The Gate

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The Gate

PG-13

1987

1h 25m

Horror

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Popcornmeter

36%

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11 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

When Al (Christa Denton) and Glenn's (Stephen Dorff) parents (Deborah Grover, Scot Denton) leave town for the weekend, Al uses the opportunity to throw a party while little brother Glenn and his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) decide to explore a hole left by a tree-removal service in the backyard. When unexplainable phenomena begin occurring, Terry -- with the help of his extensive heavy-metal music collection -- comes to the conclusion that he and Glenn have accidentally opened a gateway to hell.

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Allison Rose

FlickDirect

05/14/2024

2.5

Dorff is the best part of the movie and since he was only about 13 when the movie was filmed he didn't have a lot of experience making his acting hit or miss.

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Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

01/10/2024

5/10

The poor scripting, the awkward performances, the synth musical score – it all feels so wonderfully, ridiculously ’80s. It is a bad movie, but an oddly fun one too.

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Michael Heaton

San Francisco Examiner

03/29/2023

1.5/4

Aside from the magic supplied by the smoke and mirror boys, The Gate has little to offer in the way of acting or writing.

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Ángel Luis Inurria

El Pais (Spain)

04/22/2020

The worst aspect is the scarcity of ideas. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Kat Hughes

THN

08/23/2018

3/5

Essentially, The Gate is a horror version of Home Alone, and with the addition of Al's bratty friends (one of whom is played by The OC's Kelly Rowan), there's a nice amount of humour to balance out the scares.

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Robert Martin

Starburst

02/14/2018

7/10

Given the film's $2.5m budget it's incredible what was achieved here.

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Jason H

@RT50328122 Apr 12

Boy, they sure don't make 'em like this anymore. That's probably a good thing.

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Jenny B.

@jennyanne412 Jan 1

This was one of my favorites when I was a kid. The stop motion and practical effects are great, and the characters are very likable

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Jace T

@CineChamber Nov 10

My fiancé got me onto this film recently. She saw a scene that she felt was so wild it compelled her to want to watch it. The film itself is alright. It is an excellent introduction into horror for children in my opinion. I was very impressed with the practical effects in this film, and the forced perspective shots. Really superior work there.

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Justin W

@RT37619642 Sep 3

Absolute classic 80s horror that still holds up today. Reviewers leaving negative reviews understand nothing about film. If you're a fan of the early works of Sam Rami then you will love The Gate. One thing this movie does extremely well is tone. There is a mood and tone to this film that is extremely unsettling, even in the moments when nothing is happening.

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Michael H.

@CaptainBeardo Aug 6

The Gate is the top kids scary movie of the 80s. Good casting and story and plenty of frights. Always love watching this movie. No complaints or plot issues when I watch it. A definite horror classic.

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Justin T

@RT08580778 06/16/2025

I remembered this as a family horror but watching again this is definitely too scary and gory for family viewing. The effects are excellent, even today they look great and arguably look better than Alien 3 (1992) which used similar techniques. The Gate is one of those films that is ruined if you watch the trailer. So don't. The cast are entertaining although some aspects have dated badly. It feels very cheap eighties and overall I don't mind that. It reminds me a lot of Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). It's a fun cute horror movie with some amazingly tense moments of monsters running around biting ankles. Entertaining but not the classic I remembered.

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Tibor Takacs

Director

Stephen Dorff

Glen

Christa Denton

Al

Louis Tripp

Terrence "Terry" Chandler

Kelly Rowan

Lori Lee

Jennifer Irwin

Linda Lee

The Gate: Official Clip - The Gods Attack

1:14

The Gate: Official Clip - Treehouse of Horror

2:13

The Gate: Official Clip - I Looooove You...

2:19

The Gate: Official Clip - Go Get Dad's Gun!

2:09

The Gate: Official Clip - You've Been Bad!

2:14

The Gate: Official Clip - Destroying the Demon Lord

2:47

The Gate: Official Clip - The Old Gods!

1:55

The Gate: Official Clip - Eye Hand

2:06

The Gate: Official Clip - Levitating Glen

1:30

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Synopsis

When Al (Christa Denton) and Glenn's (Stephen Dorff) parents (Deborah Grover, Scot Denton) leave town for the weekend, Al uses the opportunity to throw a party while little brother Glenn and his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) decide to explore a hole left by a tree-removal service in the backyard. When unexplainable phenomena begin occurring, Terry -- with the help of his extensive heavy-metal music collection -- comes to the conclusion that he and Glenn have accidentally opened a gateway to hell.

Director: Tibor Takacs
Producer: John Kemeny
Screenwriter: Michael Nankin
Distributor: New Century Vista Film Company [us]
Production Co: Alliance Entertainment, New Century Entertainment Corporation, The Vista Organisation
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 15, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 11, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.9M
Runtime: 1h 25m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo