EP.40 80s Rewatch: 1987's The Gate and Our Favorite Gateway Horror Films

Mike and Angel revisit the 1987 cult horror gem The Gate, a movie that feels like a perfect snapshot of ’80s childhood fears: parents out of town, a mysterious hole in the backyard, heavy-metal Satanic Panic, backwards records, dead pets, teen parties, and tiny stop-motion demons crawling out of hell.

The episode digs into why The Gate still works as a gateway horror film, especially for kids who discovered scary movies through VHS covers, late-night cable, and local video stores. From Stephen Dorff’s snarky child-actor debut to the movie’s scrappy practical effects, Mike and Angel talk about how the film captures that specific childhood feeling where a backyard hole, a spooky record, or an empty house could become the start of a supernatural nightmare.

They also branch out into the gateway horror movies that shaped them, and other horror-adjacent favorites that helped turn fear into their lifelong love of horror.