How many people remember The Gate? For some of us growing up in the 80s, it was one of those movies that looked like it might be uniquely scary and kind of gross and could have easily been one that we had to sneak around to watch thanks to our parents. But the gist of the movie is that after a certain tree is cut down it unearths a geode and a gateway to another dimension that, when opened, would release the forces of evil in a way that could possibly be construed as bad. It’s a little tough to say that with a straight face since the disturbances were localized around a single area and weren’t really given the chance to spread. But when the action really gets going it kind of gets crazy enough to be funny despite the fact that it’s supposed to be a horror movie. If this movie was to be given a reboot it does feel as though it might need to become a horror-comedy or be rebooted in a way that would make certain to create a horror movie that would be giving people nightmares after it was over and done with.
The story is one that is easy enough to see as the horror story that it should be, but if anyone remembers, 80s horror had a way of getting campy very quickly and was often hard to bring back on track once it had gone that route. The fact that the story used kids wasn’t exactly a deterrent when it came to using the scarier elements that were needed to make certain that the movie was something that would be seen as a serious horror movie, but the effects and the creatures were definitely far from enough to make this movie stand out something that would be remembered fondly for years to come. As of now, it’s likely that there are plenty of people that still remember the movie, but would need a refresher to remember everything that occurred in the movie.
Horror movies today kind of have to go the extra mile on average to really get to people since otherwise, the effects that a lot of people still think are great and can scare the living daylights out of them don’t work on everyone. Movies such as Insidious, Saw, and many others have had to rely on shock value and have also had to push the envelope in ways that are bound to grant people nightmares that might last for a while. That’s what The Gate would need, and considering what the story is about it shouldn’t really be a big deal to deliver since the very nature of the story is enough to make it work.
A portal to an evil dimension is opened for crying out loud, it’s not hard to revamp this story and make it work, nor is it even that hard to come up with a monster that might be even creepier than what was seen in the first movie. Just thinking of what the special effects would be able to do with both practical effects and CG is enough to want to see what would happen if this did become a solid idea that was brought to the theater, or to a streaming service. The Gate doesn’t really lend itself to becoming a series since it feels as though it would be extending something that would have to a lot further than the movie ever did, meaning that the pit might have to stay open and hell on earth would have to become a very real outcome. If that happened it feels as though bringing it back would be a mistake, since this kind of story needs a movie more than anything to give a first look at the idea before deciding if it needs a sequel or not.
The first one didn’t really need a sequel since the second movie turned out to be a dud when compared to the first, and since the first didn’t really maintain its popularity that long, it’s fair to say that the bar has been set pretty low when it comes to this project. It’s a matter of whether anyone is even going to bother to look at it though since, like many other horror movies from back in the day, The Gate is one that didn’t exactly inspire a lot of people.
It could have been that one of the kids threw a bible into the hole to evil, but then again it did make a nice effect. But all in all, it does feel that The Gate just failed to impress a lot of people since if anyone could tell who played in it that would be amazing. And the fact is that if it was remade it would need a serious overhaul.
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