Beyond the Gates is a 2016 horror movie directed by Jackson Stewart and starring Barbara Crampton, Graham Skipper and Chase Williamson.
The movie begins in the summer of 1992. Two brothers called Gordon(Skipper) and John(Williamson) go to a video store. They are cleaning it out. It belongs to their dad, who is missing. They are going to sell his stuff. Gordon goes to their dad's house to stay and his girlfriend, Margot(Brea Grant) arrives. They go to meet John and his loser pal, Hank(Justin Welborn). That night, Gordon thinks that he hears something in the house. There is nothing there. The next day, Gordon finds a key to his dad's office. He and John discover a VCR game called Beyond the Gates. They decide to see what it is all about. A woman, Evelyn(Crampton) comes on the TV. She seems to come alive. Gordon invites John to dinner and they show Margot the game. She wants to play. They load it up. Evelyn appears and she knows about their dad. It unsettles them and they turn it off.
Gordon lets John stay in his house as he is having financial difficulties. Gordon wakes up in the night. He sees his dad who asks him to help him. The game has turned itself on. The brothers are spooked and they call their police officer pal, Derek. They show him the game. He thinks that it is just their imagination. They discover a receipt for the game and they go to the shop where it was bought. It is a strange place. They meet the owner and they ask him about the game. He tells them that they should play it to the end. John steals a dagger from the shop. Evelyn tells them to read the instructions. They need to dig up a spot in the back yard. They find a box and there is a doll inside. They are looking for keys to help their dad. There is a key inside the doll. They have to open it up. As they do so, Hank gets killed. There are four different cards- The Drifter which is Hank, The Noble which is Derek, The Maiden which is Margot and The Father which is the dad.
The key they retrieve from the doll is bloody. They wonder what is going on. When they find out that Hank died myseriously, they put two and two together and realise that the game is causing things to happen. Gordon doesn't want Margot around the game. He is worried that she will be the next one to die. He is woken up from his sleep by nightmares. He finds John who is messing with the game. Gordon says that their dad finished the game. Evelyn comes on TV and she tells them that they need the next key. Gordon gets mad and he throws the game out. It comes back. Margot goes to see the owner of the store and he tells her that they need to complete the game or they die. Derek shows up at the house and he is possessed. He wants to kill them. They have to kill him to get the next key.
The brothers find Margot at a gate and she is in the game.They have to enter another dimension to save her and finish the game. They bring the dagger with them. Gordon finds her and the dead Hank and Derek show up along with their dad. They have to kill all three. They get remaining keys and their dad's soul is freed. They come back into their own world. Evelyn comes on and she tells them that their father is free and that they finished the game successfully. The movie ends with the brothers selling the house. Gordon and Margot leave. Another person buys the game and it all starts again....
This was a fun film overall. It has a definite 80's feel to it which I liked. The acting isn't the best, to be honest, but I liked the premise. I liked the idea of the game and the addition of Barbara Crampton was welcome. I think that this could have been better but I found that the 1980's nostalgia made it a lot more enjoyable. It is low budget, so I don't want to be too harsh. I would say that it is a fun watch and it is certainly worth looking at!! I will give it a 5/10.