Come on, people! This was a zero-budget student film, for God's sake! You can't assess this movie like you would the latest big-budget studio blockbuster. This was an earnest effort of some FX-crazed kids, who did their damnedest to get some cool stop-motion monster sequences on film as a showcase of their talents. Dennis Muren went on to STAR WARS fame and many Oscars, and the late lamented David Allen enlivened many a crappy Charles Band flick (that's actually a redundancy) with superb effects that always belied the pitiful budget he was given to work with. All I know is, my younger brother and I, both stop-motion fans, saw the trailer for EQUINOX at some long-ago Saturday matinée and KNEW we had to see this film. And when we finally did we thought it was COOL! I'd rather see a continuity-challenged, amateur FX effort like this than any multimillion-dollar CG crapfest like VAN HELSING any day of the week!
89 Reviews
THE EQUINOX
A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL (Dennis Muren and Marc McGee, 1967) **1/2
Bunuel197612 August 2007
{This review includes comments on EQUINOX (Jack Woods, 1970) **1/2}
When this was first announced as a Criterion release, I was only vaguely familiar with it; I purchased the 2-Disc Set recently (as it was on sale) without really knowing what to expect; the result is certainly interesting especially having two versions of the film to compare even if it doesn't quite belong in the "Collection".
Originally made in 1967, THE EQUINOX A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL is basically a 70-minute home movie amateurish if clearly made by fanatics of the horror genre, talented enough to create their own monsters (which aren't too bad into the bargain)! When the film was eventually picked up for release by Jack H. Harris, he ordered several reshoots, changed the order of scenes around, tightened some others, replaced a lot of the dialogue, etc. this didn't necessarily make for a better film (in fact, I think that the original is still the superior effort) but, at least, it now felt like a proper movie!
What the theatrical version did, primarily and ultimately to its detriment, was to eliminate a lot of the surprise which the original held for instance, the figure of the demon towering over the hero at the very start of the 1967 version is missing from the theatrical-release print; similarly, we're shown the driverless car which mows him down prior to the accident. Also, the revelation that the demon is taking possession of the characters (having already established that this is what caused the Professor and the hero's blind date to go crazy momentarily in the re-edited version) takes away from the scene in which his best friend is likewise 'afflicted'; and, again, the impact of the twist ending is lessened when we already know that Susan is capable of evil.
The teenage leads are likable enough to overcome their essential inexperience; popular horror writer Fritz Leiber appears as the obsessive Professor who unwittingly unleashes the Forces of Darkness in the wilderness; in the 1967 version, we also get to hear the voice of horror/sci-fi authority Forrest J. Ackerman (who, then, appears on the DVD for a special introduction). The one major addition to the cast list for the 1970 version is, ironically, the character played by the re-shoots director himself a creepy-looking Ranger with the equally strange name of Asmodeus (as it turns out, one of the devil's various monikers!). While he was, perhaps, intended to beef up the picture's scare factor (even attempting to rape the two girls), it's really a pointless role and basically represents a distraction from the central narrative (which deals naively with the eternal struggle between Good and Evil, as shown in an ancient tome kept by a crazy old man living inside a cave and which involves much religious symbolism and an invisible barrier leading into the netherworld)!
Finally, we get to the special effects: they're very primitively done and a couple of the creatures (the squid and the giant native) aren't very effective but the ape-like monster and the demon are quite marvelously designed and one isn't overly bothered by the essential lack of refinement in the stop-motion animation involved. Unfortunately, the print utilized for the transfer of the 1967 version is very poor with a number of shots being several generations removed from the already substandard master and lip-synch problems during a fair chunk of the duration (attributable certainly to its rarity, but which also adds to the inherent charm of its rough-and-ready quality)!
When this was first announced as a Criterion release, I was only vaguely familiar with it; I purchased the 2-Disc Set recently (as it was on sale) without really knowing what to expect; the result is certainly interesting especially having two versions of the film to compare even if it doesn't quite belong in the "Collection".
Originally made in 1967, THE EQUINOX A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL is basically a 70-minute home movie amateurish if clearly made by fanatics of the horror genre, talented enough to create their own monsters (which aren't too bad into the bargain)! When the film was eventually picked up for release by Jack H. Harris, he ordered several reshoots, changed the order of scenes around, tightened some others, replaced a lot of the dialogue, etc. this didn't necessarily make for a better film (in fact, I think that the original is still the superior effort) but, at least, it now felt like a proper movie!
What the theatrical version did, primarily and ultimately to its detriment, was to eliminate a lot of the surprise which the original held for instance, the figure of the demon towering over the hero at the very start of the 1967 version is missing from the theatrical-release print; similarly, we're shown the driverless car which mows him down prior to the accident. Also, the revelation that the demon is taking possession of the characters (having already established that this is what caused the Professor and the hero's blind date to go crazy momentarily in the re-edited version) takes away from the scene in which his best friend is likewise 'afflicted'; and, again, the impact of the twist ending is lessened when we already know that Susan is capable of evil.
The teenage leads are likable enough to overcome their essential inexperience; popular horror writer Fritz Leiber appears as the obsessive Professor who unwittingly unleashes the Forces of Darkness in the wilderness; in the 1967 version, we also get to hear the voice of horror/sci-fi authority Forrest J. Ackerman (who, then, appears on the DVD for a special introduction). The one major addition to the cast list for the 1970 version is, ironically, the character played by the re-shoots director himself a creepy-looking Ranger with the equally strange name of Asmodeus (as it turns out, one of the devil's various monikers!). While he was, perhaps, intended to beef up the picture's scare factor (even attempting to rape the two girls), it's really a pointless role and basically represents a distraction from the central narrative (which deals naively with the eternal struggle between Good and Evil, as shown in an ancient tome kept by a crazy old man living inside a cave and which involves much religious symbolism and an invisible barrier leading into the netherworld)!
Finally, we get to the special effects: they're very primitively done and a couple of the creatures (the squid and the giant native) aren't very effective but the ape-like monster and the demon are quite marvelously designed and one isn't overly bothered by the essential lack of refinement in the stop-motion animation involved. Unfortunately, the print utilized for the transfer of the 1967 version is very poor with a number of shots being several generations removed from the already substandard master and lip-synch problems during a fair chunk of the duration (attributable certainly to its rarity, but which also adds to the inherent charm of its rough-and-ready quality)!
OK, it's silly, but it scared me as a kid.
hoversj11 April 2003
Warning: Spoilers
Watch this movie late at night, in the right mood, when you're about 12 years old and it's really good. Watch it older, or more cynically, and you will probably find it silly.
