EQUINOX (1970)
(a.k.a. THE BEAST)
Article #44 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 4-29-2001
Posting date: 9-11-2001

A group of students searching for a professor in a wooded area stumble across an old man who leaves them with a bizarre book. Then they begin to have run-ins with strange monsters and a sinister ranger named Asmodeus.

I remember seeing the ads for this movie on after-school television in the early seventies, and for years I wanted to catch the movie (I never got a chance to see it in theatres). It finally popped up on my local creature feature, and I was thrilled to finally get a chance to see it. I’m also glad to say that I was not disappointed; I think it has a real power to it, despite the obvious cheapness and the long shooting schedule which results in characters aging before your eyes. It has a compelling sense of Lovecraftian evil that I find fascinating. The movie features Frank Bonner, later of “WKRP in Cincinnati”, and science/fiction fantasy author Fritz Leiber as the professor.