Glen (a very young Stephen Dorff) and his heavy metal enthusiast friend Terry find strange geodes in a hole in the backyard. As they unearth the rocks they hear strange noises and collect weird bugs coming from the hole.
Later, when Glen's parents go away on a three day trip, Glen's sister throws a big ol' 80s teen party where they drink, smoke, dance to new wave music, tell ghost stories, and play games like "light as a feather, stiff as a board." In the meantime, Glen and Terry open one of their geodes and strange things begin to happen. A strange Latin message (which they read out loud, naturally) appears, Glen levitates, Terry has visions of his dead mother as an angel that turns into the dead family dog, and so on.
Terry comes to realize that the demonic lyrics on one of his metal albums - The Dark Book, by the Venom-ish, Iron Maiden-ish band Sacrifyx - are just like the message that appeared when the geode opened.
That's when Terry realizes what's going on in Glen's back yard. "Dude, you've got demons."
The Gate feels like The Goonies of horror movies. It couches the horror experience in the worldview of a pre-teen boy in the 80s, and includes all the baggage that comes with it: arguing with your sister and her friends, being torn between rebellious behavior and running to tell Mom and Dad, and believing unquestioningly that you are destined for the extraordinary, even to the point of having to banish demons before they take over the world.
Much like Goonies, The Gate is a movie that may be better left to memory than to a viewing in the light of modern day movie-making. Some things still work, like the kooky best friend with his heavy metal trappings, the relationship with the sister, and even the design of the little mini-demons that torment our heroes. Some things, however, like pacing, compositing of effects, and storytelling don't hold up as well. The Gate is worth a look as a cult horror flick, but don't expect too much.
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