Beyond the Gates

Director: Jackson Stewart
Year Released: 2016
Rating: 0.5

After the disappearance of their father, brothers Gordon (Graham Skipper) and John (Chase Williamson) start clearing out the VHS store he owned, and in doing so stumble across a board game called "Beyond the Gates" that comes with an "instructional video" (Barbara Crampton's kinda spooky!) ... and leads to multiple deaths. It's refreshing that some filmmakers are still in DIY mode, assembling features with a very limited budget, though it would have also be a relief if this wasn't so absorbed with 80's nostalgia and tried being its own unique entity (which Stranger Things managed to pull off). Or, once again, maybe I was too wide awake to properly 'enjoy' those exploding heads made of plaster and those intestines flying out of a perv's abdomen ... would a dose of Ambien have helped? (Side effects include: ridiculous dreams, nausea, campy acting.)