Maxflier

The DVDTalk Criterion Film Club selection for the first half of April was chosen by Fist of Doom:

Equinox (1970)

Synopsis:

LiquidSky

Great release. Lots of excellent tid-bits in the commentaries. I never realized that Jack Harris had the lead actor dubbed. Nice to see both versions of the film with and without the dubbing of the lead actor and added visual effects.

Kurt D

Seconded. Pretty much a must-have for monster movie fans.

hindolio

first post in the criterion collection club (ccc?) because this title insignificantly harms two birds with one stone - ccc and the exploitation/b-movie challenge

im guessing this flick can go into the category of hate it or love it? at least in the sense that some people will not want to even try to watch b-movies like this? in any case, i found it fun and silly in a good way, though i was expecting a bit more.

a few notes id like to point out:

- watching bits of the intro, i thought one of the coolest things was the license plate on mr ackermans ride: sci fi.

- question: is equinox the first movie that comes up with a "book of evil"? off-hand, i can name a few flicks where some sort of evil book is instrumental, like evil dead and warlock and necronomicon. i could prolly find a lot more too. but was this movie the first? that would make this movie even better for me if so

- i realize the budget for this movie was nil. but i wanted to see more claymation, stop-motion animation, and other cheesy "special effects". i wanted asmodeus to do a bit more and conjure crazier monsters. is that just me?

LiquidSky

You mean the cave man wasn't enough for you?

The flying devil creature always gave me the creeps when I'd see the movie on television as a kid.

Trevor

Wow. How did I miss this all of these years? One of the best 'student films' I've ever seen, and Herb! More later after I finish the rest of the DVD set.

Trevor

Did Curse of the Demon feature a book?

Continuing the 'book of evil' tradition, The Spiderwick Chronicles from a few years ago wasn't too bad.

Speaking of 'books', the Criterion release is like an exhaustive resource volume on the film and low-budget film making. It's one of the most feature packed Criterions I've watched so far.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

This is a student film? This is better than all of the horror student films/direct to video, that plagues the new release section in video stores.

hindolio

havent seen curse of the demon or spiderwick, so i cant answer. im hesitant to look curse up since its a flick i wouldnt mind watching, and i generally like to be ignorant of plot and story for any first time view.

re equinox as a student film, i guess the first version actually was. then it was cleaned up a bit, reshot in some places, and edited, resulting in the theatrical release. pretty cool

Trevor

Actually, I'm sure many think differently, but Spiderwick Chronicles actually wasn't bad for something that might be mistaken for a Harry Potter-clone 'kiddie' movie. I quite enjoyed it.

I guess 'student film' isn't technically correct, but definitely 100% independent. Just cobbled together by a few kids with a dream over the course of a year and all the money he could beg. The original version is much better than the 'professional' release imho.

SethDLH

Its been a little while since I've seen this but I wasn't a fan. I will always appreciate practical effects including claymation, but as a whole this movie did nothing for me. Very disappointing as I was really looking forward to seeing it when I did.