It's vaguely Lovecraft-inspired, about four young people who go looking for an old professor they know who's living in a cabin in the woods while he studies "eldritch knowledge". They find his cabin crushed as if by a mighty foot (the model probably was), he's missing and his scary book (I believe it's even titled the Necronomicon) is missing.
For the time the movie was made and the budget they obviously had, I still find it a valiant effort.
How do YOU picture an invisible castle?
It's vaguely Lovecraft-inspired, about four young people who go looking for an old professor they know who's living in a cabin in the woods while he studies "eldritch knowledge". They find his cabin crushed as if by a mighty foot (the model probably was), he's missing and his scary book (I believe it's even titled the Necronomicon) is missing.
For the time the movie was made and the budget they obviously had, I still find it a valiant effort.
How do YOU picture an invisible castle?
Check Out The Criterion Edition
HalfCentury4 March 2007
Bad, good, it doesn't matter. This is one of the great film labors of love. Rent the criterion edition and do as I did. Listen to the commentary over the Muren cut of the film. Then Switch to the Jack Harris, Jack Woods commentary over their cut. I was under the false impression as I watched the kids cut that Woods did not add much when he made his cut. Watching Woods cut you see how much effort went into shaping the final theatrical cut. It's amazing that the actors, unpaid for 2 years, already constantly returning to remote sets to incrementally add to to the shot count, would ALL reassemble for the extra shots that Woods would want to add. Listening to Muren, Danforth and McGee knock their own acting and talent is a real crack up. Everyone involved obviously loved the doing of this film. I am still impressed by the high quality of illusion achieved, especially the forced perspective work and the matte painting by Danforth.
Cinematic Refrigerator Art
w00f16 January 2009
The best thing on this DVD is the introduction by the late great Forrie Ackerman. The movie itself is rather creative considering that it was made by a bunch of teenagers in their backyard. Still, that doesn't make it a good film. It's a bit like kindergarten macaroni art made by Leonardo Da Vinci; historically interesting, perhaps, but nothing one would consider equal to the Mona Lisa. Its still a movie made by kids, and it shows. This is cinematic refrigerator art. Its wonderful that some of the kids who made this got Ackerman's encouragement and went on to great things, but those kids are in their 50's and 60's now and no longer need our encouragement, and I can't recommend this. The script is trite, the stop-motion animation is dated and amateur, and the whole thing is hard to watch.
"It's not easy to lose a dead body and a castle in one day"
hwg1957-102-26570426 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Four, students I suppose, on their way to a party stop off at the isolated cabin belonging to one of their professors and find the building is wrecked. Then things happen involving a castle, some monsters, an occult tome and an old man with a maniacal laugh. Made on a miniscule budget and mainly confined to one location it is not that thrilling and the acting is uninteresting and the music score is excessively bombastic. In its favour it does have some lively stop motion animation creatures that are more interesting than the cast. Amidst the current plethora of needless remakes (Stop it Disney!) a bigger budget remake of this might be fun.
Extremely Low Budget Horror, But With Some Interesting Names Attached To It
sddavis6328 December 2011
Please understand. When I give this only a 2/10, that really is a pretty accurate assessment of the quality of the movie in almost every respect. I'm not knocking the kids who made it. It was apparently done by a bunch of relatively inexperienced young people on a shoestring budget, and I respect the effort that was put into it - but the fact that somebody tried hard isn't going to make me pretend that this is anything but what it is - a really bad horror movie about four young people who on a hike through the woods discover a book about evil that eventually has them doing battle with the devil. The stop motion animation on the various creatures that appear can be forgiven - not only was this a shoestring budget, but it was also made in 1970. The field of special effects was still developing, and the creatures were quite fine. It was more the acting and the dialogue than any of the technical aspects that dragged this down. The dialogue between the characters didn't seem natural. More than anything, it sounded dubbed (even though this was obviously done in English) - almost as if the movie had been filmed and then the dialogue was redone later. Maybe that was typical of very low budget movies in the era? I'm not sure about that but I found it very distracting, because the dialogue wasn't always in sync with the mouths of the actors - even though even a cursory bit of lip reading confirms that the actors were saying the words we were hearing.
Really this is most interesting for some of the names that are associated with it. One of the four young people (Jim) is played by Frank Bonner, who would go on to much greater fame some years later as Herb Tarlek on the TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati." I also did a double take when, glancing at the credits as they rolled at the start of the movie, I noticed that the assistant camera man was Ed Begley, Jr! Also, Dennis Muren (uncredited as one of the directors) went on to do some visual effects work on some pretty big movies, including several of the Star Wars episodes and Battlestar Galactica. So there was obviously some talent (or at least some potential talent) involved with this which makes it worth watching as a curiosity, but little more. (2/10)
Really this is most interesting for some of the names that are associated with it. One of the four young people (Jim) is played by Frank Bonner, who would go on to much greater fame some years later as Herb Tarlek on the TV show "WKRP in Cincinnati." I also did a double take when, glancing at the credits as they rolled at the start of the movie, I noticed that the assistant camera man was Ed Begley, Jr! Also, Dennis Muren (uncredited as one of the directors) went on to do some visual effects work on some pretty big movies, including several of the Star Wars episodes and Battlestar Galactica. So there was obviously some talent (or at least some potential talent) involved with this which makes it worth watching as a curiosity, but little more. (2/10)
Fun so-bad-it's-good romp.
Koosh_King011 July 2012
Four friends, David, Vicki, Jim and Susan, head out into the woods to visit David's professor, Dr. Waterman. They find Waterman'home destroyed, the professor missing, and a mysterious book. It soon becomes apparent that in meddling with the book, Waterman accidentally opened a portal to another, hellish dimension, and now the demon Asmodeus (posing as a park ranger) wants to acquire the powerful book. The four friends must fight against a variety of ghoulish monsters sent after them by Asmodeus, and eventually Asmodeus himself, in order to make it back to civilization alive.
Often considered one of the best-worst movies of all time, Equinox was a student film made by a young Dennis Muren which producer Jack Woods picked up for cinematic distribution, casting himself as Asmodeus and shooting some new scenes. On the one hand, this seems like a strange movie for Criterion to release, especially in a two-disc set, however despite its ineptitude it features some charming stop-motion animation for the various monsters (and some impressive forced-perspective shots to turn an ordinary stuntman into a blue-skinned giant) and it's also certainly worthy of being preserved if only because Dennis Muren and his friends had such a piddly budget to work with that it' a miracle they even had a completed (albeit rough) film, even before Jack Woods came along.
