They don't make 'em like this anymore. Horror that's focused on kids and just ramping up the weird and putting kids in situations that would terrify them. Great effects, solid acting, believable characters, and super nice model work all add up to a solid time. If you like Gremlins or Monster Squad, this should be up your alley.

After finding a hole in his backyard, a teen and his friends learn the hole is a gateway to Hell and is unleashing diminutive demons upon their house-party and forces them to stop the creatures' evil plans.This was quite a fun and enjoyable kid-friendly effort. One of the better aspects here is the film does a rather fun job of building to the actual infestation of the demons as there's some cheesy scenes to really make this work. The hole's appearance at the very beginning and its contrived openings along with the discovery of the strange rocks starts this off rather well, and with the supernatural lights and party levitation tricks which all come along together very well. Best of all, this one manages to tie these factors into their true significance with a heavy metal record that not only gives them the final clue that something's going on but also the tactics needed to fully resolve the situation rather than what was commonly done at the time which meant being the root cause of it all simply for being loud and aggressive. This is pretty novel and unique which gives it some rather clever marks for its story that makes the resulting supernatural-themed action so fun as the effects of the gate opening weave throughout this. There's the creation of the second pit beneath the house, the abduction of their friends and the initial haunting dreams to go along with these scenes as well as the frantic finale which features everything from tiny demons crawling throughout the house to the fight against the multi-limbed monstrosity that appears at the end which provides this with plenty of rather enjoyable action-packed scenes that come off quite fun due to the supernatural bent to these scenes. Along with the rather appealing child-friendly storyline, there here are enough for this one to hold off the film's few problems that pop up in here. One of the bigger problems here is the fact that there's very little actual involvement of the main gateway towards the kids, as the main half here tends towards scenes involving them being home with their friends rather than anything of any significance against the titular gateway. The supernatural activity is kept to such a minimum that it really feels in a back-seat against the film's main point which is the teen angst drama of being unable to connect with his sister as she grows up as this particular storyline overwhelms the movie so much to the detriment the more horror-centered elements found in the second half the other flaw to this one is the absolutely banal and ridiculous special effects used for the demons here, with some really bad stop-motion photography that's jerky and obvious and just plain up-front about its origins which really tends to lower this one somewhat. Overall, these here are the film's flaws.Rated PG-13: Violence and Language.

I'm not sure if I would have liked it when I was a kid or teenager, fact is now being in my thirties I liked it a lot. Kids going on some kind of adventure has always been an interest of mine but there really aren't that much who do it in a way that can hold my interest for very long. "The Goonies" for example started out interesting but very soon became silly and pointless. This one captivated me from the start with a nice premise, very likable child actors who also work very well together. Of course there is the obligatory annoying teenage friends of the big sister who don't like the younger kids but that is only a minor distraction. Actually big sister is very likable and caring towards her little brother and his friend. Without giving too much away the story is basic with a well worked out "demon" legend behind it in the style of "Don't be Afraid of the Dark". The kids bundle forces and are eventually able to overcome the evil working well together and caring for each other. That the monsters didn't look really scary didn't bother me that much as the creativity of the events blew me away a few times.

Three young children (including Stephen Dorff and Christa Denton) accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard...This is a film many people of my generation grew up with. Certainly the movie takes a place in my heart. Whether it is a good film or not is open to debate. I think it is good, but maybe my judgment is clouded by the nostalgia, the fond memories of the film. I just watched it for the fourth time, and it still seemed good to me. The special effects are pretty strong for their time, and really should be praised.The film is a 1980s film, clearly, with its bright colored clothes and unusual love for heavy metal music. But it really is something more -- a timeless story of kids and monsters (very different from, but in the same spirit as, "The Monster Squad"). The film is scary in many ways (the workman, the demon king, the eye) but yet still has that childlike sense of fun and adventure. You never really feel anyone is in danger.A modern classic? Perhaps. "The Gate" is the high point of Tibor Takács' career, who made "Gate II" and "I, Madman" before moving to television and cheesy SyFy movies. This was also a great feather in the cap of visual effects master Randall William Cook, who went on to work on those other two films, and then bigger things like "Ghost Busters" and the "Lord of the Rings" franchise (where he won three Academy Awards).While Stephen Dorff went on to bigger things, Christa Denton faded away. She appeared in a handful of television episodes before retiring from acting in 1992 at age 20. Louis Tripp came back for "Gate II" an then he, too, faded away...