The Gate: Just released on a new special edition DVD this campy fright film is pretty tame by today's standards, but is likely to scare the bejesus out of anyone under ten. After the old tree in Glen's (A very young Stephen Dorff) backyard is removed all sorts of evil is unleashed from the remaining hole. Tiny gremlins, body-possession, zombies, satanic music, and toy rockets all play a part in delivering the goods. In some respects this can almost be thought of as Evil Dead for kids. The special effects are dated, but still hold a certain retro charm. B+
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: I normally don't go in for direct-to-video movies, but this one is vastly overlooked. This is what would happen if Christopher Guest had directed John Carpenter's Halloween. This film does for slashers what Best in Show did for dog competitions. Leslie Vernon is a serial killer who is planning his big night of mayhem.
He has invited a documentary crew to follow him around as he teaches them the tricks of his trade. From the bushes and shadows we meet his targeted group of popular high school victims, the lone virgin survivor, and my personal favorite his "Ahab." A slightly insane doctor that knows Vernon's true nature and will stop at nothing to capture his "white whale." (An overly obvious nod to Donald Pleasence's character Dr. Looms.) Behind the Mask is very intelligent, humorous, respectful, and in an inspired move actually becomes an effective scare show in the final act when Leslie turns on the camera crew and stalks them as well. A
The Monster Squad: I like to think of this almost as a very good Goonies knock off with a classic horror icons theme. A small club of monster fanatic grade schoolers that meet in their tree house must work together to stop the freshly awakened Dracula after he begins to terrorize their small town. The worst part is that Dracula is not alone. He has brought
Frankenstein's monster, the creature form the black lagoon, and the mummy with him. This is one of those movies every kid remembers seeing for the first time. It has just the right amount of scares that jolt without terrifying. The language, humor, and some of the themes are bit more risque compared to other kid's films. This might be due to the fact this this was one of the first films written by the masterful Shane Black. (The same year he wrote Lethal Weapon) Everyone who has seen this remembers the classic "Wolfman's got nards!" line, but I always get a bigger laugh out of "How does that dog get up here anyway?" A-Note: The Monster Squad is Director Fred Dekker's follow-up to Night of the Creeps which I will be reviewing next week when it finally gets a DVD release.
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