Often considered one of the best-worst movies of all time, Equinox was a student film made by a young Dennis Muren which producer Jack Woods picked up for cinematic distribution, casting himself as Asmodeus and shooting some new scenes. On the one hand, this seems like a strange movie for Criterion to release, especially in a two-disc set, however despite its ineptitude it features some charming stop-motion animation for the various monsters (and some impressive forced-perspective shots to turn an ordinary stuntman into a blue-skinned giant) and it's also certainly worthy of being preserved if only because Dennis Muren and his friends had such a piddly budget to work with that it' a miracle they even had a completed (albeit rough) film, even before Jack Woods came along.
Bad, really bad. B-movie classic
enjoys insanity9 September 2001
I don't know if I should give this movie a "1" or a "10". As far as movies go, this is horrible. But as far as bad movies go, this is a ten. It has everything needed to make a lame movie: poor acting, stupid reasoning ("Gee, I don't know what that sound is coming from the cave, let's check it out", or "let's split up and look for Jim"), claymation monsters, and judging by the clothes and makeup you can tell that they actually did try to make a good movie.
See this only if you like bad movies, or if it's on MST3K
See this only if you like bad movies, or if it's on MST3K
Better Than People Say
hendrixy67 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This movie tends to get panned across the board. Many people see it for what it is on the surface, a low budget crap-o-rama. And, I do agree there is a lot of awful things about this film. The special effects are circa 1954. There are a lot of cheesy animated scenes with the beasts. But, this can be overlooked easily. It is a low budget film made in the late sixties. George Lucas hadn't introduced the world to computer generated effects yet. So, learn to ignore cheesy effects. That was the style at the time. Also, the acting is poor. But, I have seen much worse. And, yes there are some inconsistencies with hair length and the overall appearances of the cast members. But, they filmed this over two years on nothing but the love for the film. You can choose to dwell on all that is wrong or you can choose to focus on all that was right in this film. First, the film was like an early version of the Evil Dead trilogy. The book is like the Necronomicon (the book of the dead) in the Evil Dead movies. An old professor finds the book and by reading it and studying it he unlocks the evil of hell upon a remote wilderness location. After doing so his young college students come to visit him only to realize that he has unlocked the evil of the book. In this movie the professor leaves a note explaining what happened. In the Evil Dead he leaves a recording of what he had done on an old tape recorder. So, if you like the Evil Dead movies, this movie did it first. I think the best thing of all about this movie is that it has a brutal ending. It does not take the happy way out. In the end no one escapes. They all ultimately die. I liked the ending because it wasn't a Hollywood ending where the bad guys get theirs and the good guys win. They were battling Satan, OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T WIN. So, before you trash this movie you should think of how innovative it was. It was 1970. A lot of this hadn't been turned into clichés yet. If you are a horror film fan (for real) this movie is a distinct positive moment of growth and innovation as well as cheesy crap. It's the best of both worlds.
lolololololol
psionchronicles7 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
There seriously needs to be a new genre for movies like this: "intended horror". There wasn't a single scary thing about it, and I spent most of the film giggling. The shots of "Asmodeus" doing that thing with his lips were more than I could withstand; it was like watching Mick Jagger aping an algae eater and I was rolling on the floor. It looked like the total budget of the film was about $100 and most of that was the gas they used to get to the locations. The claymation scenes would have made the Dr. Who producers blush. A demon who looks like a baboon who soaked his butt and legs in Rogaine? If you want a few laughs, check this one out.
Review on the 1967 Version
CMRKeyboadist13 October 2006
I first saw this film a little while ago under the title of The Beast. The first viewing of it I wasn't sure what to make of it. I love the stop motion and all of the special effects but something about the movie didn't catch my interest. When Criterion decided to release this on DVD with both versions of the movie and a whole lot of extras I thought I would give it another chance. I am happy I did because this was a truly fun film that paved the way for movies like Evil Dead or Phantasm.
The storyline might sound familiar. A group of four friends (2 guys, 2 girls) plan a trip to a log cabin out in the middle of nowhere. When they get there they discover the log cabin has been destroyed. After then exploring around they find a few very odd things. A random castle on a hill and a strange old man that gives them this very old book. After this they discover an invisible barrier leading to another world. Soon there are creatures that want to kill them and take the book.
A second viewing was in order. I am glad I did. I believe the version I saw, entitled The Beast, was the 1970's version. Watching the original 1967 version seemed a bit better.
The special effects in this movie are excellent. For me, I am right at home with a movie like this. The stop motion was true eye candy to watch and after you see the first monster you are pretty much in for a fun ride.
A can tell that Sam Raimi probably liked this movie when he was younger and wrote a similar story for his cult phenomenon The Evil Dead. The whole storyline with the book and a group of friends going out to a log cabin was obviously inspiration for Raimi. Even at the beginning of Evil Dead when they are showing images of the book floating in what appears to be fog was very similar to that of a scene in The Equinox when they are explaining what the purpose of the book was. A little bit of similarity with this movie and Phantasm with the portal to another world and how that other world looked upon entering it.
This movie is really a movie for fans of the stop motion genre. If you like Ray Harryhausen this is a must see. 9/10
The storyline might sound familiar. A group of four friends (2 guys, 2 girls) plan a trip to a log cabin out in the middle of nowhere. When they get there they discover the log cabin has been destroyed. After then exploring around they find a few very odd things. A random castle on a hill and a strange old man that gives them this very old book. After this they discover an invisible barrier leading to another world. Soon there are creatures that want to kill them and take the book.
A second viewing was in order. I am glad I did. I believe the version I saw, entitled The Beast, was the 1970's version. Watching the original 1967 version seemed a bit better.
The special effects in this movie are excellent. For me, I am right at home with a movie like this. The stop motion was true eye candy to watch and after you see the first monster you are pretty much in for a fun ride.
A can tell that Sam Raimi probably liked this movie when he was younger and wrote a similar story for his cult phenomenon The Evil Dead. The whole storyline with the book and a group of friends going out to a log cabin was obviously inspiration for Raimi. Even at the beginning of Evil Dead when they are showing images of the book floating in what appears to be fog was very similar to that of a scene in The Equinox when they are explaining what the purpose of the book was. A little bit of similarity with this movie and Phantasm with the portal to another world and how that other world looked upon entering it.
This movie is really a movie for fans of the stop motion genre. If you like Ray Harryhausen this is a must see. 9/10
Cheesy precursor of Raimi's "The Evil Dead".
