THE GATE DVD

You’d think having a kid dealing with demonic creatures congregating in a giant hole in the ground would be an odd, one off concept, but there were actually a couple of those movies in the eighties, and both from Canada, no less. The Pit came first, and if you haven’t seen it yet you ought to pick up the cheap Anchor Bay double feature with it and Hellgate. It’s one of the most bizarre horror films out there, with one of the most off-putting, uncomfortable and inexplicable child performances this world has ever seen. Another world was unleashed from a backyard hole six years later with the more universally known The Gate. Featuring a cavalcade of special effects, backwards records and a lot of little children getting into big trouble, it became a surprising hit at the box office in 1987, trumping Ishtar upon initial release. It’s lead a quiet life on digital, being long out of print on DVD. Finally, though, Lionsgate has dug this one up once more, giving it a similar redesign and supplemental upgrade to match their other big kiddie horror movie, The Monster Squad. Squad was a huge success for them a couple years ago – does this gate open similar success?

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Stepfather 3 DVD

After carrying the first two films to wide critical recognition, Terry O'Quinn was virtually inseparable from the stepfather character. When talks came up about following up the successful second with a third, all eyes turned to O'Quinn. How could you make a Stepfather without him? ITC reportedly offered him a ton of money and even the opportunity to write or direct the sequel, but ultimately talks fell through. With that, theatrical hopes became a cable reality, as Stepfather 3 debuted on HBO before finding its way to video shelves. It may not have had O'Quinn, but it had a great cover, with daddy lit from below holding a bloody shovel. But what was with that tagline? "Daddy's been in the garden...again!" Again? Did he take horticulture classes between sequels or what? The closest he came to plant life was walking through autumn leaves in the first. No matter, here's the third and closing entry in the trilogy. Does it live up to the high standards of the first two, or should that family declare this one orphan?

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STEPFATHER 2 DVD

I was never old enough to watch The Stepfather movies when they came out, but I definitely remembered the covers. Now the first film had a different box art than the theatrical poster, and despite the overall mediocrity of both, it sold incredibly well on video. The third film had a much more striking image, with the bloody shovel concealing a bottom lit face. For an impressionable kid, though, nothing beat the cover for the second film. I didn’t care about the first film – I wanted to see that second! Who cares if the little girl and the dog aren’t even in the movie? Who cares if Terry O’Quinn doesn’t really even brandish a knife throughout? It was that image of the unstoppable father with the T-1000 eyes, and then that bloody 2 (a trend for sequels that has sadly fallen out of favor) that just created such an impression. By the poster alone, Stepfather 2: Make Room for Daddy should be awesome. Synapse seems to think so, re-releasing Miramax’s initial 2003 special edition with even more bonus features. Should we make room for daddy?

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THE STEPFATHER DVD

“Who Am I Here?” The posters and trailers famously heralded for the psychopath-family-swapper The Stepfather. Or not so famously, I guess, considering the film made a paltry 2.4 million at the box office. Yet, The Stepfather was one of the few horror films actually saved by the critics, garnering plenty of top ten mentions and even a surprise nomination by the Independent Spirit Awards for Terry O’Quinn as lead actor. That buzz helped drive a very successful run on video – so successful that a follow-up hit theatres two years later, with O’Quinn again as the lead. That one impressively made less than the sum of the paltry original, but still, a third O’Quinn-less sequel followed in 1992. Although box office performance certainly doesn’t indicate it, there’s a public fascination with the everyman gone berserk. The first film was based on the true story of John List, who eventually became an early America’s Most Wanted staple. It’s the kind of thing you watch on television questioning how someone so normal could ever do something so heinous. At a time when slashers were going supernatural and becoming increasingly unrealistic, The Stepfather again cut through the white picket fences that Halloween had ten years prior to again make suburban America unlikely targets for terror. All this filmed in Canada, no less.

Now, 22 years after its original release, The Stepfather is again being revived by the remake train. It’s tough to imagine much of a following existing for this modest original since it’s largely remained unreleased for over a decade. Buena Vista released the second film on DVD, but surprisingly the first that started it all hadn’t even made the leap to digital as of 2009. VHS has been the only way to see The Stepfather (and the third film, for those counting) but thankfully just in time for the remake Shout! Factory is presenting this little sleeper with a new anamorphic transfer and some cozy extras. Is it worth bringing home, or is this fodder for foster families?

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