I was wanting to get at least one review in before this one, but I was busy with work all week and didn't get a lot of sleep some nights. Even though I managed to stay awake each night, I was never in much of a mood to write or watch any movies. I did get a review in for Slender Man, which I watched last week, so give that a look if you want to. Anyway, it is time for my monthly team-up! Terry has decided to join up once again and I picked the movie Beyond The Gates (2016) for all of us to watch. I wasn't really sure which movie I wanted to pick at first but settled quickly on this one.
Brothers Gordon (Graham Skipper) and John (Chase Williamson) have not seen each other in a long time. Gordon moved away while John stayed behind with their father. After their father has gone missing for seven months now, they have decided to clean out the movie rental store that their dad once ran. Gordon figures the worst and it needs to be done. Things are a little strained between the two, but they get along for the most part. Gordon's girlfriend Margot (Brea Grant) comes to stay with him at his dad's house where some odd things have been happening. Gordon finds the key to the store's office and they discover an old VCR game called Beyond The Gates. Taking it home, Morgot talks them into trying to play the game, but they soon discover that it is more than just a game.
Beyond The Gates was co-written by Stephen Scarlata and Jackson Stewart, who also directed. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie, but I never felt that I got it. I wouldn't call this a bad film, in fact, I did enjoy parts of it so I'm not going to give it a bad rating. I did a little disappointed with the movie though. Perhaps a second watch will cure that, as sometimes a movie does improve when I know what is about and what is coming up. I think my biggest problem with the movie was the slow pace. This doesn't other bother me, but here it did at times. I didn't mind getting to know the characters before things start to happen, although it did seem to take longer than I was expecting. What made it slow for me was the teasing that the story manages to do. Gordon and John start to play the game and then turn it off. A bit later they go over to where Gordon is staying and they eventually start to play the game again only to stop when something unexpected happens. There is this back and forth all through the movie that began to bug me. I guess I could understand their reluctance to not wanting to play the game at first, but after a while, I was getting annoyed and talking to the characters. I wanted them to either play the game or walk away from it, just make up their minds already. At first, I didn't like that they didn't enter a game world once they realized the game had more control than a game should have. Then I figured out that this was a good thing because it allowed some of the minor characters a chance to be in the film more.
A plot point that confused me was when someone was killed. The first death happens and we learn that the ex-girlfriend of the guy, who happened to be there when he died, got arrested for the death. The second death happens and the body vanishes in front of Gordon and John, who didn't seem all that shocked by that. It wasn't the only time a body disappeared so it made me wonder if the first one did as well. If it did, why was the ex-girlfriend arrested then? Even with witnesses. it would have been really hard for anyone to explain where the body went. Anyway, it was just this odd thing that really caught my attention when a body disappeared.
Beyond The Gates isn't the goriest film you will ever watch. In fact, I was starting to think that there wouldn't be much for effects. There are at least a couple of scenes that really surprised me. Guts coming out and they did a good job to make it look like some invisible force was causing that. There was also a scene of a head more or less exploding. Those effects were very well done and really gory. It was a bit of a shock when they happened, but a nice shock. The acting was like the movie. I didn't hate the way the roles were acted really, but I just wasn't really all that impressed by it either. Skipper and Williamson would act kind of surprised by some of the things that happened, but I guess I was just expecting more from them in expressing that surprise. I should mention Barbara Crampton who plays the woman on the VCR tape that controls the game. Matt Mercer and Justin Welborn have minor but important roles all the same.
I did like how Evelyn, the woman on the tape, would wait a long time before responding or moving forward with the game. I didn't really understand how Gordon and John didn't figure out something more was going on just from that honestly. There was just a bunch of small things like that which would bug me over the course of the movie. I really felt that Beyond The Gates could have been better than what we got. Even so, there was just enough here for me to like the film, just not love it. It came out to be an average film, This is too bad though, as I do wish it had been more to what I was expecting. I still think it is a movie that is worth checking out, so please do so if it sounds interesting to you. I'm a few days late getting this review and posted but I haven't heard anything from Terry or Dawn just yet on their reviews. I will post links once they do.
