The Gate

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The Gate

PG-13

1987

1h 25m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

36%

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11 Reviews

46%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

When Al and Glen's parents leave town for the weekend, Al uses the opportunity to throw a party while little brother Glen and his friend Terry 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 Glen have accidentally opened a gateway to hell.

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Allison Rose

FlickDirect

May 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

Jan 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

Mar 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)

Apr 22, 2020

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

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Kat Hughes

THN

Aug 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

Feb 14, 2018

7/10

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

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B P

@Bradster69 Sep 3, 2026

Not Bad, but Not My Favorite

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Jason H

@RT50328122 Apr 12, 2026

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, 2026

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, 2025

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, 2025

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, 2025

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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Tibor Takacs

Director

Stephen Dorff

Glen

Christa Denton

Al

Louis Tripp

Terrence "Terry" Chandler

Kelly Rowan

Lori Lee

Jennifer Irwin

Linda Lee

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Synopsis

When Al and Glen's parents leave town for the weekend, Al uses the opportunity to throw a party while little brother Glen and his friend Terry 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 Glen 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

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