My Review Of “Equinox” 1970

“Equinox” tells the story of four friends who set out for an appointment with a college professor. Unfortunately for the hipsters it turns out to be an appointment with evil. The 1970 B-movie is a classic genre film that plays out the constant battle between good and evil with a blend of that late 60’s witch-y style mixed with vintage stop-motion puppetry. Starring Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt, Frank Bonner, Robin Christopher and Jack Woods as Asmodeus the movie explores the relationship between modern free thinking and respect for the old ways by pitting college students as the agents of good against a forest ranger who portrays the vessel of evil. The irony of  the juxtaposition is the fact that it is the forest ranger who is the ultimate evil yet stresses how people disrespect the purity of nature by littering the natural landscape while it is the students with all of man’s knowledge who must turn to the old world faiths to protect themselves against evil. It is an inner conflict which a some point in our lives we all must face.

Now this film is by no means meant as serious cinema. It is intended to be pure drive-in double feature pleasure of a low budget nature. Most people will not find this film enjoyable. I feel sorry for those who see this as just pointless bad cinema. There is more to these kind of B films. They serve a purpose and have earned a place in pop culture genre royalty. Much like the early stop motion films like “King Kong” and “Clash Of The Titans” have done in fantasy film making “Equinox” does with just as much vision and unapologetic passion.
I am well aware that this film is far more likely to when uber number of Razzies and probably would have if the awards would have been around in 1970. Yet “Equinox” manages to entertain and does so with a cheeky since of humor. It is a fun picture worthy of genre respect for one simple think. That thing being the perfect blending of stop motion puppetry with live action. No film could ever devise away to make the effect seamless and director Jack Woods understands that very well. He makes no effort to really try to hide the Claymation style. Instead he makes it more obvious so that you know that it is for shear entertainment and a deep love for the style.
The story is a classic tale that at times makes no real sense at first because it starts with a bang and continues on without waiting for you to catch up. Literally, from the first scene the action begins and the story only reveals itself as the scenes continue on. You learn as the characters learn. It is really a fun way to experience movies. The acting is terrible so don’t even try to force some quality into the characters. The films direction seems to be all over the place with the cast running around the woods, people popping in almost out of sequence, as if an after thought, yet it all somehow seems to make sense in the end. It is just a fun B-movie that is much like a live action Mystery Kids, Inc. tale. You have an old man in a dark creepy cave, a crazy professor running around, the devil possessing people, amulets, monsters, sorcery and insanity. So just sit and pop some corn, take a few tokes and enjoy the show!