I just can't do the joke a third time.

The Movie: The Gate, directed by Tibor Takács
Recommendation: Dee
Reason: "It's scary when you're a kid!"

I saw a preview for The Gate when I was pretty young. Imdb says I would have been about seven or eight, which makes sense. I was quite terrified of the idea of a gateway to hell. I was very Catholic. I really didn't want a gateway to hell opening anywhere, much less in my yard! If I'd known then that my major problems with a gateway to hell would have been creatures shorter than my knee ineffectively biting my clothing and trying to steal my brother, I probably would have been less scared.

I can't see how anyone was ever afraid of The Gate. The monsters were lame (though the big king demon was an exception), Sam Raimi owns the whole 'homunculi' gag, and it was pretty bog standard for an 80's horror movie. Bad special effects, really bad acting (including a lot of people looking up and off-camera, presumable for some really bad directing), and a paper thin plot.

I was pretty surprised to see some familiar scenes, though. My beloved Monster House included quite a few homages to this movie in particular, and that sudden realization was pretty bizarre. I suppose they're trying for nostalgia-I imagine quite a few kids my age saw The Gate at a sleepover or something similar. I suppose nostalgia glosses over a lot of things.

-56/365 down, 309/365 to go