3 out of 5 I have never played a game like this one
Brothers Gordon (Graham Skipper) and John (Chase Williamson) have not seen each other in a long time. Gordon moved away while John stayed behind with their father. After their father has gone missing for seven months now, they have decided to clean out the movie rental store that their dad once ran. Gordon figures the worst and it needs to be done. Things are a little strained between the two, but they get along for the most part. Gordon's girlfriend Margot (Brea Grant) comes to stay with him at his dad's house where some odd things have been happening. Gordon finds the key to the store's office and they discover an old VCR game called Beyond The Gates. Taking it home, Morgot talks them into trying to play the game, but they soon discover that it is more than just a game.
Beyond The Gates was co-written by Stephen Scarlata and Jackson Stewart, who also directed. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this movie, but I never felt that I got it. I wouldn't call this a bad film, in fact, I did enjoy parts of it so I'm not going to give it a bad rating. I did a little disappointed with the movie though. Perhaps a second watch will cure that, as sometimes a movie does improve when I know what is about and what is coming up. I think my biggest problem with the movie was the slow pace. This doesn't other bother me, but here it did at times. I didn't mind getting to know the characters before things start to happen, although it did seem to take longer than I was expecting. What made it slow for me was the teasing that the story manages to do. Gordon and John start to play the game and then turn it off. A bit later they go over to where Gordon is staying and they eventually start to play the game again only to stop when something unexpected happens. There is this back and forth all through the movie that began to bug me. I guess I could understand their reluctance to not wanting to play the game at first, but after a while, I was getting annoyed and talking to the characters. I wanted them to either play the game or walk away from it, just make up their minds already. At first, I didn't like that they didn't enter a game world once they realized the game had more control than a game should have. Then I figured out that this was a good thing because it allowed some of the minor characters a chance to be in the film more.
A plot point that confused me was when someone was killed. The first death happens and we learn that the ex-girlfriend of the guy, who happened to be there when he died, got arrested for the death. The second death happens and the body vanishes in front of Gordon and John, who didn't seem all that shocked by that. It wasn't the only time a body disappeared so it made me wonder if the first one did as well. If it did, why was the ex-girlfriend arrested then? Even with witnesses. it would have been really hard for anyone to explain where the body went. Anyway, it was just this odd thing that really caught my attention when a body disappeared.
Beyond The Gates isn't the goriest film you will ever watch. In fact, I was starting to think that there wouldn't be much for effects. There are at least a couple of scenes that really surprised me. Guts coming out and they did a good job to make it look like some invisible force was causing that. There was also a scene of a head more or less exploding. Those effects were very well done and really gory. It was a bit of a shock when they happened, but a nice shock. The acting was like the movie. I didn't hate the way the roles were acted really, but I just wasn't really all that impressed by it either. Skipper and Williamson would act kind of surprised by some of the things that happened, but I guess I was just expecting more from them in expressing that surprise. I should mention Barbara Crampton who plays the woman on the VCR tape that controls the game. Matt Mercer and Justin Welborn have minor but important roles all the same.
I did like how Evelyn, the woman on the tape, would wait a long time before responding or moving forward with the game. I didn't really understand how Gordon and John didn't figure out something more was going on just from that honestly. There was just a bunch of small things like that which would bug me over the course of the movie. I really felt that Beyond The Gates could have been better than what we got. Even so, there was just enough here for me to like the film, just not love it. It came out to be an average film, This is too bad though, as I do wish it had been more to what I was expecting. I still think it is a movie that is worth checking out, so please do so if it sounds interesting to you. I'm a few days late getting this review and posted but I haven't heard anything from Terry or Dawn just yet on their reviews. I will post links once they do.
3 out of 5 I have never played a game like this one
