The Gate

"Pray it's not too late."

1987 1h 26m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 440

HorrorFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the three kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that is literally taking over the Earth.

“Pray it's not too late.”

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Cast

Stephen Dorff
Glen
Christa Denton
Al
Louis Tripp
Terrence "Terry" Chandler
Kelly Rowan
Lori Lee
Jennifer Irwin
Linda Lee
Deborah Grover
Mom
Ingrid Veninger
Paula
Linda Goranson
Terry's Mom

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tibor Takács
Writers: Michael Nankin
Languages: English
Countries: Canada

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Gate Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tibor Takács, shot by Thomas Vámos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Hoenig. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Rit Wallis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tibor Takács directs. Thomas Vámos behind the camera. Michael Hoenig scores. Rit Wallis cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Canada. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Made its money back 5.4× over at the box office.
439 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Part of the "The Gate Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Tibor Takács, shot by Thomas Vámos. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Michael Hoenig. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Rit Wallis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Stephen Dorff and Christa Denton and Louis Tripp carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Pray it's not too late.".
11IMDB entry: tt0093075 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 18 themes, including "legend", "eye", "babysitter", "stop motion".
13Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Thomas Vámos
Original score: Michael Hoenig
Editing: Rit Wallis
Production design: William Beeton
Costume design: Trysha Bakker
Makeup / hair: Linda Preston
VFX supervisor: Randall William Cook
Sound: Joe Grimaldi
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Box office: $13,539,458
Return: 542% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Gate (1987)

Part of

The Gate Collection

The Gate is a 1987 Canadian-American independent supernatural horror film directed by Tibor Takács and starring Stephen Dorff in his film debut. The film was released on May 15, 1987 by New Century Vista Film Company. Since its release, it has obtained a cult following and was followed by a sequel in 1990 titled The Gate II: Trespassers.

Also by

Tibor Takács

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What people are saying

Dan_Tebasco2017-03-16
★ 6/10
Not too shabby. Stephen Dorff is one of my favorites (in a long list of favorites mind you but one of my favorites none the less) so it was interesting to see him as a child in this one. He's pretty good no Elijah Wood in his age or anything but perfectly decent for the lead in this. It's a bit on the slow side but it's got some cool ideas and if I saw it as a kid I'm sure I'd appreciate it even more, might even been scary to me back then cause even though the cast are mostly kids it is rather dark in tone and manages to not feel too cheesy. I (re?)watched Critters some weeks ago and I didn't think it held up very well in 2017 but this one did just fine.

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