Gate II (1992)

Memorable, crazy movie

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

While this movie could have been much better, it is what you might expect for a low budget sequel to a b-movie. With that being said, I think the film recalls enough of the charm that made the first a borderline cult classic to hold the interest of those who were fans of the original. One returning character, one returning plot line, one returning minion. So for fans, its a nice hidden rental when your Netlflix Que runs low on must-sees, especially if there other fans out they're like me who didn't even know there was a sequel. I happened to be looking to rent the original and saw this as well. It sat at the bottom of my list for a while but finally I decided to give it a chance and while not blow away, I was satisfied enough by the nostalgic cheesiness this film provided.

~Spoiler~ The Gate II is one of the most unnecessary sequels in all of our genre. As is evident within the movie, there is no story to continue. They just made stuff up. The movie centers on a group of kids (one of whom is Louis Tripp from the first film) who conjure a demon, capture him, and use him to grant wishes. Of course, the wishes eventually turn to crap. Literally. What this has in common with The Gate, I don't know? Let me just say when the only returning cast member is not a good actor nor the hero of the first movie, you're in trouble. And what really shocks me is that the original writer and director are both on board. That's very unusual and rarely results with a movie this inept (of course there is The Hills Have Eyes 2). I don't count The Gate II as a wasted opportunity, it's just a waste period. It never should have been made.

After growing up watching "The Gate" I was very happy to here they had made a sequel to this great film from the 80's. I had watched the sequel back in 1990 or somewhere in that time period and remember thinking it was entertaining. Years later, I just grabbed myself a copy of this film and watched it last night. All I have to say is BORING. What could have been a great idea the writers of the movie filled in with bad dialog, bad acting, and no direction. The only fun part of this movie was the last 20 minutes of the movie where you finally see some of the elements that made the first one so fun. I mean you start to see the classic stop motion animation which made many of the 80's films so great. A lot better than the computer animated stuff that comes out now. In general, this was to slow paced and the fun parts of the movie came way to late. But, if you were a fan of the first movie go ahead and check it out at the local video. 5 stars

Sequel filmed in 1989, but released in 1992 in the states, doesn't come close to being on par with the original. Terry, Stephen Dorff's buddy from the original, returns here and this picks up sometime after the last films events. Terry's life sucks so he decides to mess around with the spells that brought out the first films demons. This time, they don't come out of a hole in the backyard, they come out from within you. Plus, they grant wishes, which eventually turn to crap (literally). Below average sequel could really have been good, since the original film's supporting actor and director were included in this project. It starts off promising, with a beginning that looks like it's gonna continue from the original, but then the story goes off in a different direction, introducing ideas and sequences that are somewhat interesting at first, but are portrayed in a somewhat slim and rushed manner, making things rather awkward. By the end of the film, the thing is disappointing, and doesn't look anything like a movie that should have followed-up The Gate. It's too bad there is no hope of a Gate 3, because the original had a good, tight story, likable characters and sequences with lots of imagination. Gate 2 could have been better. The slack pace, campiness, and shallow annoying characters hamper this sequel I remember waiting for a few years at the time to come out. See the original if you like horror. Skip this mis-fire. Pamela Segall Adlon does voices for King Of The Hill. One Star.