Hair Department: Craig Reardon [Prosthetic Make-up creator / Prosthetic Make-up designer], Francisco X. Pérez [Crew: Craig Reardon], Keith Edmier [Crew: Craig Reardon], Kent Jones [Crew: Craig Reardon], Linda Preston [Make-up Artist], Mark Bryan Wilson [Crew: Craig Reardon], Michael Mills [Crew: Craig Reardon] and Jenny Arbour [Hair stylist]
Costume Designer: Trysha Bakker
Special Effects: Deborah J. Tiffin, Frank C. Carere, John Bakker, Jordan Craig and T. Dow Albon (uncredited)
Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock (uncredited), Bill Taylor, Catherine Sudolcan, David S. Williams Jr., Fumi Mashimo, Jim Aupperle, Lynn Ledgerwood, Mark Freund, Mark Sawicki, Mark Whitlock, Michael F. Hoover, Randall William Cook and Syd Dutton
Cinematography: Thomas Vámos (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio Description with Randall William Cook [Special Effects Designer and Supervisor]
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio Description with Michael Felsher [Editor]
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Running Time: 85 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment / New Century Entertainment Corporations / The Vista Organization, Ltd. / Vestron Video
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: With the film ‘THE GATE’ [1987] surrounds a family of young children who are left to their own devices while mom and dad are out of town. All seems to be going well until the youngest boy and his best friend get into a bit of trouble. You see, they take a heavy metal album and (gasp!) play it backwards. The ensuing chanting created by the backwards song opens up a gate to hell in their backyard, which eventually begins to spew out mini Claymation demons. That, in a nutshell, is the basic premise of the film.
Left to look after the house for the weekend when their parents are away, 13 year old Glen [Stephen Dorff] and his older sister Al [Christa Denton] are forced to fend off otherworldly spirits summoned by a broken orb dug up at the bottom of the garden by Glen and his best friend Terry. Manifesting themselves as all manner of creatures, Glen, Terry and Al must put their petty squabbles aside to avoid having the house, and maybe the entire world, destroyed.
In the annals of horror movie history, the villains here (ie tiny little skipping demons) will have to go down as being some of the coolest. They're brought to the screen via some cool stop motion (oh how I love thee), live puppetry and even the occasional forced perspective shot. You've also got to give props to the giant demon that pops up at the end, and the kick-ass gore bits that are sprinkled throughout the film. While never really scary, the picture also manages passable suspense and a decent amount of atmosphere.
It’s a bit of a slow starter, and the first couple of scares aren’t especially ground breaking (pun intended), but when it kicks into gear and shows off its effects work, ‘THE GATE’ is great bordering on fantastic. In a blatant pilfering of The Evil Dead’s Necronomicon incantation recordings, the film features a goofy subplot about playing a record backwards to find out how to banish the demons; but in classic The Evil Dead fashion all they manage to do is piss off some demons and speed up their ascent from hell.
One of the canniest moves this film plays is the gradual ramping up of the effects work, beginning with some dry ice and back lighting and then shifting up a gear as mini Stephen Dorff put his fingers through the eye sockets of a demon, allowing for a horrible soupy substance to flow out. Yes, this is a real treat for gore hounds who appreciate the artistry of a good effects shot, and the originality and execution of the special effects is worth commending.
Aiding the horror are some decent, largely practical effects that still stand up for the most part. Other than in a couple of shots where green screen and stop motion are used, the gremlins were largely shot using forced perspective on adult sized actors in makeup and this is done very well. There were a couple of shots where I genuinely wondered how they were done. There are some nicely icky makeup effects here and there too including a head that turns to gloop in Glen’s hands and a cool sequence where the telephone melts.
Finally, what really impressed me about the film ‘THE GATE’ is that we get to view some really amazing and spectacular Stop Motion Animation special effects of the evil Minion demons that looked really lifelike.
