‘There are monsters in the woods’
The Gatehouse is a 2016 horror film about a young girl who lives at the edge of an ancient forest. She likes to dig for buried treasure, but one day she digs up something she shouldn’t and the forest wants it back.
The movie was written and directed by Martin Gooch (Death). The Gothic Manor production stars Scarlett Rayner, Simeon Willis and Linal Haft.
Plot [includes spoilers]:
Jack Winter is a struggling writer who is still grieving the death of his wife, Eloise, while trying to raise his daughter, Eternity. His fortunes appear to improve when he accepts a commission to finish a disturbing book about the legend of the black flowers, an occult mystery associated with its original author’s mental collapse.
Meanwhile, Eternity spends her time exploring the forest and digging for buried treasure. She discovers a mysterious object connected to the black flowers and brings it home, unknowingly disturbing an ancient supernatural force.
As Jack researches the book, the two storylines begin to converge. Strange occurrences plague the family home, the ghost of Eloise appears, and a terrifying creature from the forest begins attacking people. The mysterious artefacts are connected to an ancient woodland power that wants them returned.
Jack and Eternity gradually discover that their home is more than an ordinary gatehouse: it has a connection to the forest’s supernatural origins. They must work alongside their neighbours and confront the danger before the curse destroys them.
However, the forest creature is not necessarily the greatest threat. Their increasingly desperate struggle exposes the sinister intentions of their unsettling neighbour, Algernon, whose activities reveal a darker human element behind the unfolding horror.
In the climactic confrontation, Eternity must face the supernatural creature and the human threat while trying to save her father and restore the stolen artefacts to the forest. The ending brings the various supernatural and family storylines together, with Jack and Eternity finding a way forward after their ordeal.
Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk
Cast and characters:
Scarlett Rayner … Eternity Winters
Simeon Willis – The Rizen; Egomaniac; The Invisible Atomic Monsters from Mars; Stagknight
Linal Haft – Ripper Street; Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King
Samantha White – The Rizen; The World’s End
Sarine Sofair – The Rizen 2; Shortcuts to Hell: Volume 1
Hannah Waddingham
Melissa Knatchbull
Zara Plessard
Anda Berzina
Stephen Boxer
Andrew Caley
Tayo Elesin – Bloodshot
Paul Freeman – Hot Fuzz; Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Martin Gooch
Taylor Parsons – The Rizen 2
Sakuntala Ramanee
Alix Wilton Regan – Zombie Diaries 2
Choice dialogue:
Publishing Agent: “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”
Filming locations:
Somerset, England
Release date:
Incanta Media released The Gatehouse on DVD in the UK on 1 October 2018.
In the USA, The Gatehouse was released digitally on VOD by Uncork’d Entertainment on December 5, 2017.
Trailer:
Free online on YouTube:
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