In the late 60's, a young Dennis Muren and some friends decided to actually make a special effects movie like the ones they'd been so enamored with growing up, and even developed friendships because of through the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Using the money an uncle had set aside to pay for Muren's college education, the kids set out to make a monster movie that could be sold to television. The result was THE EQUINOX ...A JOURNEY INTO THE SUPERNATURAL, in which a group of students finds themselves being menaced by hellish monsters seeking a supernatural book (which was being studied by a scientist whose tamperings with the tome unleashed the beasts). The film was pretty good, considering it was basically an expensive home movie, and producer Jack H. Harris bought the film for theatrical distribution in 1970. Harris wanted some alterations, though, and a bunch of new material was shot for the theatrical version, now titled EQUINOX. The breakout star of the film was Frank Bonner, who went on to a successful acting and then directing career. As an actor, he'll always be remembered as WKRP's smarmy salesman Herb Tarlek. Heavily promoted by Harris, EQUINOX was a success. Later, it was sold to television where it continued to haunt late-night slots for decades -just as originally intended! It's the success story of the independent dreamers, the movie nuts who dream of doing something similar, and therefore holds a special place in the hearts of cinemanauts everywhere. The lovely Criterion DVD release includes both versions of the film. I'm partial to the original '67 cut. One final note: the film's plot was closely mirrored by the surprise smash 80's independent horror production THE EVIL DEAD. The films even had similar production histories!
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