Review of Gate II (1990) by Zombie M — 16 Aug 2009

For The Gate II, returning director Tibor Takacs and writer Michael Nankin attempt to deliver us another fun and entertaining follow-up to the 80's hit original, but come somewhat short. The Gate II follows Terry (returning Louis Tripp who may have inspired the Harry Potter character because he's seriously got the look in this film) who returns to his former best friend's abandoned house to try and summon the demons from the gate once more in order to have wishes granted, though this time with a smarter approach, however, fellow schoolmates/punks make him botch the conjuring and kill the small minion that comes through.

The minion isn't dead for long though and when it comes back, all of their wishes start to come true only to turn to literal poop. Eventually, the minion gets loose and things really get problematic.

As I stated earlier, The Gate II doesn't seem to have that same magic that made the original so special. The cheesy 80's effects and storyline are still there (though it's 1992 now), however, I couldn't help but feel as though this film had been severely rushed (I mean, c'mon, they had 5 years to make this sequel).

Overall, I still liked it for what it was, but it doesn't really hold a candle to the first film. It's a shame Louis Tripp never got much work afterwards as he was fun to watch in both films. Some other faces to look for include punk Moe, played by Simon Reynolds (SAW IV, P2) and female punk/love interest Pamela Segal (Pamela Adlon now) who went on to great success in voice over work (The Oblongs, King of the Hill, etc).

Decent film, but poor sequel.