Equinox (1970 film)


Equinox is a 1970 American supernatural horror film directed by Jack Woods, and starring Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner and Robin Christopher. Though uncredited, producer Dennis Muren also served as a second director. The film focuses on four teenagers picnicking in a California canyon, where they stumble upon an ancient book containing secrets of a strange world that exists alongside humans, and consequently unleash a plethora of evil creatures.
The film was originally conceived as a short by producer-director Muren—then titled The Equinox: Journey into the Supernatural—who developed and shot it with friends Dave Allen and Jim Danforth in 1967. After independent distributor Tonylyn Productions expressed interest in distributing the film, director Jack Woods was hired to direct additional footage and expand Muren's short into a full-length feature film.
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 released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2006.

Plot

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?".

Cast

Production

Development

While studying business at Pasadena City College, producer and aspiring filmmaker Dennis Muren devised a short science fiction film, The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural, with his friends Dave Allen and Jim Danforth. The short film was made on a budget of approximately $6,500.
Tonylyn Productions, a small film company, liked the film enough to distribute it. Producer Jack H. Harris hired film editor Jack Woods, who previously worked with John Cassavetes, to direct additional footage in order to make Equinox into a feature-length film. The American Film Institute notes that the final production budget was $8,000. Re-titled to simply Equinox, Muren was credited as associate producer in spite of having directed much of the film and creating the special effects himself.

Filming

Principal photography took place in Tujunga, California, and Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Jim Duron played both the Orderly and the Green Giant.

Release

Equinox premiered theatrically in Dallas, Texas on May 6, 1970. It later opened in Detroit on August 26, 1970, and in Los Angeles on March 31, 1971.

Home media

Not long after its original theatrical release, the film was made available in abridged Super 8 film reels designed for home exhibition.
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.
It also featured an introduction by the film's champion Forrest J. Ackerman.

Critical response and legacy

In his review of the film, Bill Gibron from DVD Talk wrote, "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".
Dave Sindelar from Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings gave the film a positive review, noting that "despite the obvious cheapness and the long shooting schedule which results in characters aging before your eyes", he felt the film was powerful and commended the film for its "compelling sense of Lovecraftian evil". Noel Murray from The A.V. Club rated the film a grade B, writing, "It's clear these guys had more ingenuity than resources, and watching Equinox is like a lesson in how to make something out of nothing."
Dennis Schwartz from Ozus' World Movie Reviews awarded the film a grade C, stating that the film was "noted only for its great special effects" Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, stating that the film "Mixes movie clichés with good special effects".
Due to the similarities in their plots, Equinox is believed to have inspired Evil Dead, though this has not been confirmed. It was seen by members of the crew of Evil Dead before production: