#17 - Beyond the Gates (2016)
Seven months after their father goes missing, brothers Gordon and John start packing up the old video store he ran. Inside his locked office, they find an old school VHS board game called "Beyond the Gates" (basically a fictional version of "Nightmare", if you remember that), with the tape still in the VCR. They decide to play the game later that night, but it soon becomes clear that this is not a normal game, and are forced to finish in order to save their father's soul. In other words, this is the horror version of Jumanji.
I love the concept of this film, but unfortunately it doesn't live up to its potential. It has some of the usual problems you'd expect from lower budget horror movies - weak acting, lame dialogue - but the biggest flaw is the pacing, it's just all over the place. They are in the middle of playing this possessed board game that kills people in real life, but keep taking breaks to cook dinner and pack up video tapes at the store. There is a scene where a friend's head literally explodes and then the next scene is them just casually chatting over a home-cooked meal. It felt like the director was trying to shoehorn in moments of character development, but it brought the film to a screeching halt every time it happened, which was pretty frequently.
It isn't all bad - Barbara Crampton plays the host of the game, and she seems to be having fun with the role. Some of the special effects were quite good, too. This might've worked better as a much shorter film - but at 82 minutes, I can see why they would be reluctant to cut it down any further. Not really recommended, although it is on Netflix if you still want to check it out.
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