HumanoidOfFlesh4 March 2010
"Equinox" is a low-budget and wholly independent precursor of Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead" about a group of teenagers,who accidentally unleash supernatural forces after reading passages from a mysterious book Necronomicon found in the woods.The main difference between "Equinox" and "The Evil Dead" is that the latter is drenched with gore and violence,whilst"Equinox" plays more like 50's creature feature combined with cheesy stop-motion monster roaming the woods.I must say that the stop motion monster effects are pretty impressive as are the split screen effects.The acting is amateurish and the writing leaves a lot to be desired.Who would of ever guessed that Park Ranger Asmodeus would turn out to be Satan incarnate.Still strong 8 out of 10.
The Devil's Encyclopedia
sol121814 May 2008
**SPOILERS** Checking out a story a year old involving David Fielding newspaper reporter Slone is shocked to find that David has completely lost his mind and is spending most of his time in a padded cell. Not saying a word David clutches on to this crucifix as if it meant dear life to him.
It's when Slone shows David a photo of his missing collage professor Dr. Waterman that he goes berserk and in the struggle with Slone and a number of hospital orderlies he loses his crucifix. This has the normally passive David get so disruptive that he has to be strapped into a straight-jacket.
At David's attending doctors, the renowned Swedish physician Dr. Johanson, office Slone hears a tape that Dr. Johanson made a year ago when David was admitted to the hospital. Overlooked at first as the ratings and ravings of a madman the tape soon reveals the truth about what exactly happened to David and his collage friends Jim Susan & Vicki and why David cracked up because of it.
In an hour long flashback were given an insight to the strange happenings in and around Dr. Waterman's cabin in the woods and how it effected David and his friends. It turned out that Dr. Waterman found this "Book" on one of his travels in the Persian Gulf that , by him deciphering it, opened the door to a world of monsters devils and demons. These demons in the end not only drove Dr. Waterman mad but also took his life.
The "Book" was later found by David and his friends hidden in a cave by this local crazy man who was more then happy for the befuddled collage students to take it off his hands. That happiness was later turned to grief when the crazy old guy paid with his life for wantonly losing it.
Were also introduced in the movie to this Ranger Rick-like Forest Ranger who calls himself Mr. Asmoteus. Mr. Asmoteus who's really in control of everything that's going on in the movie want's that "Book" and will do anything, even opening up the very gates of hell, to get it. Mr. Asmoteus also has this weird habit of twisting his mouth and lips around, like a sexual pervert, that has drops of saliva dripping off them as he if he was suffering from the aftereffects of a fatal king cobra bite.
**SPOILER ALERT*** Constantly attacked by monsters that Mr. Asmoteus conjured up the collage students end up all dead with the exception of David who escapes and is then run over by a driver-less car as we saw at the start of the film. It's then back to the present that the curse put on David by the evil forces from Dr. Waterman's "Book" come into play. Those forces are about to be put into motion by no-other then David's demonic-possessed and zombie-like girlfriend Susan!
It's when Slone shows David a photo of his missing collage professor Dr. Waterman that he goes berserk and in the struggle with Slone and a number of hospital orderlies he loses his crucifix. This has the normally passive David get so disruptive that he has to be strapped into a straight-jacket.
At David's attending doctors, the renowned Swedish physician Dr. Johanson, office Slone hears a tape that Dr. Johanson made a year ago when David was admitted to the hospital. Overlooked at first as the ratings and ravings of a madman the tape soon reveals the truth about what exactly happened to David and his collage friends Jim Susan & Vicki and why David cracked up because of it.
In an hour long flashback were given an insight to the strange happenings in and around Dr. Waterman's cabin in the woods and how it effected David and his friends. It turned out that Dr. Waterman found this "Book" on one of his travels in the Persian Gulf that , by him deciphering it, opened the door to a world of monsters devils and demons. These demons in the end not only drove Dr. Waterman mad but also took his life.
The "Book" was later found by David and his friends hidden in a cave by this local crazy man who was more then happy for the befuddled collage students to take it off his hands. That happiness was later turned to grief when the crazy old guy paid with his life for wantonly losing it.
Were also introduced in the movie to this Ranger Rick-like Forest Ranger who calls himself Mr. Asmoteus. Mr. Asmoteus who's really in control of everything that's going on in the movie want's that "Book" and will do anything, even opening up the very gates of hell, to get it. Mr. Asmoteus also has this weird habit of twisting his mouth and lips around, like a sexual pervert, that has drops of saliva dripping off them as he if he was suffering from the aftereffects of a fatal king cobra bite.
**SPOILER ALERT*** Constantly attacked by monsters that Mr. Asmoteus conjured up the collage students end up all dead with the exception of David who escapes and is then run over by a driver-less car as we saw at the start of the film. It's then back to the present that the curse put on David by the evil forces from Dr. Waterman's "Book" come into play. Those forces are about to be put into motion by no-other then David's demonic-possessed and zombie-like girlfriend Susan!
"If you knew what was in that book you'd turn to jelly."
Backlash00714 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
~Spoiler~
Equinox is a bit of a paradox. It's not really a good movie, from a technical standpoint. The acting is laughable, the voice-over is terrible, and the direction is nothing to write home about. However, the storyline is so ahead of its time and would influence countless filmmakers years later. From that view, it's an important film. Equinox started out as a student film by future Oscar winner Dennis Muren. It later got picked up for distro by Jack Harris and a few scenes were added (this is why there are two versions on the Criterion release). The film is about four young students who go into the woods to seek out a professor. They stumble upon an ancient book and one by one become possessed by demons as they attempt to solve the mystery of the missing professor. Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert obviously saw this movie, and to a lesser extent, maybe Don Coscarelli. It's influence is certainly felt in The Evil Dead, a favorite of mine. That is why I recommend seeing it. There are some parallel ideas in this film that mirror those from many other classics. If you love The Evil Dead films and the Phantasm series, you really should check out Equinox.
Equinox is a bit of a paradox. It's not really a good movie, from a technical standpoint. The acting is laughable, the voice-over is terrible, and the direction is nothing to write home about. However, the storyline is so ahead of its time and would influence countless filmmakers years later. From that view, it's an important film. Equinox started out as a student film by future Oscar winner Dennis Muren. It later got picked up for distro by Jack Harris and a few scenes were added (this is why there are two versions on the Criterion release). The film is about four young students who go into the woods to seek out a professor. They stumble upon an ancient book and one by one become possessed by demons as they attempt to solve the mystery of the missing professor. Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert obviously saw this movie, and to a lesser extent, maybe Don Coscarelli. It's influence is certainly felt in The Evil Dead, a favorite of mine. That is why I recommend seeing it. There are some parallel ideas in this film that mirror those from many other classics. If you love The Evil Dead films and the Phantasm series, you really should check out Equinox.
