Prior to my Junior year in High School there was a cable channel on our system in Wausau, WI. called Movie Time. Their content was extremely limited and seemed to cycle and repeat every 15 minutes or so. A flick they mentioned and showed footage from was a Canadian/American jaunt called The Gate. I filed it away for future reference.
A year later, my sister and her fam came to visit, (I believe the summer of 88), and I stopped at Schofield's version of H-E-B, Super 29 to rent The Gate on VHS. My sister Linda is a huge horror buff, and I thought she would enjoy it. I seem to remember the film, despite the 35 years, quite well.
Frani and I found one of the Lionsgate/Vestron nostalgia blu-rays at a knockout price (anywhere but Wal-Mart with their special Halloween slipcover is asking 3 times the $9.99 I paid for mine) and decided to watch for The Samhain Project.
A 12 year old Glen (Stephen Dorff) leads the cast of capable youngsters. They're up against a gateway to hell that opens up under a recently removed backyard tree. It's activated thanks to a series of coincidental paranormal acts that they commit purely on accident. This knowledge is revealed thanks to Glen's geeky metalhead friend Terry's record album, and its explanation.
Huge Stretch. Huge. I know. Ya gotta suspend your disbelief.
These kids, (including Glen's sister who completes the trifecta of evil-battlers) are endearing to watch. The visual and practical effects are amazing considering the time period and the low budget. Particularly the minions that come up through the gate first and raise a little figurative hell before all hell breaks loose. (That's some serious pun work, there)
Even Terry's metal album by a European band called Sacrifyx (roll eyes here) is stunningly close to some of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal shit flopping around circa 1987. Kudos to The Gate's graphic arts department. (Although we have the fact that the first jean jacket Terry wears has a Venom patch on it, followed by one with a Killer Dwarfs patch. Pick a genre, bro!)
Of course Stephen Dorff would go on to have a lengthy and successful career including Judgment Night, Blade, Backbeat (amazing performance as original Beatles' bassist Stu Sutcliffe), World Trade Center, and TV leads in Deputy and Season 3 of True Detective, where he is fucking amazing in support of Maheershala Ali.
Of course for my money, it's the Blu e-cigarette commercials that really stand out in my mind.
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