Been wracking my brain about this one and my search engine skills are apparently lacking. I believe it's a late sixties or seventies era supernatural horror and it really freaked me out as a kid. All I remember is this: a bunch of teenagers go on a picnic (for some reason I remember they ate fried chicken) and naturally the weird stuff starts happening. At one point they see some kind of castle in the distance that vanishes and fight a giant bipedal monster in a cave. In the end one of them ends up committed and screaming about demons.
What I remember scaring me the most was, like the kids, I had no understanding of what was happening to them, other than they were all doomed. It seemed like they were fighting the devil and I knew that the devil's pretty good at not losing to people. That's about it. It's not much to go on but if anyone remembers my trauma I'd appreciate it.
Sorry. Forgot to mention that this was a movie. Additionally, a search for "supernatural horror seventies kids picnic vanishing castle monster devil" mostly comes up with SCOOBY DOO episodes – in case anyone's wondering. I need help!
Thanks! Great site!
UNK SEZ: Rob, I knew exactly what movie you were speaking of as soon as you said "fried chicken picnic", it's 1970's EQUINOX a.k.a THE BEAST! That fried chicken picnic has always stuck in my head too which is kind of strange when you consider all the crazy stuff that happens in EQUINOX, like this…
And this…
And this…
Plus it stars FRANK BONNER from WKRP IN CINCINNATI!
I also fondly remember Bonner from "Just the 10 of Us" as one of the priests at St. Augustine's High School…
You know how for most movies you have a "master image" in your mind whenever you think of it? Like, for Close Encounters it might little Barry opening the front door and the orange lights pouring in, etc…Well for me, For Equinox, the master image/line that pops into my head whenever I think of it is Frank Bonner taking a bite of Kentucky Fried Chicken and saying, "Saaaved by the Colonel!" Which is unfortunate, because there are some killer low-budget special effects shots in the movie…But no, someone mentions Equinox and then, instantly in my mind: "Saaaved by the Colonel!"
Ah yes, I remember it well… well, not that well, it's hazy and fuzzy, and it'd be disappointing to watch it again now. But I remember a scene where one of the teenagers had fashioned a talisman of reeds or straw to protect themselves while in the hellish domain, but then finding it broken during their sojourn. Really affected me as a child…
Criterion put out a superb DVD of Equinox awhile back. Highly recommended.
Oh MAN! Equinox is one of the truly great "so bad it's good" cult films. I was buzzed the first time that I saw it and, having my voice recorder handy, did a blow-by-blow of what I was seeing and transcribed it for a friend. It's pretty lengthy, but maybe I can post it somewhere……
It's also worth watching for those FX – They're from its director, Dennis Muren, now of ILM, then in his late teens. Six Oscars later…
This is shown on cable a fair amount…I've seen parts of it a few times this past year. Check Flix or Showtime Beyond.