AN X-RATED PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER!

A blatant rip-off of the sound and feel of David Fincher's Se7en, The Gate is set in a mental hospital and is full of creepy sound effects and music and atmosphere. The opening sequence is the result of a filmmaker trying valiantly to rip off the groundbreaking Se7en opening credits, by using cheap digital-video technology. It's your call as to whether scenes of hardcore sex work amidst such creepiness and moodiness. As far as I'm concerned—sure, why not? It's a fun, campy change from the usual nonsense. And the acting is actually above average for porn. However, all the scenes feature condoms, an automatic turn-off.

SCENE 1

A brunette nurse (Kylie Ireland) and an orderly get it on in a supply room. He's buffed out and she's dolled up in white and shaved. After a nice blow, he's inserting himself doggy-style while standing. Then, missionary anal in a chair, and she sucks him to fruition. Not bad. Grade: B-

A lot of plot is inserted between Scenes 1 and 2, and you'll probably tire of the film's attempts at One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest homages.

SCENE 2

One of the patients (Brad Armstrong) fantasizes about an encounter with a bikini-clad bathing beauty (Sydnee Steele). She's soon blowing him in an outdoor setting, then riding him in a reverse-cowgirl, then receiving him in the missionary position, then getting it from behind while leaning against a tree, then spurt. This is a pretty average scene that feels completely tacked on. Grade: C

SCENE 3

A female prisoner (Bridgette Kerkove) shares her own fantasy, about fucking her dad's lawyer in his office. This one proceeds rapidly to missionary anal and some gaping, which isn't particularly attractive but seems to be a trend these days. The anal sex in this scene is somewhat creative, as the lawyer dips into her from above. Grade: C-

SCENE 4

Joel Lawrence, doing his best Brad Pitt from 12 Monkeys, gets to fuck a hooker (Kaylynn), thanks to the hospital's lead doctor, who thinks he needs to get laid. This one starts with an amusing blowjob, then reverse-cowgirl, then doggy, then anal-doggy. This scene has surprising humor and energy, and is the best in the film. Grade: B+

SCENE 5

This is a memory relived by Hannah (Alexa). She has rather slow, sensual sex with a guy, bestowing her cocksucking talents, then receiving fun cunnilingus as she straddles the guy's face. Next, reverse-cowgirl and missionary and pop. Grade: B-

SCENE 6

Finally, Joel and Hannah have sex in her padded cell. This one had a lot of build-up and therefore is more interesting than the other scenes. It's truly the climax of the film. Mostly in slow-motion and accompanied by bad vocal rock music, the action progresses from blowjob to standing doggy to prone doggy to blow-pop. Grade: B

AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY

The full-frame image is nicely detailed, with vivid colors. The audio is clear and accurate. A nice presentation all around.

SPECIAL FEATURES

On Disc 1, you get Audio Bios of the major stars. Also on Disc 1 are Photo Galleries, the trailer for The Gate, and the usual Wicked propaganda. Finally, you can read the entire script for the film, something I've never seen on a porn DVD.

Disc 1 also contains two audio commentaries. The first is a Commentary by Jonathan Morgan and Alexa. It's a nuts-and-bolts track punctuated by long silences. It doesn't contain the usual amounts of humor or behind-the-scenes gossip. The second is a Commentary by Brad Armstrong and Joel Lawrence. This one is a more enjoyable, breezy track full of insider dope. Joey Lawrence seems to be a genuinely funny guy, and Brad Armstrong plays off him nicely.

This first feature on Disc 2 is ALL ACCESS: The Making of The Gate, a 36-minute behind-the-scenes piece that takes a full 10 minutes to get to any sex footage. This feature made it clear that the director, Jonathan Morgan, was perhaps overly concerned with making a dramatic masterpiece.

Next is a 10-minute featurette called Alexa's Body Molding, which shows how plaster is used to create a rubber toy of Alexa's body parts. Lots of fun nudity in this one.

In Extended Sex Scenes, you can watch extensions of two scenes. A feature I like here is that a Wicked logo appears whenever you're watching deleted footage.

You can view the Box Cover Shoot in this 10-minute featurette.

Finally, you get Interviews with the Cast, which covers Alexa, Joel Lawrence, Mike Horner, Brad Armstrong, and Kylie Ireland. These are fairly extensive on-set interviews.