The Gate II: A Worthy Sequel to a Cult Classic

The Gate II, released in 1990, is often overlooked in the horror genre, but it’s a worthy sequel to the 1987 cult classic The Gate. Directed by Tibor Takacs and written by Michael Nankin, the film may not be as well-known as its predecessor, but it’s a hidden gem that deserves more attention.

The Gate II movie poster

The Gate, a spooky kids’ classic, introduced us to a horror movie that’s suitable for kids, but still packs a punch. It’s a great way to gauge whether your little ones can handle the horror genre. I recently showed it to my 10-year-old, and apart from thinking that 1987 was too old of a year to watch a movie, he was invested from start to finish. He asked me if there was a sequel, and I told him yes, but it’s not as good as the first one. I was, in every sense of the word, gatekeeping.

The Gate II, however, is a different story. It’s a mostly underseen and unknown movie in a short horror series that’s not really loved by the people who have seen it. But I’m here to tell you that not only is The Gate II worthy of the Gate moniker, it’s worth your time and attention too.

Tibor Takacs, director of The Gate and The Gate II

Tibor Takacs, the director of both The Gate and The Gate II, has a ton of experience with visual FX and had a fun little horror run with The Gate in 1987, I, Madman in 1989, and today’s movie in 1990. He also helped create the Sabrina the Teenage Witch show and directed a few of the made-for-TV movies with the character while also working quite a bit in TV in general. His other horror output falls in line with Syfy channel originals and while they may not be great, they are a heck of a lot of fun.

The cast of The Gate II is mostly unknowns, or at least not well-known, aside from Pamela Adlon as Liz. Adlon has over 200 credits and is particularly prolific in the world of voice-over both in TV shows and even video games. Her daughter Gideon has followed in her footsteps and is becoming quite the actress in her own right in movies, TV shows, and video games.

The movie opens with Terry going back into his friends’ abandoned house after the family moved away and trying to trade with the evil forces there. The first movie shows he comes from a bit of a broken home, but this one has things much worse with his alcoholic father not being able to support the two of them. Terrence wants to get the life back that was taken from him and will gladly mess with the demonic forces to get them.

Terry and his friends in The Gate II

Everything in the house that he sets up is appropriately techy for the time but now just looks like a bunch of NES accessories. Even though his friend Glen is gone, he is joined by a group of teens who have broken into the house to do bad teen stuff. Moe and John are your typical bully dbags, but Liz is somewhat sweet and is very interested in the inner workings of demonology and the act itself that Terrence is trying to perform.

The demons in the movie look mostly as good as the first one, most of the $7-million-dollar budget I would reckon went to the effects here, but they overuse one in particular. Even though it’s shot and seemingly killed, Terence takes it home and it becomes a genie that can grant wishes but in the way that the monkey’s paw goes about wish granting, not like a friendly genie way.

The characters here actually have some charisma to them as well. Moe has medical issues that he needs to take an inhaler for, John is a jerk for most of the movie but ultimately has a good heart, Liz ends up liking Terrence for who he is, and Terrence realizes that nothing is worth bringing in evil to the world.

The demon world in The Gate II

The nightmare Terrence has before he finds out that his dad was in an accident is a lot of fun with the dad going completely off the rails in the cockpit and the way Terrence falls out of bed is an interesting looking shot.

Moe and John fighting the minion that grants wishes leads to them turning into demons themselves, sort of like a zombie bite or werewolf scratch. John transforming is an effects showcase that is equal parts impressive and gross. It shows where that budget went even if the first movie still looks a bit better overall.

After John changes into a monster, the other 3 go after him and also try to figure out how to reverse the damage that they did. Monster John kills Moe while Liz and Terrence go back to the abandoned house to do a different kind of ritual. A very not dead Moe, or maybe it’s undead Moe in this case, turns into a demon and they take Liz to sacrifice in their world to let more of the monster in.

The demon world looks great. The rest of the world is your typical milk toast suburban area while the steps leading up to the altar with a gorgeous matte painting in the background look great and make you want more. Terrence has to finish this, and the demons point out that he’s the one that started all of this in the first place. They change him into a demon but before he is completely taken over and forced to sacrifice Liz, he fights back and closes the gate. Closing the gate destroys all of the demons though, including Terrence.

The last scene is a fun mixture of makeup and costuming with that previously mentioned old school animated charm. Liz seems to be the only one who made it out alive but at the funeral, Terrence busts out of his coffin followed by Moe and John. Normally I’d say that’s a cheat but with the way the characters are, I’m actually not mad at it.