I recently watched Equinox as a blind viewing, I think Harry K may have copied it for me, or perhaps I downloaded it from Cinemageddon. Either way, I was quite excited to discover it was a schlocky, camp monster movie, like a more fucked up version of the Ray Harryhausen movies I loved as a kid. I don't know if I was not in the right mood, or perhaps it is one of those movies you need to see with some buddies and a few beers, but I found it a little boring, despite it ticking a lot of the right boxes. It had awesome monsters, ridiculously wooden acting, a creepy old guy in a cave distributing demonic tomes (along with his own personal stylophone soundtrack) and a sex offending park ranger/magician with huge eyebrows. As I said before, it's sadly not as good as it sounds. Most interestingly though, is that it almost certainly influenced Sam Raimi & co when they came to make The Evil Dead. Aside from the many visual and plot similarities, it just feels like a kindred entity. Both were fresh, experimental independent low budget films that punched above their weight with top notch special effects, and both have achieved a lasting cult appreciation. Equinox received the Criterion treatment in 2006, with two restored versions (as if one were not enough!) of the film released on DVD.
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