The film revolves around two strange brothers who decided to meet together in the video store of their missing father to clean the property and sell his property after he went missing in a wrong way. While cleaning, the brothers find a mysterious VCR board game called 'Beyond The Gates' that leads to deadly consequences for them and everyone who deals with them.
Though the film moves slowly - like a half-hour anthology episode stretched to three times its natural length - co-writer/director Jackson Stewart's obvious affection for obsolete technology earns some goodwill.
Everything here screams the Eighties, from the red-and-blue lighting to the practical latex-and-splatter effects, [to] the presence of Eighties scream queen Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator) as the game's creepy video guide...
Doing something with video store memories, "Beyond the Gates" has the right ideas when it comes to shadowy evil and VHS ephemera, creating a very entertaining and mildly spooky B-movie version of "Jumanji."
It's an odd, sometimes uneasy combination of stylized retro horror and character drama that plays like a game of Exquisite Corpse between the Duplass brothers and Full Moon Pictures.
This fun if unmemorable occult thriller sports - all too faithfully at times - both the typical pleasures and shortcomings of the movies it pays homage to.
A genre-infused adventure with a lot of heart that was made by a highly passionate cast and crew, Beyond the Gates is a wonderful example of indie horror done right and a great first-time feature for Stewart.