Was Criterion playing a joke on us?
planktonrules31 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The Criterion Collection is a very artsy line of DVDs. Most of their films are foreign or occasionally independent films--the sort of stuff the average person probably would never watch. Because of this artsy-fartsy image, I was shocked when I watched "Equinox" because there is absolutely NOTHING artsy or sophisticated about this film--in fact, it's horrible. While not quite as horrible as "Robot Monster" or "Plan 9 From Outer Space", it is very close!
Four young idiots (one of which is Frank Bonner who played Herb on "WKRP in Cincinnati") go off into the hills for a picnic. The wander into a cave and meet a crazy old man who gives them a book--a book containing evil demonic secrets! However, Mr. Asmodeus (dressed as a ranger) wants the book and he can create monsters to attack them! Can these four idiots manage to survive or will they succumb to the forces of evil? And, will anyone watching this horror film even care?!
This story was apparently originally a school project and was eventually expanded into movie format. Unfortunately, in doing so, hair lengths, belts and clothing change back and forth A LOT--and you could watch the film repeatedly just to see this and laugh at it. However, my vote for dumbest thing about the movie are the stop-motion clay monsters. Never have I seen stop-motion integrated so poorly and sloppily or characters so clay-like!! I also loved the driver-less car at the end--especially since in long shots you can CLEARLY see that there IS a driver!! All in all, very silly, sloppy and dumb--and a lot like a YouTube horror film made by 14 year-olds. If I was this guy's professor, I would have given him a D minus! Which leads me to wonder HOW this became a Criterion release. Were they playing a joke on us?!
Four young idiots (one of which is Frank Bonner who played Herb on "WKRP in Cincinnati") go off into the hills for a picnic. The wander into a cave and meet a crazy old man who gives them a book--a book containing evil demonic secrets! However, Mr. Asmodeus (dressed as a ranger) wants the book and he can create monsters to attack them! Can these four idiots manage to survive or will they succumb to the forces of evil? And, will anyone watching this horror film even care?!
This story was apparently originally a school project and was eventually expanded into movie format. Unfortunately, in doing so, hair lengths, belts and clothing change back and forth A LOT--and you could watch the film repeatedly just to see this and laugh at it. However, my vote for dumbest thing about the movie are the stop-motion clay monsters. Never have I seen stop-motion integrated so poorly and sloppily or characters so clay-like!! I also loved the driver-less car at the end--especially since in long shots you can CLEARLY see that there IS a driver!! All in all, very silly, sloppy and dumb--and a lot like a YouTube horror film made by 14 year-olds. If I was this guy's professor, I would have given him a D minus! Which leads me to wonder HOW this became a Criterion release. Were they playing a joke on us?!
don't believe the average rating
grnhair200124 September 2012
This movie stinks.
Bad script, bad acting, nothing scary, offensive to women (or any thinking human being), and stupid, stupid, stupid. The rating here is wrong. It's not a 5 star movie. It's not a 3 star movie. It's just awful.
The story is a flashback narrated within a flashback narrated within a flashback, about an evil book and magical signs and the four stupidest young people on the planet who are forever splitting up when they know something is out to get them. I particularly like the way they wander off from each other in an unfamiliar cave. They're the sort of idiot characters who, by the first 20 minutes, make you root for something to kill them and thereby improve the human gene pool.
Most awful, for me, was the blatant sexism of the thing. "We can't climb up there, the girls are with us." "You girls stay here." "Where's my food, woman?/You suck at cooking." On and on and on, ugly and relentless. True to 1970, I suppose, and thank goodness we are not living there any more. (Reminds me why as a child I used to hope to grow up to be a lesbian--I wasn't one, but it seemed a far better choice than dealing with men like this.)
Let me say something positive about the movie: You could make a good drinking game out of it. Every time the obnoxious male leads say to their girlfriends, "you girls stay here," or "we're going alone" or something with that meaning to it, take a shot. You'll be falling down drunk halfway through.
Claymation? Who cares? I've seen it before, and I've seen it better. If it were the best I'd ever seen (and it isn't) it doesn't make up for the fact that this movie is terrible, a half-star out of ten sort of terrible, a terrible that makes you long for a black and white Roger Corman film instead.
Seriously, it's awful.
Bad script, bad acting, nothing scary, offensive to women (or any thinking human being), and stupid, stupid, stupid. The rating here is wrong. It's not a 5 star movie. It's not a 3 star movie. It's just awful.
The story is a flashback narrated within a flashback narrated within a flashback, about an evil book and magical signs and the four stupidest young people on the planet who are forever splitting up when they know something is out to get them. I particularly like the way they wander off from each other in an unfamiliar cave. They're the sort of idiot characters who, by the first 20 minutes, make you root for something to kill them and thereby improve the human gene pool.
Most awful, for me, was the blatant sexism of the thing. "We can't climb up there, the girls are with us." "You girls stay here." "Where's my food, woman?/You suck at cooking." On and on and on, ugly and relentless. True to 1970, I suppose, and thank goodness we are not living there any more. (Reminds me why as a child I used to hope to grow up to be a lesbian--I wasn't one, but it seemed a far better choice than dealing with men like this.)
Let me say something positive about the movie: You could make a good drinking game out of it. Every time the obnoxious male leads say to their girlfriends, "you girls stay here," or "we're going alone" or something with that meaning to it, take a shot. You'll be falling down drunk halfway through.
Claymation? Who cares? I've seen it before, and I've seen it better. If it were the best I'd ever seen (and it isn't) it doesn't make up for the fact that this movie is terrible, a half-star out of ten sort of terrible, a terrible that makes you long for a black and white Roger Corman film instead.
Seriously, it's awful.
A pre-Evil Dead
BandSAboutMovies13 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Also known as The Equinox ... A Journey into the Supernatural and The Beast, this movie was directed by Jack Woods and Dennis Muren. It started as a $6500 film that Muren made with his friends Dave Allen, Jim Danforth and Mark McGee while he was in business classes at Pasadena City College. Strangely enough, Ed Bagley Jr. was one of the cameramen!
Producer Jack H. Harris hired Woods, an editor, to add enough footage to make this a full length film. When the final movie was released, Muren was listed as the associate producer, even though he directed the entire movie and created much of the effects.
Four teenagers - David Fielding, Susan Turner, Jim Hudson (Frank Bonner, who would go on to be Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati) and Jim's girlfriend, Vicki - have gone looking for a lost scientist named Dr. Arthur Waterman, who is played by Fritz Leiber. Leiber isn't just any actor. Nope, he's one of the foremost fantasy authors of all time and the person who actually came up with the term sword and sorcery. He was brought into this project by Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman.
