Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Special agent Francis (Amanda Schull) is called in to investigate a missing person in the town and county of Devils Gate. She is escorted by Deputy "Colt" (Shawn Ashmore) as they go out to talk to the Jackson Pritchard (Milo Ventimiglia) the husband of the missing woman and their son. From the first scene we know his yard is one big booby-trap. The mystery is revealed. This is a fairly decent film, one where the sequel promises to be better. It needed some light dialogue from time to time and a decent sound track. Guide: F-word. Brief butt nudity.

This movie is a very well crafted horror film. It has great performances which add to the well done characters. The atmosphere is very mysterious and the story is constantly destroying expectations. While there are a few things I didn't like I was overall very impressed by a movie that I've seen no attention given to.I would recommend this to any horror or suspense fan. The story is smart and knows what it's doing.

Devil's Gate is a new genre bending horror film. It's creative and unique, you'll start watching it and never in a million years guess where it's going, and it has a solid cast. So why doesn't the movie work? Well, first, there's the script. It really needed more work. The basic story is that a woman (Bridget Regan of The Last Ship) and her young son have disappeared from their remote farm house. The investigation is going nowhere so a fed (Amanda Schull of 12 Monkeys the overrated TV show) is dispatched to investigate. She is partnered with a dim local cop (Shawn Ashmore of The Following) along the lines of Scream's Deputy Dewey. They begin their search and, despite strenuous objections from the local Sheriff (Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek The Next Generation), the look into the husband (Milo Ventimaglia of This Is Us). He's weird, he has a temper, their marriage was unhappy, his house looks like Leatherface should be hanging around in the attic, he has elaborate traps laid all around, and he has SOMETHING caged up in the basement. So you're probably thinking standard psycho story, right? Wrong. The movie has some pretty dramatic twists from there and, without giving away too much, develops a cosmic horror plot thread I actually really liked. Or, wanted to like anyway. Devil's Gate throws so much at you that it never stops to develop any of its ideas. Or its characters. Another problem is that despite having a better than average cast, they're all playing one note stereotypes. The movie also has serious pacing problems and can't be bothered to fully develop any of its truly interesting ideas. The films also really stretches its budget. While there are some fantastic practical effects, there are also some really lousy digital ones. Devil's Gate it a frustrating movie that frankly should have been a lot better. The ideas are there, the cast is there, but the director and screenwriters just can't pull it all together. My recommendation, watch The Void instead.

Worth a watch on dvd or netflix. I gave it a four. Would have given it a 5.5 if the lead character "Milo Ventimiglia" who plays Jackson Prichard wasn't such a bad actor. Interesting story / plot..somewhat dull overall but not bad. directing, camera, angles, lighting, scenery etc.. are all good.