The Gates (2023) Review
Step back in time to Victorian London, 1892, where the city is gripped with mortal fear… a brutal serial killer is on the loose and no one knows who the next victim will be.
When the depraved murderer, William Colcott, is finally caught, he is sentenced to death by electric chair – one of the first convicts to be executed in by this new method, on trial from America… but before the execution the evil killer puts a curse on the whole prison and upon everyone who dwells within The Gates.
When two post-mortem photographers, turned paranormal investigators, Frederick Ladbroke and Emma Wickes, take on a new their next assignment, they become embroiled in a strange investigation with a mysterious medium, Lucian Abberton.
Can they stop William’s malevolent spirit from escaping Bishopsgate Jail… or will the gates of hell be opened and unimaginable terror be unleashed on Victorian London?
Director Stephen Hall’s second feature looks great, by both utilising its primary location and weighing in with decent production and period costume design. However for all its strengths THE GATES is just not that interesting and instead of weighing in as a film that freak you out and keep you on the edge of your seat it’s more akin to something that your grandparents would watch for a restful Sunday afternoon’s viewing instead.
There’s a smidgeon of THE HIDDEN’s DNA here as the spirit of Colcott jumps from one host to another but there’s not much else happening and what does happening is nothing more than a lot of dialogue scenes that do not always make much sense. When you have characters chatting calmly after witnessing a violent supernatural occurrence, rather than shake in fear, you kind of wonder whether you were the only one that witnessed it.
Perhaps a shorter runtime would have ironed out the niggles and trimmed the excessive and sometimes repetitive dialogue scenes – ‘Something doesn’t feel right’ gets said a LOT – into a tidier and more satisfying watch, as it stands not a lot happens, the steady pace becomes tiresome and a promising premise is consequently lost along the way.