10) The Gate (1987)

"Demons aren't going to ring the doorbell!"

Director
Tibor Takacs

Cast
Stephen Dorff - Glen
Christa Denton - Al
Louis Tripp - Terry Chandler

The Gate - a story about a young boy named Glen and his best friend, Terry, who  accidentally open a gate to hell releasing a horde of demons upon Glen's house. It sounds like a cookie-cutter horror film, but the visuals really make up for the simplistic story line. It's a scary movie for sure.
This movie was actor Stephen Dorff's first role. Dorff later went on to star in Blade, and in 2003's Cold Creek Manor among other roles.
The tree in Glen's backyard is a favorite of his. But he has a dream where it's struck by lightening and collapses. He wakes up to find his nightmare come true. As a result, workers are hired to uproot the tree revealing some kind of geode in the hole left in the ground.
Glen calls Terry over to check it out. In the meantime, Glen accidentally cuts his finger spilling a little blood onto the crystal.
Meanwhile, Glen's parents head out of town for a few days, and his sister, Al, is left to watch him.
Al throws...like...a totally rad party as most 80s movie teens often do when mom and dad are off screen. During the party, Terry and Glen go to study the geode some more.

Louis Tripp and Stephen Dorff

They decide to break it open.
It also happens that some words are left by the rock which the kids innocently speak.
This is when the film gets really dark, and visually freaky.
That night, Glen starts seeing his bedroom walls stretching. And Terry, who is sleeping over that night, hears his mom, who previously passed away, calling him from down stairs.
In a scene that doesn't hold back, he follows the call and sees his mom in the front entrance. Terry runs to her and embraces her, but realizes it's actually Glen's dog who falls dead in his arms.
The next day, Terry turns to the only logical place to go for an explanation on paranormal, demonic encounters - a heavy metal album.
The album, which is based on something called "The Dark Book", leads them to the conclusion that they indeed opened a gate to hell in Glen's backyard. Bummer!
The design of the demons is really underrated among the rogues gallery of movie monsters. They should be as memorable with other iconic 80s monsters. In fact, I think the entire movie is underrated.
The stop-motion is great and well done for its time. The Gate might lack in story, but its intention is to scare, and leave something in the audience's memory. It doesn't fail in that regard.

If I had seen this movie when I was a kid, I know it would have made a huge impression and kept me up a few nights in the process.
The character, Terry, does get annoying as he acts as the narrative constantly explaining everything to Glen.
Being a movie that depends so much on its visuals, it should have maintained the "Show! Don't tell" aspect of story-telling.
Otherwise, if movies like Evil Dead and Child's Play can remain at the surface among mainstream audiences, this movie deserves to be at that same level, too. It's a fun film for "horror night."