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Equinox (also known as The Equinox ... A Journey into the Supernatural, and released on home video as The Beast) is a 1970 American independent horror film directed by Jack Woods and Dennis Muren, and starring Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner and Robin Christopher. The plot focuses on four teenagers having a picnic in the canyons of California who stumble upon an ancient book containing secrets of a strange world that exists alongside humans, and consequently unleash a plethora of evil creatures.
| Equinox | |
|---|---|
DVD cover | |
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by | Jack H. Harris Dennis Muren |
| Screenplay by | Jack Woods |
| Story by | Mark Thomas McGee |
| Starring | Edward Connell Barbara Hewitt Frank Bonner Robin Christopher |
| Cinematography | Mike Hoover |
| Edited by | John Joyce |
| Distributed by | Tonylyn Productions |
Release date | July 1970 (Trieste Film Festival)
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6,500 |
Made on a budget of a mere $6,500 in 1967, Equinox initially gained a reputation as a midnight movie during its theatrical run, but has in later years been noted for its economical yet sophisticated use of stop-motion special effects and cel animation, which were provided by Dave Allen and Jim Danforth; the latter later worked on Flesh Gordon, in which he animated a giant monster similar to the ones in Equinox. The film has been influential to the horror and sci-fi monster genres, receiving praise from filmmaker George Lucas and special effects artist Ray Harryhausen; it was also noted as a main inspiration for Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). It was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2006.
Screenplay
Four young adults – David Fielding, Susan Turner, Jim Hudson, and Jim's girlfriend, Vicki head into the woods to look for a lost scientist, Dr. Arthur Waterman. They have a picnic and see a mysterious castle in the woods. They find that Dr. Waterman's cabin seems to have been destroyed. A forest ranger, who is Asmodeus in human form, watches over them. When the group stumbles into a cave, a strange old man presents them with an ancient book filled with magical lore and symbols. Asmodeus sends monsters – a giant ape-like creature and a green-skinned, fur-clad giant – to retrieve the book from them at all costs. The ape-like creature kills the old man. Reading through the book, David learns that it belonged to Dr. Waterman, who had experimented with its demon-summoning rituals. He lost control of the giant tentacled creature he conjured, however, which destroyed his house. The castle seems to have disappeared, however, the friends discover that it has been rendered invisible by magic.
After killing Jim, Asmodeus reveals his true form, that of a winged red demon. Asmodeus kills Vicki and then attacks Dave and Susan. Dave and Susan flee to a cemetery and destroy the demon with a cross. As it dies, the cemetery explodes, killing Susan. Dave sees a shadowy giant who prophesies that Dave will be dead in one year and one day. Dave loses his sanity, and is confined to a mental hospital. One year and one day later, an evil-faced Susan arrives at the hospital to visit him. The film concludes with end credits saying "The End?"
- Edward Connell as David Fielding
- Barbara Hewitt as Susan Turner
- Frank Bonner as Jim Hudson (as Frank Boers Jr.)
- Robin Christopher as Vicki
- Jack Woods as Asmodeus
- Fritz Leiber as Dr. Arthur Waterman
- James Philips as Reporter Sloan (as Jim Philips)
- Patrick Burke as Branson
- Jim Duron as Orderly and Green Giant
- Norvelle Brooks as Detective Harrison
- Irving L. Lichtenstein as Old Man
- Jim Danforth as Orderly with Syringe (uncredited)
- Forrest J Ackerman as Doctor Johansson, on tape recorder (voice) (uncredited)
- Sharon Gray
- Louis Clayton
While studying business at Pasadena City College, Muren spent $6500 to make The Equinox ... A Journey into the Supernatural (at that time, a short science fiction film) with friends Dave Allen and Jim Danforth. Tonylyn Productions, a small film company, liked the film enough to distribute it. Producer Jack H. Harris hired film editor Jack Woods to direct additional footage in order to make Equinox into a feature-length film. When the retitled feature-length Equinox was released on October 1, 1970, Muren was credited as associate producer in spite of having directed much of the film and creating the special effects himself.
Jim Duron played both the Orderly and the Green Giant
The film also included a cameo from author Fritz Leiber as Dr. Waterman, who was signed via the auspices of Forrest J Ackerman; Ackerman's voice is heard on a tape recorder during the hospital scenes in the film. Leiber has no spoken lines in the film, only four scenes: one in which he is seen driving; a scene in which he grabs the book from the young people and runs away with it through the woods, a death scene in which his body mysteriously disappears; and a flashback in which we see him reading through the book and descending the stairs of his forest hideaway while a tentacled creature tears it apart.
DVD Talk said, "In a strange way, Equinox is The Evil Dead with Ray Harryhausen substituting for Sam Raimi. There are so many obvious connections that you have to imagine Sam and his clan came across this version somewhere in the formation of their film and starting taking stylistic notes. While it can't compare with Dead's decided darkness, Equinox manages to be an effective entertainment".
Due to the similarities in their plots, Equinox is believed to have inspired Evil Dead, yet this has not been confirmed. It was seen by members of the crew of Evil Dead before production:
I had seen Equinox at least twice in drive-ins before making Evil Dead. I don't recall having discussed it with Sam Raimi, but the similarities are remarkable. I think they come from the low-budget nature of both films. That is, a few characters, an isolated, inexpensive location, and ambitious special effects. All in all, Equinox did inspire me to continue my goal of making movies. 'If they can do it ... '
—?Tom Sullivan, special effects and makeup artist for the Evil Dead movies, as quoted in "Backyard Monsters: Equinox and the Triumph of Love" by Brock Deshane, a booklet included with the Criterion DVD set.
DVD release
Equinox was released on DVD in June 2006 as release 338 in the Criterion Collection, including both the theatrical version and Muren's original production, the first time the latter was officially released.
