Hollow Gate

Hollow Gate is the story of a young boy, Mark, who almost gets killed by his drunk and abusive father on Halloween. Ten years later, he is released from a mental hospital and decides to go on a murder spree.

Hal Roach's grandson, Addison Randall, plays Mark as an adult. He does a good job as the psycho although the acting in this film is really bad. It is still an entertaining film to watch but I recommend it only to die hard fans of the horror genre.

Alright, fine. "Incredible" is a bit of a stretch. Terrible, on the other hand, pretty much tells the entire story, here. In its defense, I have most certainly seen worse. Not a helluva lot worse, mind you, and not too terribly often. Although, Hollow Gate is really, very quite terrible, I didn't find it to be unwatchable, and it an't event that boring. And, at times, this movie even makes a little sense... A little.

Alright, fine. So, this completely random obscurity makes no sense whatsoever. But sometimes that's the appeal. Although, if this one made any less sense, I don't think I could stand it. So, we begin at a Halloween party where an apple-bobbing contest is being held. Mark sucks at it, and his drunk step-dad is about to let him know exactly how much pride he takes in this activity. Berating the poor little fellow, and basically trying to drown him. Fast forward ten Halloweens later, and a traumatized Mark is now working at a gas-station, and a couple pull up, and make it their business to berate this ticking time-bomb just enough to get themselves blown up. I guess Mark got away with it, because now the timeline in set two more Halloweens later, and a chick whom Mark has taken a shining to makes it clear exactly how disgusting she finds him. Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens to her. Time for Mark to go away for a while. I guess he eventually gets out, because now, on God knows how many more Halloweens later, the actual story begins. So, now this guy is looking to slaughter a bunch of irritating teenagers, for pretty much no reason. I guess he's gone off the deep end to the point that he no longer needs a reason. Kinda like Michael Myers... uhm, without the mask. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention that this was shot on video? Yeah, I know. I was shocked too. Hollow Gate isn't so much like other s.o.v's from the same era, such as Cannibal Campout, or Blood Lake. This one reminds me more of something like Troll 2. If you haven't seen that one, see it, now. Nevermind this one, just see Troll 2. As for Hollow Gate, if you have a thing for the most obscure of 80's s.o.v. schlock, and have an unlimited amount of patience for ineptness, as well as many, many other flaws, then you just might not hate this movie. Actually, come to think of it, I love obscure Horror, and I have plenty of patience for ineptness, yet I still kinda hate Hollow Gate. 4/10

Hollow Gate is so unoriginal, so cheap and shoddily produced, so very badly acted, and so dark at times, that it will come across as a complete and utter waste of time. The plot is so low budget horror based that it degenerates into the same fate as other late 80's horror, and that is as a rip-off. I mean at least Jason and Freddy had motives. The sicko that slays in this one is supposedly "crazy" due to an abusive childhood. In flashback, we see the boy's (named Mark) father dunk his head in water...ooooooohhh. I can see how he turned into a homicidal maniac, running over helpless girls with tractors and playing war veteran, throwing axes and knives with robot like proficiency. Hardly.....The film is so inept that you almost come to see that the teens are so unintelligent to walk into this sicko's house that they deserve what they get. Well, not exactly, but the film is terrible. Even as a low-budget (or should it be known, NO budget) late 80's horror film, this one tanks. It is that bad. Don't rent this movie unless you are fond of cheap horror films with no plot and an overbearing air of familiarity. 2 out of 10

This film hits rock bottom. It makes a Troma feature look like a masterpiece by comparsion. What little story there is involves a kid who is nearly drowned by his drunken father as a child. As a result of this single incident he grows up to be a maniac who butchers off a group of teenagers who make the misfortune of stopping by his house. This film skips over simple elements like direction, acting, characterizations, etc. and just features one sleazy violent scene after another.

Unrated; Violence and Profanity.

I know it's a long shot but in case you're desperately looking for the most retarded movie ever made…. this is it! Hollow Gate represents EVERYTHING that went wrong with the horror business during the 80's. There's not even a slight attempt to bring depth, character drawing or tension and the whole film is just a series of ineptness. Hollow Gate tells the heart-breaking plot of a young boy whose daddy wasn't capable of loving. Awwww… During a stupid Halloween party, daddy humiliates little Mark Walters and 10 years later he goes berserk on Halloween's eve. Dressed in ridiculous (not necessarily Halloween-related) costumes, he slaughters some of the most stupid teenagers you've ever seen while the local cops are outside his fence, chatting about how deranged he is. Words fail to describe how awful this movie is. I hope everyone involved in this production is still too embarrassed to leave his/her house. Rating 10 out of 10 for being so painfully hilarious. Rating 0 out of 10 for wasting yet another hour and a half of my (not-so) precious life.