4/5 "The Gate" Opens Up Humor and Horror for Kids of All Ages
  by Jack Shatter (Chicago, Illinois)
I first saw "The Gate" on HBO in a lonely motel room in 1988. The finale had
a haunting quality that stuck with me. I was excited to finally get a good
widescreen DVD of this Canadian-made kid's chiller starring the gifted 12-year-old
Stephen Dorff. Some critics have complained that the first half is dull. I
disagree-- I think they gave a realistic, though "Leave It To Beaver" style,
grounding to the story, with much humor and knowing dialog. You are slowly
pulled into a harrowing yarn with foot-tall goblins, a mummified walking corpse,
and a majestic four-eyed Demon Lord worthy of The Great Harryhausen.

The character played by Dorff is a brave little guy, assisted by his typical teen sis,
and a "Harry Potter" looking buddy who digs the Satanic Rock Group "Sacrifyx--
whose members all died in a plane crash!" Oh smell shades of Lynyrd Skynyrd!
You never know when an elaborate album booklet will prove useful to combat Evil!
That kid poses in a floor mirror wearing a "robe" and intoning the pompously sinister
screed of the album narrator, who warns that the "Old Gods" (H.P. Lovecraft-style)
yearn to get back into our world and take it over.

The yarn builds to an apocalyptic conclusion which spews a diabolical "Wizard of Oz"
style tornado out of a backyard pit to threaten the World As We Know It. The wrap-up
with Dorff hugging his "best buddies" reminded me of another great and heart-tugging
curtain line, "There's no place like home!" I strongly recommend "The Gate" for kids'
Halloween parties; it's funny, scary, amazing, and even imparts worthwhile values.

5/5 we got DEMONS.....................
  by George Carabetsos (Chicago Ridge, IL USA)
This is a little great demon classic from the 80's. Two boys unleash little demons from hell, well more like a hole in the backyard. This movie got everything good acting, great storyline, and a dead guy in the well. I admit I don't care for the new dvd cover, but still a must own.

5/5 A true 80's cult horror fave that deserves it's DVD edition!
  by John Lindsey (Socorro, New Mexico USA.)

Glen (Stephen Dorff) is your typical 12 year old boy who has a pal named Terry (Louis Tripp) are having a nice weekend together as Glen's parents are gone away with his sister Al (Christa Denton) babysits them and throws a party. However Glen and Terry discover a weird hole in the backyard and use a special demonic rock album to summon whatever there is from that hole, yet it does happen as they accidently unleash demons and many evil forces turning their night into hell for real as they must find a way to shut the gates to hell forever.

Excellent cult 80's supernatural horror thriller from Canada became a runaway box-office hit in May of 1987 here in the US and Canada, this movie marked the debut of Blade actor Stephen Dorff as a young boy. The film does have a nice concept of how a rock album can be used to summon evil forces and satanic rituals and has marvelous special effects for it's time like the demons and many other memorable moments that are kind of graphic for a PG-13 rating like the eyeball in the hand sequence and some stabbings. This is a very HP Lovecraft kind of haunted house and occult thrill-ride that never lets go and pulls you in as it's pure fun for everyone and always been one of my favorite horror movies for years.

This DVD is a true improvement over the bareboned edition with brilliant remastered picture and sound quality with extras like audio commentary, trailer, and featurettes

Also recommended: "Poltergeist", "Hellraiser 1 & 2", "The Gate 2", "Gremlins", "Pet Sematary", "Silent Hill", "House By The Cemetery", "City of the Living Dead (a.k.a. Gates of Hell)", "The Haunting in Connecticut", "Suspiria", "Demons", "House (1986)", "The Fog (1980)", "Pumpkinhead", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Night of the Demons", "Candyman", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "End of Days", "The Fog (1980)", "Wicked Little Things", "Cat's Eye", "1408", "Ghostbusters 1 & 2", "The Frighteners", "Nightbreed", "Evil Dead 1 & 2", "Stephen King's IT", "The Shining", "Prince of Darkness", "The Pit" and "The Beyond".

5/5 A genuinely creepy 80's classic
  by Cory LaFerriere
First off, I'd like to say that The Gate was the first scary movie I ever watched as a kid. I was probably around 10 when I saw it a number of times on the premium channels. And it stayed with me. Prior to this the only DVD available was an old out of print fullscreen release being sold used for ridiculously high prices, so I'm glad I waited for this nice clean widescreen version. Besides the nostalgia factor this film really holds up as some very nice storytelling. It was made to be family friendly, something the writer was disappointed in according to the bonus features, but that doesn't stop it from having a number of genuinely creepy moments and great scares. I'm not embarrassed to say that as a kid I used to be afraid to look at my left palm because of a particular scene. The visual effects were great for the times as well. It's hard to imagine 8 inch tall creatures posing a real threat, but look at their faces and tell me that doesn't give you shivers. My first scary movie ever remains one of my favorites and is a proud addition to my DVD collection.

5/5 a beloved classic for sure
  by MARDUK-LEGION666 (FRESNO CA USA)
i just wanted to say being a huge horror,black metal fan.i feel in love with this movie like no other since..when i saw terry wearing a venom jacket i freaked out and the all the heavy metal posters in that bedroom!!!awesome visuals!!! that was me in my youth.what is there not to like about this movie the special effects,occult story line supernational subject matter...with out going into the plot that hasnt been said before two kids dig a hole in the back yard and the gates of hell are opened...just buy it you wont regret it...the gate rules then and today