They have a picnic - as you do when you're in the foreboding woods - then make their way to a mysterious castle. They also learn that Dr. Waterman's cabin has been destroyed and even worse, the demon Asmodeus (played by Jack Woods, the new director, when he's a park ranger at least) is hunting them with his army of monsters. He really goes after them once they get a book of spells from an old man inside a cave. Those monsters - a giant ape and a green-furred giant - are marvels of stop-motion. Our heroes barely escape as the ape kills the old man.
It turns out that the book belonged to Dr. Waterman, who used it to conjure up demons of his own, but lost control of a tentacled beast which destroyed is home. After Asmodeus kills Jim, he reveals his true form of a winged demon. Dave and Susan are killed before our remaining teens, Dave and Susan, make their way to a cemetery.
After a battle with Asmodeus, they destroy the demon with a giant cross, which causes the cemetery to explode, killing Susan. Another giant monster appears and tells Dave that he will die in one year and a day, which drives him insane. The movie quickly moves to that time, where we see Susan - now looking totally evil - showing up at his insane asylum.
The entire crew that made this movie did so much more afterward. Muren would go on to become a nine-time Oscar-winning visual-effects artist for his work on Star Wars and Jurassic Park. Danforth would create matte work and stop motion work for The Thing, Creepshow, Clash of the Titans and Prince of Darkness amongst others. Mark McGee, who was in high school when he worked on this film and already writing for Famous Monsters (he's the one who got the connected with Leiber and brought Forry along to be a doctor's voice) wrote the scripts for Sorority House Massacre II and Sorceress, both movies directed by Jim Wynorski. Finally, David Allen would go on to work on everything from Flesh Gordon, Laserblast and The Howling to Full Moon efforts like the Puppet Master series and The Dungeonmaster.
You can see the influence of Equinox on movies like Evil Dead and Phantasm. It's the bridge between the Ray Harryhausen stop motion movies they loved and the occult-tinged efforts that would make up 1970's genre films. This is a movie packed with ideas and talent.
Producer Jack H. Harris hired Woods, an editor, to add enough footage to make this a full length film. When the final movie was released, Muren was listed as the associate producer, even though he directed the entire movie and created much of the effects.
Four teenagers - David Fielding, Susan Turner, Jim Hudson (Frank Bonner, who would go on to be Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati) and Jim's girlfriend, Vicki - have gone looking for a lost scientist named Dr. Arthur Waterman, who is played by Fritz Leiber. Leiber isn't just any actor. Nope, he's one of the foremost fantasy authors of all time and the person who actually came up with the term sword and sorcery. He was brought into this project by Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman.
They have a picnic - as you do when you're in the foreboding woods - then make their way to a mysterious castle. They also learn that Dr. Waterman's cabin has been destroyed and even worse, the demon Asmodeus (played by Jack Woods, the new director, when he's a park ranger at least) is hunting them with his army of monsters. He really goes after them once they get a book of spells from an old man inside a cave. Those monsters - a giant ape and a green-furred giant - are marvels of stop-motion. Our heroes barely escape as the ape kills the old man.
It turns out that the book belonged to Dr. Waterman, who used it to conjure up demons of his own, but lost control of a tentacled beast which destroyed is home. After Asmodeus kills Jim, he reveals his true form of a winged demon. Dave and Susan are killed before our remaining teens, Dave and Susan, make their way to a cemetery.
After a battle with Asmodeus, they destroy the demon with a giant cross, which causes the cemetery to explode, killing Susan. Another giant monster appears and tells Dave that he will die in one year and a day, which drives him insane. The movie quickly moves to that time, where we see Susan - now looking totally evil - showing up at his insane asylum.
The entire crew that made this movie did so much more afterward. Muren would go on to become a nine-time Oscar-winning visual-effects artist for his work on Star Wars and Jurassic Park. Danforth would create matte work and stop motion work for The Thing, Creepshow, Clash of the Titans and Prince of Darkness amongst others. Mark McGee, who was in high school when he worked on this film and already writing for Famous Monsters (he's the one who got the connected with Leiber and brought Forry along to be a doctor's voice) wrote the scripts for Sorority House Massacre II and Sorceress, both movies directed by Jim Wynorski. Finally, David Allen would go on to work on everything from Flesh Gordon, Laserblast and The Howling to Full Moon efforts like the Puppet Master series and The Dungeonmaster.
You can see the influence of Equinox on movies like Evil Dead and Phantasm. It's the bridge between the Ray Harryhausen stop motion movies they loved and the occult-tinged efforts that would make up 1970's genre films. This is a movie packed with ideas and talent.
Best of compilations
Polaris_DiB30 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This movie could almost be considered a best-of compilation of previously-discovered visual effects, cult film conceits, and camp. The story itself is reminiscent of old movies from Attack of the Gila Monster to Haxan, the imagery covers the world from Godzilla and King Kong to Vertigo, the themes include creepy castles, desert wastelands, and Satanism, and the characters run from one situation to another with careless abandon as they commentate on the very things that are happening to them with a weirdly analytical mindset. The movie precedes the career of its visual effects creator (who went on to work on Star Wars and Jurassic Park, to lend Equinox some credibility) and its plot foretells the later Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 of Sam Raimi. That said, it's not all that interesting.
Basically, a group of four kids go out to visit a professor friend of theirs, only to meet with horrors involving a Satanic book, a creepy park ranger, a kooky old geezer, and spectacular (and mostly claymation) monsters. By today's standards, it's a pretty slow movie as it pretty much doesn't mind taking the time to let the camera linger on the special effects or, worse, on the dialog. There's an interesting sub-theme about religious symbols as a sort of metaphysical chemistry, and for what it's worth the characters are a lot more aware and intelligent than most horror film fodder. Unfortunately, that only gets the movie so far, as its creativity still serves a ridiculous premise that is, to most b-horror film buffs, all too familiar. In that way, it really is like listening to a best-of CD of a certain era or sensibility: you've heard it all too often before and the real joys are more often on the lesser known works.
--PolarisDiB
Basically, a group of four kids go out to visit a professor friend of theirs, only to meet with horrors involving a Satanic book, a creepy park ranger, a kooky old geezer, and spectacular (and mostly claymation) monsters. By today's standards, it's a pretty slow movie as it pretty much doesn't mind taking the time to let the camera linger on the special effects or, worse, on the dialog. There's an interesting sub-theme about religious symbols as a sort of metaphysical chemistry, and for what it's worth the characters are a lot more aware and intelligent than most horror film fodder. Unfortunately, that only gets the movie so far, as its creativity still serves a ridiculous premise that is, to most b-horror film buffs, all too familiar. In that way, it really is like listening to a best-of CD of a certain era or sensibility: you've heard it all too often before and the real joys are more often on the lesser known works.
