Between the "Killer Dwarfs" on the back of Terry's denim vest and Stephen's last name sounding close enough, I have spent a majority of my life mispronouncing "Stephen Dorff" as "Stephen Dwarf;" I blame it all on The Gate and NOT an undiagnosed language comprehension disorder.

It's too bad that, director, Tibor Takács didn't stick with directing horror films after his success with this movie and I, Madman, but he has a way with developing interesting characters that also happen to be children, so I'm not surprised to see he's gone on to do a lot of work with family films/television.

The Gate was one of the first movies added to my VHS collection many moons ago and it's easy to see why it's remained a favorite for so many years.

Stranger Things.

Die vornehmlichen Kinderdarsteller sind No Names durch die Bank abwärts abgesehen des Hauptcharakters Stephen Dorff („Balde“, „True Detective“). Frei danach ziehen sie das 80er-Teene-Acting aus dem Handgelenk wie ein Zauberer das unendlich erscheinende Tuch aus dem Ärmel.

Als weiteres Indiz der mangelnden Produktionskosten, spielt neunzig Prozent des Filmes außerhalb oder innerhalb des Heimes von klein Glen was an sich, und als Freund solcher eingeengten Settings, nicht negativ auslegt wird.

Hinzukommend und der Grund des fehlenden Herzchens: der Film ist einfach langweilig, so gerne ich anderes sagen möchte.

Dazu gibt es die passende Horror-80er Musik und wie sich denn Lesern dieser Review zeigt, bietet der Film wenig Nennenswertes niederzuschreiben, währen da nicht die handgemachen Effekte, sprich die Stop-Motion-Animationen als hätte Mastermind Ray Harryhausen seine Finger im Spiel.

Denn diese „Goblins/Dämonen“ sehen einfach fantastisch aus und zeigen einem wie, abgesehen der Nostalgie, welch bleibenden und zeitlosen Eindruck diese Practical Effects besitzen.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

aw man, i really wish i had watched this when i was kid! one of my brothers ruined the fun for all of us by renting critters and having nightmares for weeks so my mum never let us rent anything that looked scary EVER.

its so weird to me that stephen dorff was so little in 1987. this film is just excellent from beginning to end, figuring out "you got demons" from a record sleeve was definitely one of my favourite parts.

i love a good kids vs evil film, i really hope the sequel is good too!

48

Great creature effects complimenting a sturdy 80s kids horror narrative, but it's mostly a snooze and it falls short of the inventive visual ideas on the fringes.

They just don't really make movies quite like this anymore. It's kid focused, but it doesn't talk down to the viewer, and it isn't afraid to be dark, or tackle difficult themes. The Kid Who Would Be King resembles some of that style, and in a more directly horror vein, Krampus was probably the most recent "family horror" that comes to mind. The kids are great, and the characters interesting, and I love the way the mythology of the movie plays out. The scenario is smartly written and mostly keeps a brisk pace, besides a small lull after one of the potential ending setups. The practical effects look great and showcase some real creativity in how they blend different techniques to create effects that are still impressive today. I feel like if I'd seen this growing up, it'd be a favorite today, but even without that direct nostalgia, it still captured my imagination.

It was cute and fun. I liked it.

Excellent stop-motion effects are the highlight of this teen-oriented, yet still fairly creepy, horror. Free from much in the way of gore or anything too sinister, perhaps this could be used to ease your young ones into the genre. A tiny Stephen Dorff takes the lead..

For a film which features demons in its premise, the demons are probably the least interesting part of this movie. Yeah, they look cool, but it takes a long while for them to show up and when they do a it’s a little underwhelming. The film’s climax is similarly lacking.

However, this film’s strength is its three leads. With worse characters, this could turn into a chore to get through. Thankfully, they are likeable, funny and carry the film throughout

terry is a heavy metal nerd icon

A charming kids' horror film with some great effects and a little soft boy cry baby as the lead. Very cute.

I'm sorry to The Gate fans but there's no way the main kid didn't grow up to be a homophobic republican. The only things going for this movie are the practical effects, creature design and 80s nostalgia - the editing is garbage and the pacing is wildly unbalanced. It gets two stars for being watchable, but just know I want to rate this half a star.

The tiny demons in this movie, to me, deserve to be in the same conversation with the Ghoulies, Hobgoblins, Gremlins, and Critters. They brought me the kind of immense joy that only a tiny monster creature could.

Toller 80er Fantasy-Horror für Jugendliche, der für meinen Geschmack leider etwas daran krankt, dass er sich zu Beginn zu viel Zeit lässt. Denn in der ersten Hälfte passiert recht wenig, was aber nicht heißen soll, dass es auch dort nicht unterhaltsam ist. Zu gut ist einfach das 80er-Feeling, zu amüsant der Teenager-Kram und zu cool die Freundschaft zwischen Stephen Dorff und seinem Kumpel. Unheimliches wird lediglich kurz angeteasert, so dass bisweilen etwas Ungeduld aufkommt. Aber wenn dann in der zweiten Hälfte im wahrsten Sinne die Hölle losbricht, wird es schlagartig besser und der Film enorm unterhaltsam, spannend und teilweise auch ziemlich gruselig. In einigen Momenten kommt sogar so sehr Dämonen-Horror auf, dass man das Gefühl hat, man schaut gerade "The Evil Dead for Kids". Highlight für mich sind die handgemachten Masken, Glibber-Effekte und getricksten Kreaturen, die eine Menge Charme versprühen. Das Finale ist okay, aber ich persönlich hätte so gerne einen Abstieg in die Untiefen unter dem Garten gesehen.

In den letzten 20 Jahren gedreht, wäre THE GATE wohl mal so richtig scheiße geworden. Aber dank Effektarbeit der alten Schule und auch sonstiger sympathischer Machart ist das ein netter Horrorfilm für Kinder und Jugendliche...sofern diese zwischen den 1970ern und Ende der 80er geboren wurden. Mit heutigen Sehgewohnheiten korrespondiert der Film sicherlich nicht und ist dementsprechend wohl nur für zwischenzeitlich Erwachsene - und nicht mehr die eigentlich intendierte Zielgruppe - interessant.

Saw this movie way too young and it haunted me for years, I thought it was a fever dream for the longest time because I couldn’t track it down, but I finally did and watched it again and it’s less scary than it was as a kid, but still as bizarre and unsettling. Love some good face melting! Also sad that the main kid isn’t baby Michael C. Hall

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Watched with Giant Bomb’s Film & 40s