A series of seemingly unrelated events in the same suburban homestead opens a demonic portal, unleashing pint-sized demons looking to gank some humans. They’re not hunting for sport though; they’re looking to summon their Antediluvian god to enslave mankind so they can rule the earth once again. Three young heroes stand between us and oblivion: pre-teens Glen and Terry and Glen’s big sister Al.

The Gate is pure Little Fears. You could run this as an episode without changing a thing, it’s that good. You have random freakiness, hostile teens, some only-in-the-80s lore, and a great batch of monsters whose final means of disposal is a textbook example of the subtler power of Belief. There are some surprising moments as well dealing with parental loss, friendship, the death of a beloved pet, and brother-sister bonding.

Dated though some of the effects may be, The Gate holds up very well. I’m interested to see what stays and what goes when the remake is finished but no matter what the new version does, the original will remain a classic.