THE GATE MUSIC TRACK LIST
NO PLEASURE [Song and Video by Eva Everything]
EVERYBODY’S RUNNING (Written by Vince Carlucci and Sandy MacFayden)
LOVE WILL FIND A WAY (Written by Vince Carlucci)
LOVE WILL FIND A WAY (The Party Scene) (Composer: Vince Carlucci)
DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR (Written by Carl Tafel) [Performed by Terraced Garden]
EVERYBODY’S RUNNING (Composer: Vince Carlucci)
YES IT’S TRUE (Written by Julia Bourque) [Performed by True Confessions]
MODERN PERSONALITY (Written by Julia Bourque) [Performed by True Confessions]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, New Century Entertainment Corporations, The Vista Organization, Ltd. and Vestron Video presents us the film ‘THE GATE’ with a 1080p image presentation which is about average and is shown in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Here is a grain that belongs on the film that seems heavier at times but does blend in with the images on screen at other times. There are some pretty good details and the colouring in the brighter lit scenes like Glen’s jacket or the bright green yard, really stand out. There are also some good details on the stop animation/practical effects creatures but there was a blurriness that was probably from bleeding the scenes with FX on screen. Overall, I would say that this is a good restoration from the source material that Lionsgate Home Entertainment had to work with. Understandably, there are a few moments of softness here and there, but a vibrantly colourful palette keeps things upbeat and animated with primaries looking particularly striking and richly saturated. Contrast and brightness levels are very well-balanced with comfortably bright whites throughout and strong, true blacks.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation, New Century Entertainment Corporations, The Vista Organization, Ltd. and Vestron Video brings us the film ‘THE GATE’ with a 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. The music has a strong presence here to create a creepier mood. The dialogue is very clean with well-reproduced voices. Also, the voices blend and layer with the effects nicely. The mid-range is dynamic and detailed, even during the loudest sequences, exhibiting superb clarity and fidelity in the upper frequencies. Low bass isn't particularly noteworthy, but it's adequate and surprisingly hearty, providing the track with an excellent sense of presence. With distinct, precise vocals in the centre, the audio mix is an awesome addition to the video.
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Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Tibor Takács, Michael Nankin, and Randall William Cook [2017] [1080p] [1.85:1] [82:25] With this featurette, Director Tibor Takács, Writer Michael Nankin, and Special Effects Designer and Supervisor Randall William Cook deliver a decent and fun audio commentary track, where they discuss the making of the film. The three have fond memories of the film, as they are honest with the silliness and mistakes that were made, as well as how much fun they had. They deliver in-depth technical details, casting information, how the practical special effects were done and we learn a lot about the film. This is quite a fun audio experience and well worth listening to.
Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Randall William Cook, Craig Reardon, Frank Carere, and Bill Taylor [2017] [1080p] [1.85:1] [85:12] With this featurette, Special Effects Designer & Supervisor Randall William Cook, Special Make-Up Effects Artist Craig Reardon, Special Effects Artist Frank Carere, and Matte Photographer Bill Taylor talk about all of the special visual effects and how they accomplished the more difficult shots. It's quite engaging fun. Again, this is definitely well worth listening to.
Special Feature: Isolated Score and Audio Interview with J. Peter Robinson and Michael Hoenig [2017] [1080p] [1.85:1] [85:32] With this featurette, Composers Michael Hoenig and J. Peter Robinson talk about scoring the films isolated score-only track and how they came up with the composed music.
Special Feature: ‘THE GATE’ – Unlocked [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [27:53] With this featurette, we get to view an in-depth conversation between Director Tibor Takács and Special Effects Designer and Supervisor Randall William Cook in the recording studio in which they discuss in-depth how they came together for the film, working together, production schedule, and how the actual shoot was done and with this featurette they inform us that both of them enjoyed walking down memory lane about their experience. Clips from the film and production photos are added as well. By the way, please check out this featurette as Tibor Takács and Randall William Cook are totally engaging, totally fascinating together and is a must view watch.
Special Feature: Minion Maker [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [22:36] With this featurette, we get to view an in-depth interview with Craig Reardon [Special Make-up Effects Artist] and Randall William Cook [Special Effects Designer and Supervisor] and get to talk about making all the Minion Demon creatures for the film ‘THE GATE’ and we also get to view production photos and clips of the film are again viewed with this featurette. As an added bonus we get to view more clips from the film ‘THE GATE.’
Special Feature: From Hell It Came [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [13:13] With this featurette, we get to view an in-depth interview with Co-producer Andras Hamori and discusses his time working on the film ‘THE GATE’ and how he instigated the project. Clips from the film ‘THE GATE’ and production photos are shown in this featurette.
Special Feature: The Workman Speaks! [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [12:22] With this featurette, we get to view an in-depth highly entertaining interview with actor Carl Kraines who plays the dead man in the wall in the film ‘THE GATE’ and talks about getting made up to play the zombie and acting on screen with the young actors. If you're a fan of ‘THE GATE’ then you'll certainly enjoy this featurette, which has some pretty good bits of information about the production of the film including a very funny one dealing with some smoke coming out of the character's mouth. Carl Kraines appears to be enjoying discussing the ‘THE GATE’ and certainly helps keep this entertaining. Production photos and clips from the film ‘THE GATE’ are shown in this featurette.
