Film

The Gate

Name: The Gate
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Released: 1987
Cast: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp, Kelly Rowan, Jennifer Irwin

A suburban horror film where three kids accidentally open an interdimensional portal in their backyard, unleashing small demons. It's an 80s creature feature with practical effects and genuine dread, genuinely scary without needing gore or cynicism. Perfect for anyone who loves horror that respects its own world and finds delight in genuinely creative creature design.

TMDb rating

3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love 1980s suburban horror where the menace is tiny, gooey and sneaky, and where kids are left to sort out the apocalypse themselves.

Skip it if you want a slick, modern scare; the effects and pacing show their age, and the tone wobbles between goofy and grim.

What it asks of you: Runs a brisk 86 minutes, with long stretches of kids improvising in the dark and a tone that swings from playful to nasty without much warning.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Poltergeist1982

Spielberg's house-under-siege masterpiece has the same escalation structure: something small and inexplicable becomes something cosmic and terrifying. The effects still astonish, and it understands how to use a suburban home as a horror set.

But The pacing is slower in the middle stretch, and some of the 80s effects work against it now. It's also considerably darker in its implications than The Gate.

Gremlins1984

Small creatures, big chaos, suburban setting, pitch-perfect tone that balances scares with genuine humour. Spielberg executive producing work that knows exactly what it's doing and never oversells the joke.

But It swings much harder toward comedy, which changes the entire experience if you're looking for the genuine dread The Gate delivers.

Tremors1990

Another creature feature that trusts its premise completely and uses that trust to make you buy increasingly absurd situations. Smart writing, practical effects, and a genuine affection for the people on screen trying to survive.

But It's significantly funnier and more action-oriented, which gives it a completely different register. The monsters aren't small or otherworldly—they're working science.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Gate

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Annihilation2018

Both films stake everything on a visual conceit: a physical gap between our world and something unknowable. Both trust you to find the concept itself frightening without needing exposition.

A shimmer appears near a lighthouse, expanding and warping everything inside it. Like The Gate, it's about a boundary between worlds, but it's shot as hard sci-fi rather than horror, using colour and sound design instead of creatures to express wrongness. Utterly hypnotic and completely original.

But It's deliberately oblique and refuses to explain itself. The ending is metaphorical rather than concrete, and if you need coherent answers about what's happening, you'll be frustrated.

Arachnophobia1990

A horror-thriller about a small creature becoming a widespread threat, with excellent build and genuine jump scares. The opening act in the jungle is cinema, and the tone respects the fear while allowing some darkly comic moments.

But It's ultimately a more straightforward thriller than a fantasy horror, and relies on a particular phobia. Some will find it takes too long to get going.

Explorers1985

Three kids build a spaceship and encounter something genuinely alien. It has The Gate's sense of wonder and suburban adventure, with similar effects-driven spectacle and a willingness to be weird on its own terms.

But It's much more science fiction than horror, and the ending divides viewers sharply. Some find it profound; others find it a letdown.

Fright Night1985

A teenager realizes his neighbour is a vampire and has to fight back. Genuinely tense, sharply written, with practical monster effects that hold up and a real sense of threat alongside the entertainment value.

But The tone is closer to action-thriller than supernatural horror. It's also much more character-focused and dialogue-heavy than creature-focused.

The NeverEnding Story1984

A boy reading a fantasy novel finds the world inside is real and collapsing. It has The Gate's sense of a gateway between worlds and genuine child-level stakes, with practical effects that still overwhelm you.

But It's fundamentally about wonder and loss rather than horror. The pacing is deliberate and philosophical in ways that will lose viewers looking for scares.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg's body-horror nightmare about reality breakdown and televised nightmares. Utterly unique practical effects and a willingness to commit fully to cosmic wrongness that feels adjacent to The Gate's portal concept.

But The grotesque body horror and sexual themes are explicit and genuinely disturbing. It's also surreal in ways that actively resist plot coherence—if you want narrative clarity, this isn't it.

The Conjuring2013

A modern creature/supernatural horror built on genuine craft: immaculate cinematography, sound design that terrifies, and an emotional core that makes you care about the family being threatened. It proves the formula The Gate pioneered still works.

But It's much more serious and procedural, leaning on jump scares over practical creature design. The period setting and heavy themes make it feel quite distant from The Gate's suburban-kids energy.

The Ritual2017

Both are European films (The Gate Canadian, The Ritual Swedish) about ordinary people encountering something truly alien that treats them as beneath its notice. Both trust atmosphere over explanation.

Four men hiking in the Swedish forest encounter something ancient and wrongness-shaped. It's The Gate's twin filmed in a different language and setting, with the same slow escalation from 'what is happening?' to complete nightmare. The creature design is extraordinary.

But It's a found-footage/naturalistic approach rather than a blockbuster creature feature, which means much less screen time for the thing itself. The mythology it builds is dark and bleak, offering no redemption.