The Gate Proves Family Friendly Horror Doesn’t Have to Be Tame – Screen Rant

Many family friendly horror films are content to be entirely tame and keep their scares light, but 1987's The Gate goes a different route. It's no secret that a movie being "fun for the whole family" or "aimed at children" is often code for it being devoid of anything edgy, and that's very true for most horror content aimed at kids. Sure, there's the occasional show like Are You Afraid of the Dark? that manages to craft age-appropriate scares while not looking down on its own audience, but those are few and far between.

There are also some movies that manage to balance not being too adult-oriented with also providing genuinely scary and/or creepy content. These include animated fare like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, as well as live-action films like Beetlejuice and Gremlins. Unsurprisingly, the films of Tim Burton often find themselves riding that line well, thanks to his decidedly macabre, yet endlessly imaginative sensibilities.

Related: Goosebumps vs. Are You Afraid of the Dark: Which 1990s Kids Show Was Scarier?

In The Gate's case, while rated PG-13, there's not much in it likely to be considered objectionable to be viewed by kids as young as maybe nine or eight. It's not a gory film, and it's not filled with sexual content. What The Gate does have is a willingness to genuinely scare its audience, in a way that doesn't feel the need to put kid gloves on first.

The Gate certainly isn't the most hardcore horror movie out there, nor does it need to be, for its desired audience. But few family friendly horror movies get as scary as The Gate does. The story centers around a portal to Hell, which is already a concept rarely broached in kids films. From that gate come demons, which are somewhat cute, but also very dangerous, and they lead to the arrival of an enormous demon at the end that most certainly isn't cuddly, which is rendered with brilliant stop-motion animation.

Still, that's just the beginning of the creepy tricks on hand. The main character Glen's dog is killed and appears as a corpse, albeit coming back to life later, because really, family friendly horror shouldn't be a total downer. There's also a great zombie construction worker that appears, after Glen's friend Terry had spun a tale earlier on about a person being sealed in the walls of the house. The best gag is probably when Glen thinks his parents have returned home, only for their faces to melt and turn into demons. Again, none of this stuff is going to leave an adult quaking in their boots, but it's well done, and clearly intended to scare, offering something horror fans young and old can fully appreciate. Sadly, The Gate is the kind of film that really isn't made that much anymore.

More: The Banana Splits Movie Proves Classic Kids Shows Are Terrifying

Why Stephen King's The Langoliers Time Travel Rules Make No Sense

Michael Kennedy is an avid movie and TV fan that's been working for Screen Rant in various capacities since 2014. In that time, Michael has written over 2000 articles for the site, first working solely as a news writer, then later as a senior writer and associate news editor. Most recently, Michael helped launch Screen Rant's new horror section, and is now the lead staff writer when it comes to all things frightening. A FL native, Michael is passionate about pop culture, and earned an AS degree in film production in 2012. He also loves both Marvel and DC movies, and wishes every superhero fan could just get along. When not writing, Michael enjoys going to concerts, taking in live professional wrestling, and debating pop culture. A long-term member of the Screen Rant family, Michael looks forward to continuing on creating new content for the site for many more years to come.

Read more:
The Gate Proves Family Friendly Horror Doesn't Have to Be Tame - Screen Rant