best movie i've ever seen.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Four teenagers go hiking into the woods. The quartet discover an ancient book that contains secret information that enables creatures from another dimension to enter into our world. Writer/director Jack Woods does a nice job of crafting a spooky gloom-doom atmosphere. The stop-motion animation monsters and forced perspective giant are both genuinely cool. Woods acquits himself well as sinister park ranger Asmodeus while fantasy writer Fritz Leiber Jr. has a ball as a deranged professor. Jaime Mendoza-Nava's spirited shuddery score hits the stirring spot. Moreover, this funky little Do-It-Yourself independent picture that could not only served as a definite influence on both "Phantasm" and "The Evil Dead," but also was the training ground for notable special effects masters David Allen, Jim Danforth, and Dennis Muren. Granted, this movie is certainly rough around the edges (the acting by most of the cast in particular leaves a good deal to be desired), but it's nonetheless done with a winning surplus of pure heart, sincerity, and enthusiasm that's both endearing and entertaining in equal measure.

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.

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?!

"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.