The Four Gates of Death (2026) (Blu-ray Review)
DIRECTED BY: Kiss Lajos, Zsolt Bernath
STARRING: Andras Boda, Attila Kiss, Bernath Fanni
RATED: UR/Region: O/1:78/1080P/NUMBER OF DISCS 1 (BDr)
AVAILABLE FROM Cosmic Films
Anthology horror movies are basically the cinematic equivalent of a box of chocolates. You never quite know what you’re going to get, and there’s always a chance that one of the pieces tastes like absolute shit.
Thankfully, The Four Gates of Death mostly avoids that problem.
This 2026 Hungarian horror anthology, directed by Kiss Lajos and Zsolt Bernath, gives us four stories wrapped together by a cemetery worker who, because apparently working around dead people isn’t creepy enough on its own, decides to sit down and tell us some tales.
Because that’s what cemetery workers apparently do in Hungary.
“Welcome to the graveyard.”
“Thanks.”
“Would you like to hear four horrifying stories?”
“…I was actually just here to visit my grandmother.”
“Too late.”
And honestly, I’m perfectly fine with this setup. The wraparound story gives the anthology a nice old-school horror vibe, with the cemetery setting providing exactly the sort of atmosphere you’d expect before somebody starts telling you stories that probably shouldn’t be heard after dark.
The biggest selling point for me, though, is the runtime.
Seventy-five minutes.
That’s it.
Bless these filmmakers.
In an age where seemingly every movie feels obligated to run two hours because apparently audiences now need to be emotionally invested in the protagonist’s childhood trauma, their divorce, their favorite coffee order, and the six-month journey they took to discover themselves before the monster finally shows up, The Four Gates of Death gets in, tells four stories, and gets the hell out.
And I appreciate the hell out of that.
You can practically hear the movie saying:
“We’re going to scare you for a little while and then let you get on with your evening.”
Thank you.
The four segments give the movie some variety, which is exactly what you want from an anthology. One story starts to drag a little? Don’t worry. Another one is coming. You don’t have to spend 45 minutes watching one idea slowly run out of gas.
That’s one of the biggest advantages of the anthology format when it’s done correctly. You can experiment with different tones, characters, and horror concepts without asking the audience to commit their entire afternoon.
And The Four Gates of Death understands that.
It’s also nice to see a Hungarian horror anthology because the international horror scene is filled with interesting movies that don’t get nearly as much attention as the usual English-language suspects. There’s a particular charm to watching something that feels a little outside the normal horror assembly line.
Is everything here going to work equally well for everybody?
Probably not.
That’s the nature of anthologies. One segment will inevitably be your favorite while another leaves you sitting there thinking, “Okay… that was certainly a thing that happened.”
But that’s part of the fun.
The cemetery wraparound also helps give the whole thing a cohesive identity. Instead of simply throwing four unrelated shorts together and calling it a movie, the framing story makes everything feel like part of the same creepy little package.
And honestly, if somebody wants to tell me scary stories in a cemetery, I’m listening.
Well…
I’m listening until the cemetery worker starts telling me about the fourth story and I realize I’m apparently trapped there.
Then I’m leaving.
Overall, The Four Gates of Death is a short, strange, old-school-feeling anthology that knows one of the most important rules of modern filmmaking:
Don’t overstay your fucking welcome.
At 75 minutes, it moves along nicely, gives us four stories, wraps everything up, and sends us home before we’re checking the clock wondering if the movie plans on ending sometime this decade.
And that’s increasingly refreshing.
I don’t need every horror movie to be two hours and twenty minutes.
Sometimes I just want to sit down, watch some creepy shit, hear a few stories from a suspiciously knowledgeable cemetery worker, and get out before midnight.
The Four Gates of Death understands the assignment.
Four stories.
One creepy cemetery worker.
Seventy-five minutes.
No unnecessary cinematic bloat.
Now that’s what I call respecting the audience’s time.
Extras
- Behind the Scenes Documentary
- Director Introcutions