--PolarisDiB
Equinox
Scarecrow-8815 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
A professor, Dr. Waterman(Fritz Leiber Jr) accidentally unleashes demonic terror in a forest and four young adults are the ones who must square off with monsters created by Asmodeus(Jack Woods, the director who would pad the student short film into a full feature film), possibly the Devil himself. Asmodeus wishes for the return of his book and subsequently possesses members of the group so that he can secure it from the hands of Waterman's student David(Edward Connell). David and his pal, Jim(Frank Bonner)were out for a possible picnic-date with lady-friends Susan(Barbara Hewitt)and Vicki(Robin Christopher)when they decided to stop off to meet Waterman for a visit..Waterman had something he wished to show his prized student David, changing the lives of these innocents forever. The film opens with David escaping the woods upon a highway where he hit by a car driving by itself. At an asylum, clutching a cross, David now completely psychologically damaged, is stuck in a padded cell. Reporter(James Phillips)desires more information on a second piece about David and the past events that occurred to him. David's doctor allows the reporter to listen to David's recollections which make up the events which unfolded in the forest to him and his friends.
I will give a lot of love to the "little film that could." The version I watched was the feature length film from what is regarded a superior shorter version which I hope to eventually sit down and watch someday. This version is still a lot of fun for those who can look past some dialogue woes, a cast of non-actors, and issues with Robin Christopher's hair..all these "weaknesses/problems" obviously come with no-budget film-making. I think fans of B-movie creature features and stop-motion animation, in the Willis O'Brien/Ray Harryhausen tradition, will be entertained. I think the film captures an enthusiasm and joy at work thanks to imagination(..despite some of the dialogue, there's some thought given to the premise regarding a book which can open the gateway to a very dangerous world where evil can exit into our plane to disrupt and destroy)and craft from gifted kids who put forth quite an effort thanks in part to their love for the horror/sci-fi/fantasy of yesteryear. It'd be easy for someone to write it off as cheesy and cheap(..the cackling old man in the cave, the green caveman monster, Bonner's Jim's constant hokey criticism of girlfriend Vicki & Robin Christopher's acting all might fuel that argument), but you're not getting that lip-service from yours truly. I felt it had a distinctive 50's creature features feel which might propose from haters that EQUINOX is merely a dated relic..but, I look at it as a beloved homage, created by youths tooling their limited resources and collective energy, and came out with a fun product. This should be an inspiration for every low-budget filmmaker. But, I'd definitely be lying if I didn't point out that without the terrific stop-motion work on display(..the ape-creature which looks very similar to Harryhausen's alien Venus monster in "20 Million Miles to Earth" and an awesome demon-bat creature with claws that snatches up Susan at one point)this film wouldn't go over quite as well.
I will give a lot of love to the "little film that could." The version I watched was the feature length film from what is regarded a superior shorter version which I hope to eventually sit down and watch someday. This version is still a lot of fun for those who can look past some dialogue woes, a cast of non-actors, and issues with Robin Christopher's hair..all these "weaknesses/problems" obviously come with no-budget film-making. I think fans of B-movie creature features and stop-motion animation, in the Willis O'Brien/Ray Harryhausen tradition, will be entertained. I think the film captures an enthusiasm and joy at work thanks to imagination(..despite some of the dialogue, there's some thought given to the premise regarding a book which can open the gateway to a very dangerous world where evil can exit into our plane to disrupt and destroy)and craft from gifted kids who put forth quite an effort thanks in part to their love for the horror/sci-fi/fantasy of yesteryear. It'd be easy for someone to write it off as cheesy and cheap(..the cackling old man in the cave, the green caveman monster, Bonner's Jim's constant hokey criticism of girlfriend Vicki & Robin Christopher's acting all might fuel that argument), but you're not getting that lip-service from yours truly. I felt it had a distinctive 50's creature features feel which might propose from haters that EQUINOX is merely a dated relic..but, I look at it as a beloved homage, created by youths tooling their limited resources and collective energy, and came out with a fun product. This should be an inspiration for every low-budget filmmaker. But, I'd definitely be lying if I didn't point out that without the terrific stop-motion work on display(..the ape-creature which looks very similar to Harryhausen's alien Venus monster in "20 Million Miles to Earth" and an awesome demon-bat creature with claws that snatches up Susan at one point)this film wouldn't go over quite as well.
Not exactly amateur, and no EVIL DEAD connections
Erewhon9 January 2001
Just what IS an amateur movie as opposed to a low-budget, independent film? EQUINOX was made by a group of special effects-loving friends of college age; they shot it over several months, taking special care with the effects. Which, as someone else points out, certainly are not "claymation," but standard, Ray Harryhausen-ish stop motion animation. The models were of foam latex and rubber skins over metal armatures; no clay was involved at all. After Muren and McGee, the main instigators, finished the film, as pointed out elsewhere, Jack H. Harris bought it and hired Jack Woods to shoot some additional scenes with the four leading actors (one of whom, of course, later became Herb Tarlek on "WKRP In Cincinnati). Woods himself appeared as Asmodeus, a character not in the original film at all. It was ungracious of Harris and Woods to remove Muren's credit as director. As for THE EVIL DEAD -- it's all a coincidence. When Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and their friends made EVIL DEAD, none of them had even heard of EQUINOX, much less seen it. And yes, this is the truth. Now's the time for some entrepreneural DVD company to release a disc with BOTH versions, the Muren original and the Woods revision, on the same disc.
Creepy little classic, done right...
poe42623 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
It seems somehow quaint, now, but way back in 1970, this one scared the daylights out of me. The televised trailer (everything was black and white in them days) was downright spooky. I absolutely, positively had to see this one. And I did. And I wasn't disappointed. Nor am I disappointed to see it now, three decades on. It holds up for what it is: a low-budget but imagination-rich tale of terror. Thanks to the local library, I was made privy to the extras-rich, no doubt digitally remastered DVD rerelease of this one. I am even more in awe of what director Dennis Muren wrought than I was when I was a kid. The behind-the-scenes extras are truly mind-boggling. (The only complaint I feel compelled to register is this: the original version of EQUINOX is included in this two-disc set... but the soundtrack is out of sync!) If anyone out there in cyberspace wants to make movies- or to find out how timeless masterpieces are made- the best advice I can give them is to seek out movies like EQUINOX.
