5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It's been five years since Terry's friend Glen discovered The Gate to hell in his backyard. Glen has now moved away and Terry begins practicing rituals in Glen's old house and eventually bringing back demons through The Gate and leading to demoniac possession and near world domination.
Starring: Louis Tripp, Simon Reynolds, James Villemaire, Pamela Adlon, James KidnieHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 18% |
Teen | 3% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
An inventive and semi-wild overview of backyard hellraising, heavy metal, and suburban survival, 1987’s “The Gate” scored big with a limited budget. It featured engaged performances from its young cast and memorable special effects, with director Tibor Takacs handling a PG-13 horror movie with confidence, making sure to maintain creepiness while selling the fun factor of true minion mayhem. 1992’s “Gate II” (which was completed in 1989, but suffered a distribution delay) does what it can to replicate the inherent appeal of kids fighting miniature demons, but Takacs and returning screenwriter Michael Nankin attempt to age-up the viewing experience, heading in an R-rated direction with even less money to help bring an apocalyptic vision to life. “Gate II” isn’t nearly as wily as the original picture, but the production manages to score with what little they have to work with, offering neat special effects and a renewed focus on wish fulfillment to help reheat the formula.
The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is billed as a "New 2K scan of the interpositive," working to give the nearly forgotten "Gate II" a new day on Blu-ray. The results are impressive, displaying a fresh viewing experience, with enjoyable sharpness that does a fine job capturing the original cinematography. Minion and demon activity is easily inspected, along with visual effects, reinforcing technique showcased throughout the endeavor. Facial particulars are strong, with gross-out textures on make-up, while the human characters showcase youthful looks. Colors are tastefully refreshed, with rich primaries giving life to demonology events and costuming, providing deeper blues and reds. Grain is fine and filmic. Delineation is strong. Source shows no significant stretches of damage, with only mild judder encountered during the main titles.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides a confident stereo listening event for "Gate II," offering the full force of a low-budget genre offering. Dialogue exchanges carry as intended, finding performances intact, with an inoffensive balance of hysterics and hushed emotional encounters. Scoring maintains support with a synth-based drive, taking control of suspense needs when required to do so. The effort's scattered soundtrack selections offer greater authority and sharp instrumentation. Sound effects are distinct, supplying a full sense of minion and hellgate chaos without softening into muddiness.
There's not a satisfying ending to be found for "Gate II," which hopes to summon a major clash between the teens and the forces of darkness, but all that's survives is iffy make-up work and a general dip in intensity, with the movie as a whole losing steam at the very point it should be exploding. There's a lot missing from "Gate II" and it's not as engaging as earlier picture, but appreciated in bite-sized pieces of fantasy horror filmmaking and minion mischief, and the feature retains a faint sense of what made "The Gate" such a joyride.
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