Equinox (DVD)

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Many Criterion fans have been asking the same question in recent weeks: Who the heck decided to release "Equinox" and can I have some of what he was smoking?

The question is an understandable one. "Equinox" can only generously be billed as a B-grade horror movie; with its dirt-cheap production values and formulaic screenplay about teenagers battling demons and giants, it´s somewhere between "B" and "student film." What´s next: The Criterion Collection is proud to present … "Manos: the Hand of Fate"?

But this question also represents a fundamental misconception, or at least a profound bias, of what constitutes "important" cinema. The Criterion Collection has always featured top-quality transfers, premiere extras and, of course, great movies (the films of Michael Bay excepted) but if I have any complaint about the company, it´s the general tendency of the company to play it safe. The Criterion Collection bills itself as "a continuing series of important classics and contemporary films" but that "important" can be read as "IMPORTANT!!!" Criterion tends to stick with films by the most sanctified European or Japanese auteurs with the occasional nod to American independent cinema along the way. That´s a far sight better than whatever aesthetically-bland studio dreck the AFI´s most recent list is promoting as "Great Films", but it doesn´t do justice to the diversity of world cinema. Understood in this context, "Equinox" is not just a quirky choice by Criterion, but a very welcome step in the right direction.

For every studio blockbuster or art-house masterpiece, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of home movies being shot throughout the world. Amateur filmmaking is the heart and soul of cinema, from the simplest vacation video to an ambitious backyard project such as "Equinox." Dennis Muren, David Allen, and Mark McGee were three teenage cinephiles who worshipped at the altar of special-effects gurus like Willis O´Brien ("King Kong") and Ray Harryhausen ("The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and many others). They didn´t just watch monster movies; they discussed them, scrutinized them, and eventually decided to make one of their own.

Literally filming in Muren´s backyard (and other nearby locations), they combined Allen´s puppets, McGee´s screenplay and the help of several friends to shoot a feature-length film they eventually dubbed "The Equinox… A Journey into the Supernatural." The title was grandiose, but the story was simplicity itself: four teens (the actors were in their 20s but "played young") take a trip to the woods where they find a mysterious old book of "evil" and are attacked by an array of underworld denizens that includes an ape-like creature modeled on King Kong, a giant octopus, and a flying devil who really makes life hell for the poor kids.

For a film made by teens with no formal training and virtually no budget, the results are amazing, and reflect the passion they poured into their debut feature. The stop-motion animation is rough, but quite compelling, and they even figured out a way to use front projection (a technique not even in use in Hollywood at the time) to make some of the actors look like they were running in front of the animated puppets. Muren, who directed the film, also used forced perspective to create a scene in which a not-so-jolly green giant (played by friend Jim Duron) battles the group. The monsters are the raison d´être for the show, so it´s understandable that Muren didn´t focus too much energy on coaxing convincing performances out of his eclectic cast that includes the future Herb Tarlek of "WKRP in Cincinnati" and, of all people, fantasy author Fritz Leiber as the mysterious Dr. Watermann.

The filmmakers were delighted with their results, and were therefore surprised when they struggled to find any interested buyers. Fortunately, stalwart producer Jack H. Harris (best known for "The Blob") saw promise in the boys´ handiwork, and acquired the film with plans to re-shoot parts of it for theatrical release. This ultimately involved re-shooting the majority of the scenes (with the same actors, now just a few years older) and adding a menacing forest ranger named Asmodeus (that´s never a good sign!) to the mix. Harris whittled the titled down to the more economical "Equinox" and it became a surprise hit in 1970, succeeding both in theaters and in home sales fueled by ads in Forrest J. Ackerman´s magazine "Famous Monsters of Filmland." "Equinox" became a cult-hit that was most ardently embraced by special-effects aficionados who were quite understandably amazed and downright inspired to learn that teens could make a "Harryhausen-style" movie in their own backyard.

Most people are familiar only with the Jack H. Harris version which has played on many a late-night television station (probably one high up in the UHF band), but the Criterion DVD also includes the original 1967 version as filmed and cut by Muren and crew. Both movies use the same cast and same story, but the differences are considerable. The original version has a Hardy Boys "gee gosh" quality to it; the characters are more interested than terrified when they encounter flying demons and corpses, and the acting reveals an almost total disregard (or lack of knowledge) for psychological realism. It is much more an adventure film than a horror flick. The 1970 release is crafted to more closely fit the expectations of the horror genre, and the script and the performances have been polished to seem more realistic; here, the heroes are active participants rather than passive gawkers. This later version is more coherent and a might "scarier," but with coherence the flaws in the film seem more like mistakes than signs of personal craftsmanship. I appreciate the wide-eyed innocence of the original just as much, if not more, than the relative sophistication of the more professional version.