Beyond the Gates (2016) #HorrorMovie Review

The idea of Beyond the Gates (2016), a Jumanji style horror movie, on the surface appears great, but as the movie crept along, I was disappointed.

Not everything was bland, though. Like the opening credits music with its 80s flair or the few gore effects. Both of those were good. Oh, and the acting was decent. I’m not going to reduce my expectations of horror even for Beyond the Gates.

The first twenty minutes were filled with character introductions and the only special happening is a picture falling from the mantel. Brothers, Gordon and John, are estranged for some reason; there’s no real explanation to their separation besides that they are complete opposites. Gordon has returned to town to pack up their missing father’s store and house.

With forty-seven minutes remaining, nothing astounding has occurred besides a few strange noises and a shadowy figure appearing outside and in the house. Even when they first start playing the game, it’s not as creepy as it could be; there’s so much more they could’ve done. The VHS tape playback isn’t even grainy on the old console TV.

Now, I’m at fifteen minutes to go (well less than that because credits are included in the run time), and I wonder how they are going to wrap this up because they’ve wasted so much time doing nothing. You know how I complain about movies that wait until the last few minutes to do anything, this one is worse. The final scenes are bland and quick like a small town in Wyoming; don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

I had high hopes for Beyond the Gates, but it wasn’t enough for me so I can only give it 2.5 Stars.

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