Beyond the Gates (2016)

Beyond the Gates: Directed by Jackson Stewart. With Graham Skipper, Chase Williamson, Brea Grant, Barbara Crampton. Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father’s video store and find a VCR board game dubbed ‘Beyond The Gates’ that holds a connection to their father’s disappearance.

“If you love horror, you must love the eighties. Thatu0026#39;s almost a given thing. Have you noticed how, recently, homages and references towards 80s horror arenu0026#39;t just used as a gimmick anymore? 80s throwback horror has now even become an entire sub genre on itself! The successful show u0026quot;Stranger Thingsu0026quot;, and the remake of Stephen Kingu0026#39;s u0026quot;Itu0026quot;, are undoubtedly the most famous examples, but there are many other equally enjoyable but slightly more obscure titles as well, like u0026quot;Summer of 84u0026quot;, u0026quot;You might be the Killeru0026quot; and u0026quot;The Final Girlsu0026quot;. u0026quot;Beyond the Gatesu0026quot; also qualifies in this category, with a good old-fashioned video store setting, a phenomenally catchy synthesizer soundtrack and an authentic contemporary scream-queen in the shape of the wondrous Barbara Crampton.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot can shortly, simply and aptly be described as an amalgam between u0026quot;Jumanjiu0026quot; and u0026quot;Hellraiseru0026quot;. Two estranged brothers gather in the abandoned video store of their missing father, and in the back room they stumble upon an interactive VHS + board game called u0026quot;Beyond the Gatesu0026quot;. The gameu0026#39;s hostess, the still-ravishing Mrs. Crampton, addresses herself directly to the brothers via the screen, and they soon realize that playing the game will lead to solving the mystery of their fatheru0026#39;s disappearance. But, at what cost?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI can safely say that I like u0026quot;Beyond the Gatesu0026quot; a lot more than most people. I really dug the moody and borderline melancholic atmosphere, and the unknown (to me, at least) actress Bea Grant is terrific as the oldest brotheru0026#39;s girlfriend. Admittedly, the film is heavily flawed. The pacing is incredibly slow, and particularly the first three quarters are very uneventful. Apart from the three main characters, and Barbara on TV, there are also very few supportive characters, so itu0026#39;s not too difficult to foretell who dies and who survives. But hey, the body count may be low, but at least they die spectacularly and quite gruesomely! Most of all, though, check out the soundtrack! Me, I left the DVD-menu playing for an additional two hours, just I could hear that great tune in the background.”