The Gate

One of the movies that single-handedly kept me away from the edge of the bed and the closets of my house growing up has been released on DVD [as of 2003]. The Gate's one of the classic horror movies of the late 80's. For $7 at Amazon, it's a steal too. The most epic Metal reference as well as referenced from the Necronomicon Files: "Terry listens to a metal band called Sacrifyx, and believes that their album The Dark Book explains what the hole in Glen's yard really is; a gateway to the infernal domain of the "Old Gods" which was long ago sealed up and forgotten. Lyrics from the album warn "...when all was darkness and chaos, the Old Gods, the forgotten gods, ruled the darkness...there is ...a Gate behind which the demons wait for the chance to take back what is theirs." The front of the album is illustrated with a picture of a creature with glowing eyes and long claws climbing up from a dark pit. The album cover for The Dark Book is itself a book, and opens up to reveal the pages of a grimoire inside. The pages are illustrated with drawings of monstrous creatures and quasi-magickal symbols - the keen-eyed viewer will notice that one of them is the Masonic seal. Terry explains to Glen that the band Sacrifyx came from Europe and used a real grimoire called The Dark Book, "the Bible for demons" as inspiration for their music. They only produced one album before they all died in a plane crash. "The lyrics in the album tell you how to summon the demons. Now there's this certain time when the constellations are aligned when you can open the Gate and let the Old Gods - those are the demons - come through. Well I checked and it's like now!""