The Gate (1987) - Tibor Takács

When I was a kid I used to sneak into the living room when my dad was watching horror movies and i would watch them from the hall way adjoining the room. My dad caught me many times and finally sat me down in 1988 and told me that if i wanted to watch horror movies, I would have to sit and watch The Gate with him. So this movie holds a special place with me.

Steven Dorff stars in this Canadian horror film about a gate to hell opening up in a kids back yard. The movie is pretty simple and there is not much beyond what you see on screen, but it has a certain nature about it. Maybe its the fact that they use clay-mation to show all of these little tiny demons. Maybe its the simple "Ghost Story" type spooks and scares that this movie conjures up. Whatever it is, this is a really fun movie for fans of Horror. If you want to see a fun easy going horror film check this out. You will have a good time with it.

On the other hand, I might be pretty biased. I watched this on VHS (a gem of my collection mind you) and the person that I watched it with was bored and not scared. She said that it was unoriginal and bland. For me its hard to say, you be the judge. I am going to give The Gate 4 of 10 for having all of the elements but a lot of nay-saying.

Don't die in a plane crash

Stephen Dorff's debut film role.
The bible passage the Lee sisters picked out was from different portions of Psalms verses 59:1 to 59:9.
The logo on the back of Terry's jacket is that of the Killer Dwarfs, a heavy metal band from the Toronto, Ontario area who were known for their offbeat sense of humor.

Comments

The Human Monster (1939) - Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi turns in a fantastic performance. It is right on par with the exact same films that had made him famous like Dracula . My personal favorite being The Black Cat . Like the latter, this film suffered from poor circulation and lack of advertisement. Either that or the public wasn't interested in seeing Lugosi in anything else other than his famous bloodsucker. This film has a broad and well acted plot that was rich with detail. Lugosi has two sides in this picture. His well loved and compassionate side. The other is a strict, brutal lone shark that acts as a sinister villain to blind and handicapped people. He really brutalizes his victims. It's a macabre message to pay your bills. The film is slow moving and plagued by the usual setbacks from its time. Most of the nation wasn't really that concerned with horror at the time. But studios knew that they would always have an audience. This film is a prime example of that. It's sad because it's

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Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t

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Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature. A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting

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