Equinox

[onionhead]

Anybody remember this one?  An expedition in the woods with a bunch of twenty-something-year-old teenagers looking for Professor Waterman, who discovers the Necronomicon Ex Mortis in a cave--check out the cackling old man in the shadows, a classic bit of emoting.  Frank Bonner pre-Herb Tarlik before WKRP, a sherrif named Asmodius, monsters by the great Ray Harryhausen--how the hell did he get here, Social Security was late in the mail?!  Anyway, I thought it was fun, good diversion from Freddy and Jason and that crap. Insight:  demonic posession turns your eyes black and makes you screw up your lips alot.  I seem to be having difficulties finding any web info on this one, so if there is any input out there, please tell me.  Thanx.

[Haze]

Ah Equinox, definately one of those movies good for late night television. The movie is light weight and more or less pretty thoughtless. It is one of the cheesiest movies out there and damn it is fun to watch. Although, none of the characters worked out to be interesting and the stop motion is sometimes wasted. But it comes together with a cool ending and an almost Jack the giant Killer vibe.

Good stuff, I would give it 4 slimes.

[Chris K.]

I to have a fond memory of EQUINOX and it is one of my favorites. But just to let you in on a little bit of history about the film, did you know that their are TWO versions of the film: the Director's Cut and the Theatrical Cut.

Back in 1967, a then unknown effects artist Dennis Muren was working on an amateur feature film with writer Mark Thomas McGeee. The film was titled THE EQUINOX: A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL and it was shot in 16mm on location in Pasadena, California. With stop-motion effects contributed by Jim Danforth and David Allen (Ray Harryhausen was NOT responsible for the animation at all), the film went into editing up until 1969. By the time it was completed, producer/distributor Jack H. Harris viewed the film and felt it was marketable. But, he requested some additional footage to be shot with the same actors and was directed by Jack Woods. The character of Asmodeus was also added in (played by Woods) and is not in Dennis Muren's version. Also, their was some additional animation sequences that were excised from the Theatrical Cut. Released in 1971, the film was re-titled EQUINOX and Dennis Muren did not recieve any directors credit in the Theatrical Cut.

At one point in time, it was announced that Criterion was going to release both THE EQUINOX: A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL and EQUINOX on DVD. Sadly, Critierion did not have any of this planned as it was all rumor.

The Director's Cut is usually available on ebay.com, so good luck trying to find a decent copy of the film in it's original intended form.

[StatCat]

Never saw it, it was on tv a few times awhile back but I missed out. It heavily influenced evil dead from what I've heard.

[chris]

This is one of the movies I can't believe scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.  I thought it was terrifying, especially the ending.  Watching it today though, it is a thoroughly entertaining film and a heck of a lot of fun.  I love it.

[kriegerg69]

....been shown on AMC, which is where I recorded mine before AMC started with all those crappy commercials. But they DID run the Director's Cut, which really wasn't all that much longer.

There's also no question that EQUINOX influenced both EVIL DEAD as well as BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. That's something that's generally been acknowledged since BLAIR WITCH was out, and I've also heard some of the AMC hosts mention that as well. Just think of the similarities......

[onionhead]

Thanx fer clearing up the Harryhausen bit--'twas a rumor I heard a few years after seeing it on late night tv.  Found a review of this gem last night and was interested to discover that Fritz Leiber Jr. was old Doc Waterman.
A director's cut--how about one for Abraxus?

[JohnL]

I saw this on TV years ago, but I'm not sure which version I saw. All I remember is some people walking in the woods, and I think there was a winged demon. At the time I thought it sucked, but as I've been remembering it, I think I might like to see it again.

[Vermin Boy]

I love this movie. I remember finding late at night on the pre-suck AMC, and I couldn't stop laughing. My favorite line (3/4 into the movie): "Hey, I just remembered! Asmodeous is another word for Devil!" And then, of course, there's the GIANT, STOP-MOTION LAND OCTOPUS! Did I mention I love this movie?

[Gerry]

Though an entertaining one at that.

Check out my review (with pics!)

<http://www.scifilm.org/reviews/equinox.html>

[Lancer]

I love this quote... "In one year and one day you would be dead!"  

One of my favort movies of all time...

[thaticus]

i rented this at a texas movie store..twice..once under the name"equinox"and again under the title"the beast"..i also taped it off amc..i liked the goofy film the first time i laid eyes and ears on it..really cheap..."MYYYYYY CROSSSSSSSSS!!!!"