The Gate

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Year:	1987
Country of origin:	USA / Canada
Director:	Tibor Takács
Genre:	Demonic metal album mayhem
Starring:	Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton, Louis Tripp
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093075/
Tagline:	There's a Passageway - A Gate Behind Which the Demons Wait to Take Back What Was Once Theirs.
Favourite line:	"We accidently summoned demons who used to rule the universe to come and take over the world."

Something of a cult classic, this one, and a firm favourite in the Smell the Cult household.

The plot:
Two young lads accidentally open up a portal to the underworld and awaken centuries old demons by reciting the words from a heavy metal album. The daft sods.

That's your lot in terms of story, but this is bloody entertaining stuff.
The special effects, whilst a little clunky, are great to watch, the little critters that pour from the portal looking like a cross between the Ghoulies from, erm, Ghoulies and Lotney 'Sloth' Fratelli from The Goonies, animated via the stop-motion technique, the overlay process not particularly good so it is clear as day that they are not actually there in the house, the young actors having to scream and wail and holler to an empty room.
They probably felt a bit silly.
They probably felt a bit silly and just did it for the money, anyway, not for the love, not for the craft, the grasping little pricks.
With a decent, 80's synth soundtrack, a fake 80's thrash track from an album called The Dark Book, and more fashion faux pas' than you can shake a pair of fluorescent leggings at, this is campy, retro, feel good horror. No-one actually gets hurt, no-one is ever likely to die and, even when the odd bit of badness does occur, you know that it will all be set right by the end of the movie.
With only one real moment of gruel, when our hero Glen sticks his hand through his fake father's face, and said face begins to peel off, this is certainly not one that will have you leaving the lights on at night.
Nevertheless, it's a fun ride, and far superior to most modern horror.