Equinox

I love this movie, could watch it over and over...

The reason I like it so much is just the whole idea behind it. Plus the claymation is pretty cool! The way they act is hilarious (to me anyway), almost like an old Leave it to Beaver, the way they talked in those episodes. Combine that with what they are up against, and the contrast between the 2 is great!!

It shows how good a film can be without spending $100 million. Evil Dead is another one that comes to mind when I think of this movie.

I won't spoil anything, but sometimes they use a fisheye lens when things are getting insane/over the top, and Dennis Muren has done some great work in famous films since this was made.

"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.

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!

I love bad movies. This is a bad movie. I was channel flipping and saw one of the monsters cavorting about until gored by a sharp stick. I had to watch after that. Truly bad acting, unintelligible plot and a swarthy demon with the classic "Bru haa haa haa" laugh that only is done in the worst of movies. Very entertaining. I recommend you watch it with friends. Not a first date movie unless you know them well. Rather good special effects for a low budget film.

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