October 21, 2009

If you were a kid in the late 80’s living off of a steady diet of horror films, then no doubt you had seen and loved Tibor Takács’ The Gate.

Made up of a mostly all child cast and fronted by Stephen Dorff in one of his first on screen performances, The Gate was at the time a contemporary “pandora’s box” story, made all the more terrifying by the amazing creature creations provided by FX artist Randy Cook.

Now, Lionsgate has finally giving the flick a much deserved proper special edition DVD and Shock Till You Drop were lucky enough to chat with director Tibor Takács about his memories of making the movie. Read on for the full interview!

Robg.: Firstly, it’s so great that The Gate is finally available in this special edition DVD. So many people have grown up fondly with the film. Although it did well theatrical, how does it feel for you to know it’s become somewhat of a “cult classic”, something horror fans today keep going back to revisit?

Tibor Takács: It’s a great feeling to know there are people out there that still appreciate a film that’s so close to my heart. Over the years it seems to have found its niche. For young kids, it’s a film that sparks their imagination and for adults it’s a nostalgic look at childhood mischief. Sometime people forget it’s a PG-13 movie for kids and try to match it for gore and intensity against R rated 80’s horror classics. It’s really a different animal. I think its innocence is what sets it apart.

Robg.: One of the many challenges in making a film like this is that your cast is all children actors. Can you talk about casting and working with Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton and Louis Tripp?

Tibor: You know the film maker’s wisdom that’s passed around all the time “never work with children or animals”? Well I’d have to say it didn’t hold true on The Gate. All the kids were extremely professional and very adaptable. I think we caught everyone in the cast at a magical moment in their lives. None of them had a lot of experience and a few none at all; they hadn’t picked up any bad habits yet. Often you see kids on TV mugging or doing shtick that’s just cliché. The only difficulty was sticking to the work rules for kids. With all the school and rest periods we could only get a few hours of filming a day. Stephen Dorff really connected with the part and was very easy to work with. I think his natural performance contributes greatly to what makes the movie work so well.

Robg.: The original script by Michael Nankin veered in very dark territory. It was also originally set up as a directing vehicle for the writer. How collaborative was your relationship with Michael on the film once you hopped on board as the director?

Tibor: The original script was pretty much as dark as the movie ended up being. The bones of a great film were all there in Michael’s draft. I came to the project as a result of just having finished Snow, a short film which won some awards and was theatrically distributed all over the US (those were the days). To get financing for The Gate, the producers had to partner with the Canadian company I already had a relationship with. Michael understood this and welcomed me as director with enthusiasm. Some of the changes I remember bringing to the table were the opening dream scene that gently introduces the important childhood abandonment theme present throughout the film. Instead of a brother I wanted Glen to have an older sister. Michael was great at detailing their age differences and incompatibilities as siblings. Another thing I remember adding was the whole Satanic rock thing with the music and backwards lyrics. I think in the original script they went to a library to get their demon info. In the film they get it from the album’s liner notes and by playing the record backwards. What I remember the most is how nicely Michael welcomed me onto the project and worked so hard at making the script fit my vision right down to the smallest details. We’ve remained good friends ever since.

Robg.: The little minions were always one of the creepiest aspects of the movie. Can you talk about designing the right look for them? And then shooting with them? Was it a combination of miniatures, stop motion animation and/or people in suits?

Tibor: A fortuitous delay before the start of production allowed me to spend many extra weeks with Randy Cook designing the creatures and story-boarding. We ended up with several similar creature looks for the minions to choose from. Technological and budgetary constraints kept us in the ballpark of what we ended up with. We knew their heights relative to a human and that they would be played by people in suits on force-perspective sets. They needed to be of a design that could easily be manufactured in multiples as a rubber suit with a lot of agility. Due to budget constraints, we could only create one head mold, so we had to choose only one expression. They ended up with a dumbfounded look on their faces. Only one had some very basic facial animatronics. Throughout the film Randy used an encyclopedia of techniques to make the minions work. Bluescreen, trick perspective, stop-motion, puppets etc, were all used in rotation; once you think you have it figured out we introduce another technique. Another process used to great effect was to under-crank (shoot them at a lower frame rate) so they would appear to move a little more furtively. They also had to be coached to move in special ways in order to compensate for the frame rate.

Robg.: Do you personally have a particular effect or gag from the movie that stands out as one of your favorites? Perhaps a shot or effect that you’re most proud of when you look back on the movie now?

Tibor: It’s hard to pick a favorite, but there is a moment in the film that I’m always thrilled to see; the medium dolly shot after Al is taken into the wall by the workman. While Glen walks toward the camera staring at the closet, he hears Al’s distant screams for help. The look on his face, the camera move, the lightning effects, and the story point all combine simultaneously to powerful emotional effect. And of course, the scene where the Workman falls over and breaks into scattering minions.

Robg.: Can you talk about Carl Kraines a bit? Because besides playing the creepy workman in the walls, he had multiple jobs on this film, correct?

Tibor: Carl Krains was another talented friend I enlisted for the production. I needed an assistant who could be on the production full time and rehearse with the child actors. Most of the time on a set, actors are just waiting, fighting the natural tendency to get bored, losing focus and energy. With child actors these factors multiply 10 fold. I needed a coach who could keep the kids occupied and their energy in sync with the work on set. When it came time to cast the workman, Carl’s acting experience and gung-ho enthusiasm made him the perfect candidate for the heavy prosthetic makeup required. He was also willing to wear full contact lenses as the Workman character.

Robg.: Who is the band “Sacrifyx”, who’s record Terry plays backwards to learn about The Gate?

Tibor: I approached an artist/designer friend Mark Krawczynski who was a specialist with graphics and was in a band with his brother Mike. The band posed for the pictures and Mark designed the album cover. The liner notes included some of Randy Cook’s drawings. Vince Carlucci’s band Station Twang provided several pieces, including the heavy metal stuff. They were made up of several former members of the Toronto band Cardboard Brains. Paul Young, the leader of the Cardboard Brains also provided several of the voices in the film including the ghoul Dad’s great “YOU’VE BEEN BAD” scream in the driveway also used in the trailer. Carl Krains did the spoken word vocals on the song that inspires Terry to play the lyrics backwards.

Robg.: How’d you and Michael Nankin develop the idea for the sequel? In The Gate 2, Louis Tripp’s character returns and uses the dark forces to his advantage. Did any of the ideas for The Gate 2 stem from your working experience together on the first film?

Tibor: I remember our plan was to try and create a real sequel not just a remake of the first. Our biggest idea to make it different was to make it about Glen’s friend Terry. If they were going back to the same hole it at least needed a new cast of older characters.

The Gate is now available on DVD from Lionsgate.