Gate, The (1987)

Nerdy 13-year-old suburban kid Glen (Stephen Dorff in his debut film role) is having a bad time: His parents (who have gone away on vacation) have confiscated all his model rockets after a miscalculated launch almost set the roof on fire; his treehouse got demolished in a storm; his 15-year-old sister, Al (Christa Denton) wants to spend more time with her lame teen friends than with him . . . and he has accidentally opened a gateway to Hell in his backyard.

Luckily, his best friend, Terry (Louis Tripp), has a substantial understanding of heavy metal music and owns the super rare Sacrafyx fold-out double album, which contains a booklet that describes the exact events that are about to happen, along with instructions on how to close the gate and prevent the demon apocalypse.

Unfortunately, Terry isn’t very good at incantations, and soon, freaky little demons prowl Glen’s house, looking for a couple of sacrifices to finish the ritual. The small demonic minions were played by actors in rubber suits shot in forced perspective.

When the big boss Demon Lord wakes up (the most impressive stop-motion creature this side of Harryhausen), the only thing standing in the way of hell on Earth is a couple of kids.

Yes, it’s a silly film, but taken on its own terms as a comic horror movie for 14-year-olds, it’s an absolute success.

Glen
Stephen Dorff
Al (Alexandra)
Christa Denton
Terry
Louis Tripp
Lori Lee
Kelly Rowan
Linda Lee
Jennifer Irwin
Mom
Deborah Grover
Dad
Scot Denton
Paula
Ingrid Veninger
Eric
Sean Fagan
Terry’s Mom
Linda Goranson
Brad
Andrew Gunn
Workman
Carl Kraines

Director
Tibor Takacs