Special Feature: Made In Canada [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [28:28] With this featurette, we get to view a series of in-depth interviews with many of the local Toronto-based cast and crew that are located in Canada talked about making ‘THE GATE.’ There are some fun stories from the set and how each of them became involved in the project. Production photos and clips from the film ‘THE GATE’ are shown in this featurette. We get to view some rare behind-the-scene images of ‘THE GATE’ location filming and we also get to view some more clips from the film ‘THE GATE.’ Contributors include: Robert Wertheimer [Production Manager], Jonathan Llyr [Minion Demon performer], Scott Denton [Dad], H. Gordon Woodside [Post-production Supervisor], Trysha Bakker [Costume Designer] and Kathleen Meade [Third Assistant Director].
Special Feature: From Hell: The Creatures and Demons of ‘THE GATE’ [2009] [1080p] [1.78:1] [14:53] With this featurette, we get to view a series of in-depth interviews with Randall William Cook [Special Effects Designer and Supervisor] and Craig Reardon [Special Make-up Effects Artist] talking about how they made the Minion demon creatures and demons for the film ‘THE GATE.’ We also get to view some rare behind-the-scene image on location filming, but again we also get to view some clips from the film ‘THE GATE.’
Special Feature: The Gatekeepers [2009] [1080p] [1.78:1] [15:46] With this featurette, we get to view a series of in-depth interviews with Tibor Takács [Director] and Michael Nankin [Screenwriter] as the two men do a great job at giving some very fun behind-the-scenes stories. The highlight is probably the stuff dealing with the screenplay as Michael Nankin talks about what inspired his ideas and how it changed over time. It's interesting hearing Tibor Takács talk about his thoughts on the screenplay and what he liked about it. Again we also get to view some clips from the film ‘THE GATE.’
Special Feature: Making of ‘THE GATE’ [1986] [480i] [1.78:1] [22:55] With this featurette, we get to view vintage made-for-tv behind-the-scenes featurette. This has interviews with the writers, producers, director, and special effects team, along with long clips of the film ‘THE GATE’ added in. The video quality is very poor. Contributors include: Randall William Cook [‘THE GATE’ Special Effects Designer and Supervisor], [Michael Mankin [‘THE GATE’ Screenwriter] and Tibor Takács [‘THE GATE’ Director].
Special Feature: Teaser Trailer [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [1:08] With this featurette, we get to view a Teaser Trailer for the film ‘THE GATE.’
Special Feature: Theatrical Trailer [1986] [480i] [1.78:1] [1:50] With this featurette, we get to view the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘THE GATE.’
Special Feature: TV Spot [1986] [480i] [1.37:1] [0:32] With this featurette, we get to view a TV advert of the film ‘THE GATE.’ The image presentation is totally atrocious.
Special Feature: Storyboard Gallery [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [9:27] With this featurette, we get to view some original hand drawn storyboards from certain scenes in the film ‘THE GATE’ are shown here in slideshow format with the composed score in the background.
Special Feature: Behind-The-Scenes Gallery [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [10:20] With this featurette, we get to view some in-depth images of production photos and behind-the-scenes photos are shown here with the composed score of the film ‘THE GATE’ in the background.
Finally, with the film ‘THE GATE’ [1986] considering the large debt it owes to 'Poltergeist,' this Canadian horror film stacks up remarkably well to repeat viewings with a similar plot about a house where odd things begin happening after forces are inadvertently summoned from below. One thing that really works in ‘THE GATE’ favour is the lack of adults with the film instead focusing on two young boys and a teenage sister warding off demons and goblins and protecting their family home while their parents are away on vacation. Their experiences give the brother and a sister a chance to really bond for the first time as well as wrestle with the responsibilities of adulthood, left in charge of the house and expected to take care of it. The best aspect of the film though is unquestionably the brilliant mind bending special effects; and the film achieves a refreshingly different sort of creepiness by having tiny horrific Minion demons to fend off as opposed to more traditional large and ferocious monsters. Sequences in which a human head falls off and smashes on impact on the ground and in which the boy discovers an eye inside the palm of his hand are very well done also. It is not a particularly frightening film, with many scenes that feel as if they have been toned down to achieve the film's PG-13 rating, but at the same time it is unsettling to watch all the same, and is also full of moments like Louis Tripp realising he is holding the dead dog that are still very effective even when one knows that they are coming. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