Not very good but not without merit
preppy-310 February 2008
Warning: Spoilers
David gets a call from a friend named Dr. Waterman to visit him at his remote cabin in the woods. Tagging along is David's friend Jim, his girlfriend Vicki and Susan. They arrive at the cabin but find it destroyed with no sign of Dr. Waterman. Then there's the strange park ranger, the castle in the distance and a creepy laughing from a dark cave...
**POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS** This started off as a student film. It was bought seven years later, some more scenes were shot (you can noticeably see the actors are older) and it was released. It turns out to be a mish mash of potentially interesting ideas that get totally lost. The plot brings up a lot of incidents that are never explained--who was that old man in the cave? Why did he have the book? What was it with that castle? What IS in that other dimension? Add to this some terrible dialogue and uncomfortable acting and you have a very uneven and frustrating film. What helps are some very cool stop motion animation monsters and a short running time (80 minutes). A lot of people who love this seem to have caught it as kids at the movies (it's rated PG). However if you're an adult you'll probably be bored and puzzled. I give it a 6--and that's mostly for the monsters.
**POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS** This started off as a student film. It was bought seven years later, some more scenes were shot (you can noticeably see the actors are older) and it was released. It turns out to be a mish mash of potentially interesting ideas that get totally lost. The plot brings up a lot of incidents that are never explained--who was that old man in the cave? Why did he have the book? What was it with that castle? What IS in that other dimension? Add to this some terrible dialogue and uncomfortable acting and you have a very uneven and frustrating film. What helps are some very cool stop motion animation monsters and a short running time (80 minutes). A lot of people who love this seem to have caught it as kids at the movies (it's rated PG). However if you're an adult you'll probably be bored and puzzled. I give it a 6--and that's mostly for the monsters.
Worse than zombie movies
gunnalison19 November 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This has to be the worst movie I have ever seen, and I have very little sense when it comes to watching dreck; I'll watch almost anything. This is just laughably bad. It's difficult to think of the following as "spoilers," since if you honestly care what happens in this movie, I pity you.
The list of bad details is long, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible, to spare you. Let's see.
The weak premise is that there's a book of evil witchcraftery the Devil wants back, and some cackling old coot has been hiding this book in a cave; meanwhile, the Devil has done everything he can to get it back, including hanging around the cave, waiting for the old coot to come out. But the old coot hides, until David, his Beautiful Blond Girlfriend, her cute blonde sidekick/BFF, and a dark-haired sneering guy, go into the hills on a picnic, only to find the old coot in the cave, who gives them the book.
From there on in, all Hell breaks loose, literally, as the Devil tries to get his book back. There's a pagan ring the Devil (in the guise of a park ranger, astride a beautiful, sensitive, caring-looking horse, who deserved better than to have to be in this mess) puts on right before he attempts to rape the Beautiful Tall Thin 1970s Blonde. He wouldn't bother raping the short, fat blonde, of course, since that's not how beauty works. Beauty exists to attract the Devil, who leers at the Beautiful Blonde a lot, but ignores the other blonde. I'm sorry, Other Blonde, but that's what happens to short, chubbier girls in bad movies; you get to play the other available stereotype, the plucky asexual sidekick.
Then the Devil leers at each of the four friends at least once during the course of the movie, because that's something we expect from the Devil: leering. You can prevent the Devil from leering at you, though, if you wear a pagan cross-like symbol, which has the power to avert evil for a time. But careful, because if the Devil leers at you for too long, you will be turned into one of his minions! Then you will hit your friends in the face. You can avert evil even longer if you're carrying this teeny tiny golden cross, because that has amazing abilities, small as it is, to look very large on camera when needed. "We'll be all right!" one of the characters says at one point. "We've got the cross!" If only the cross were sufficient to save them.... poor souls.
Then there are the claymation figures, one of which is pretty cool cause it's a flying red devil with claws and wings, but come on, it's claymation. Okay, I know I'm just jaded, but ... claymation looks so damned awful it's not even funny. Only Ray Harryhausen could carry it off. This stuff looks like someone's kid brother did it.
David survives, just barely, and ends up in a mental institution, and it's supposed to be eerie, I guess, that his girlfriend, who you thought was dead, isn't, and returns at the end with a sneer on her face, obviously possessed by the Devil. I guess she's coming to get the book, which someone has at this point, but I'm not sure who.
The list of bad details is long, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible, to spare you. Let's see.
The weak premise is that there's a book of evil witchcraftery the Devil wants back, and some cackling old coot has been hiding this book in a cave; meanwhile, the Devil has done everything he can to get it back, including hanging around the cave, waiting for the old coot to come out. But the old coot hides, until David, his Beautiful Blond Girlfriend, her cute blonde sidekick/BFF, and a dark-haired sneering guy, go into the hills on a picnic, only to find the old coot in the cave, who gives them the book.
From there on in, all Hell breaks loose, literally, as the Devil tries to get his book back. There's a pagan ring the Devil (in the guise of a park ranger, astride a beautiful, sensitive, caring-looking horse, who deserved better than to have to be in this mess) puts on right before he attempts to rape the Beautiful Tall Thin 1970s Blonde. He wouldn't bother raping the short, fat blonde, of course, since that's not how beauty works. Beauty exists to attract the Devil, who leers at the Beautiful Blonde a lot, but ignores the other blonde. I'm sorry, Other Blonde, but that's what happens to short, chubbier girls in bad movies; you get to play the other available stereotype, the plucky asexual sidekick.
Then the Devil leers at each of the four friends at least once during the course of the movie, because that's something we expect from the Devil: leering. You can prevent the Devil from leering at you, though, if you wear a pagan cross-like symbol, which has the power to avert evil for a time. But careful, because if the Devil leers at you for too long, you will be turned into one of his minions! Then you will hit your friends in the face. You can avert evil even longer if you're carrying this teeny tiny golden cross, because that has amazing abilities, small as it is, to look very large on camera when needed. "We'll be all right!" one of the characters says at one point. "We've got the cross!" If only the cross were sufficient to save them.... poor souls.
Then there are the claymation figures, one of which is pretty cool cause it's a flying red devil with claws and wings, but come on, it's claymation. Okay, I know I'm just jaded, but ... claymation looks so damned awful it's not even funny. Only Ray Harryhausen could carry it off. This stuff looks like someone's kid brother did it.
David survives, just barely, and ends up in a mental institution, and it's supposed to be eerie, I guess, that his girlfriend, who you thought was dead, isn't, and returns at the end with a sneer on her face, obviously possessed by the Devil. I guess she's coming to get the book, which someone has at this point, but I'm not sure who.
See also
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