The Darkening
The Darkening
| 01 January 1995 (USA)
The Darkening Trailers

A secluded, idyllic hideaway on the California coast hides a horrific secret in this occult chiller. Rebecca Lacey runs a clifftop inn that appears peaceful, but when psychic investigator Scott Griffin comes for a visit, he uncovers evidence of an alarming evil that resides there. Plagued by fearsome visions and psychic flashes, he is led to an ancient relic covered with esoteric writing. He soon recognizes it as a satanic tool thought to have been annihilated centuries ago; now Griffin must face its evil powers.

Reviews
Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
assassinblade Well to start this off...do NOT rent,films. The Black Gate is just a poor attempt at film making. Mesa is simply an awful director. Jeff Rectum spits out a dismal performance as "Scott" which reflects the past and present state of his career; no surprises there. What's truly surprising is the fact that the Black Gate is actually great entertainment. Well, that is if you love laughing at awful movies and hilarious "scary" scenes like my friends and I do. Of course, I'm still giving it a 1/10 because it's most likely the worst movie I've ever seen. All that being said, rent the movie or buy it off ebay for ~1 US dollar (yea, I'm serious) if you love cackling at awful actors and dreadful script writing.I've viewed the film twice now and here are my picks for "Most Classic, Awful, Black Gate Scene(s)":1) The beautiful shots of the ocean that are the only quality thing about the movie, which makes them awful. Speculation: 47% of the movie budget was spent getting such a vast array of oceanic shots. 2) The "Clown in the Attic" scene..."NO BATTERIES!" 3) Richard Locke's scenes, especially the one where he appears in a 1 second flashback and shouts "Gyahh!!!" 4) "Ghost Kiss"...self explanatory... 5) The sequence where the old caretaker is followed BY NOTHING and falls off a cliff because of NOTHING. 6) And finally (this Richard Locke scene deserves a number of its own) the scene where Richard Locke appears and runs up to Scott. Instead of striking him in any vital area, Locke decides he will just scratch at Scott's arm while wheezing "Ehhya! Ehhya! Ehhya!". Classic.A message to anyone who has viewed the movie before: Any of you realize how poorly the time line in the movie fits together? If not re watch it. Almost every other scene is Justin sleeping. One poorly thought out sequence that comes to mind is the caretaker segment. I leave it to you all to figure out what's wrong with everything...it's not hard...Brooks knows what I'm talking about... :)
siderite The acting is mostly horrible. The lead is decent, though. The effects and editing are bad. The story is silly, with devil worshipers trying to "open the gate" to Hell and all that. The good guy is a psychic with knowledge of the occult and comes to fix the problem.So, if you look at it differently, there is a problem with a door and they call in the mystical locksmith. With a lot of mambo jumbo that none of us, non technical people, would understand, he fixes the door and everybody goes back happy.Am I joking? Not really. This movie is just as interesting as watching the locksmith fixing your front door and therefore I will stop here.
Allyson King Unless you're the type, like my sister and I are, that likes to watch bad movies to laugh at, stay far away from this movie.To begin with, the acting is horrible. But, then again, how can you convincingly kiss a ghost? She's dead, get over it! My favorite part was Richard's demonic growl. Now that inspires fear (maybe for small children and those weak of heart, but even then...).Why hide the date of the film? To me, that seemed strange, to make it seem like a new movie, especially when the clothes and hairstyles are so dated.I gave this movie a 2/10 just because it made me laugh.
suspiria10 Rebecca (Rebecca Kyler Downs) has sank her every dollar into a lovely bed & breakfast overlooking the sea on the California coast. Unfortunately for her although ideal, the place doesn't yield much in the way of customers because strange things occur and the guests don't usually last past a few hours. Cue up the ghost hunters Scott and Justin who are going to get to the bottom of the satanic ballyhoo going on."The Black Gate" is a potentially interesting film that echoes several others (The Uninvited. The Amityville Horror, etc.) but it really doesn't develop anything beyond the occasional "boo scare". The acting is decent but bland. No stand-outs due mostly to a under developed script and minor direction. You would think that with the close confines of the place that they could generate some tension but alas that is not the case. The music track doesn't help much either when most of the time it seems to disappear along with your interest.