HORROR BLOG: GATE II (1990) “Sure, Let’s Return to the Nightmare. Why Not?”

Gate II is of course the follow up to The Gate (not sure why they dropped the The) which starred an adorable, young Stephen Dorff. In that first movie, he and his heavy metal loving neighbor Terry accidentally open up a gateway to Hell by playing one of his records backwards and then burying a dog in the backyard, which also inadvertently doubles as the sacrifice necessary to conjuring up the portal. Y’know, standard kid’s fare (that movie was rated PG!). It’s an all timer for me and one that I have very fond memories of. There’s a lot of strong imagery in there that’s stuck with me ever since they were burned into my brain during those formative years.

Like this!

Pretty Cool, huh?

Now I could have sworn this shot was reused for the TV spots for Gate II, but higher sources tell me “nope” which leads me to something I should address: While I love The Gate I’m not really all that big on II, but man my excitement of seeing a commercial for the sequel was pretty off the charts back then. Which is kind of where my fondness for Gate II truly lies; it was all about the anticipation. Gate II plays like more of a spinoff from the first film in that it follows Terry, leaving Dorff and his family completely out of the picture. It isn’t nearly as well made or compelling but it does feature some pretty neat practical effects and that sort of thing can really get a lot of mileage outta this viewer. If you’ve never seen either of these 2 movies, I’d strongly recommend giving the first a watch for sure and you can kinda take or leave this one.