Customer Reviews

Manitou, The [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Normally I wait for three risings of the sun before writing a review like this...

I was about eight years old when I saw this... My mom had no problem taking me to horror films since she loved 'em too... We saw this one on a double-bill with "The Swarm."

"The Manitou" should be released on DVD, no doubt about it, but then most of William Girdler's films should be, if nothing more than for the funtime feeling of pure camp they give off. Sometimes nothing beats a good bad film, and "The Manitou" succeeds on almost every level! San Francisco new age liberalism is parodied here (well, maybe on consciously) as is disco culture, and the cast features wonderfully rich acting by Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg (all Method here). The rest of the cast Stella Stevens and Burgess Meredith all ham it up spectacularly, and Michael Ansara gives the film a wonderful turn as John Singing Rock, who normally waits three risings of the sun before taking on ANY job. The effects are pretty cool for what is considered a B-movie, and the demon spirit, Misquamacus (who's Manitou-spirit is growing like a fetus on Strasberg's neck) is amazingly revolting. Just when you think the movie cannot go far enough in dazzling set pieces (the old lady who floats to the staircase while chanting "mana witchi salatu," the ebony Indian (not Native American in 1978) head rising from the seance table, the growing tumor, the ice storm in the hospital (complete with a fridgid beheading) the movie ends with a psychic war (with cheesy laser beams ripping from fingertips) between good and evil in the nude!

Classic cinema, not to be passed up! Makes a great rainy Saturday movie, and someone (Anchor Bay, or hey! Even Criterion (ha ha)) really oughta release it on DVD with plenty of extras.

Everyone criticizes this movie to its face, but they secretly like it on the late-late show in the privacy of their homes. It's a "guilty pleasure" piece, awaiting rediscovery in a less judgmental and more fun-loving age.

Susan Strasberg has a tumor growing on her neck, that turns out to be a fetus. The doctors can't remove it, and it's killing her. Her old faux fortuneteller boyfriend Tony Curtis finds bizarre supernatural phenomena occurring around him, and does some homework with a few of his old occult friends, discovering that the fetus is the reincarnation of a powerful Indian medicine man named Misquamacus, who is out for some old-fashioned magic revenge against the White Man. How to get rid of Misquamacus, before Strasberg dies giving him new life? Why, fight fire with fire, of course - get another medicine man.

The only thing killing this movie is some really bad special effects work - though some of the effects are actually quite good - and uneven direction and script. It has an all-star cast of surprising names, though Curtis and hired medicine man Michael Ansara really steal the show.

The movie's greatest strength is the dialogue and the characters. The faithfully adapted script comes from Graham Masterton's generally better-accepted novel, and Masterton has an absolute gift for making the absurd credible.

No, this movie is hardly anyone's idea of a masterpiece, but it's a great late Friday night popcorn watcher. Give it a chance. Enjoy it in the spirit in which it was made, and you'll have a good time.

The post-EXORCIST 70s produced a variety of quirky, old-fashioned horror films with big name stars whose careers were winding down but who were happy to still be working and who added a touch of class to the proceedings. PSYCHIC KILLER with Jim Hutton, TOURIST TRAP with Chuck Connors and SHOCK WAVES with John Carradine and Peter Cushing immediately come to mind. And then there's THE MANITOU.

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1978 and thoroughly enjoyed it. There's something for everyone here... black magic, Native American lore, cool 1970s furnishings (check out Tony Curtis' pad -er- apartment), possession, a seance, demonic birth and a STAR TREK like finish. It's like a summing up of the themes of 1970s horror films with a few well placed shocks and one truly memorable sequence. Curtis takes the Bob Hope approach (complete with quips) to his role as a fake mystic who is suddenly confronted with the real thing. Susan Strasberg makes a suitably vulnerable heroine and Syrian born Michael Ansara is quite believable as an Indian medicine man (no Native Americans in 1978) brought in to fight the evil. Stella Stevens, Ann Sothern, and Burgess Meredith add fun to the proceedings and director William Girdler (ABBY, GRIZZLY) doesn't give you time to think long enough on how preposterous it all is. Sadly this film was to have been his ticket to the big time and would have been (it was a box office hit) had he not been killed in a helicopter crash while scouting locations for his next film.

Avco Embassy for whom the film was made was sold to Norman Lear in 1982 and this and other Avco Embassy films disappeared into ownership limbo. Thanks to Anchor Bay THE MANITOU and other 70s A/E films like MURDER BY DECREE and WINTER KILLS have made it to DVD in beautiful widescreen transfers. THE MANITOU may be trash but it's really great trash and I'd rather be watching it than any number of present day horror films. Its well crafted approach to its material (no matter how ridiculous) rather than explicit effects from suffering victims makes it a guilty pleasure that I'll be happy to return to.

I remember watching this film many, many years ago. I've always enjoyed it. I had read the book first, by Graham Masterton. "The Manitou" was based off of a factual story about a boy in Japan who had a growth on his arm the size of a basketball (seriously). But Masterton never said what had actually been in the growth.

The movie doesn't stray TOO far from the book. It was entertaining. Ansara was terrific as Singing Rock. And Jamie Lee Curtis' dad as Harry Erskine was great.

I loved the concept of an ages old Medicine Man - Misquamacas - being reborn through Karen. This was an all-around fun movie. No unnecessary gore, no stupid teens running around half-naked, screaming their heads off, and no back-wood hicks wanting to slaughter people for rituals.

If you want something WORTH the viewing, you have to see "The Manitou". You also should really read the books - The Manitou, The Return of the Manitou, and The Burial. They are out of print, but you can find them in used bookstores, and possibly on Amazon.

To describe this movie in great detail would take away its charm and rob you of the roller coaster ride of fun that is awaiting you in William Girdler's cult classic 1978 'epic' The Manitou. As I am still giddy with laughing myself stupid from a recent screening - I'm gonna give it a good shot at giving you a basic outline of the flick yet still tease at the level of kookiness and sheer misguided brilliance that awaits.

To begin with, The Manitou is not a good movie. However, on the other hand it is brilliant. I know, I am contradicting myself already - but, it really is that kind of flick: Both awful and great in equal measure.

The story has Tony Curtis play fortune teller Harry Erskine. Hooking up with old flame Karen (Susan Strassberg), she informs him that she has recently had a strange growth form on the back of her neck. Thinking nothing of it, Harry informs her to get it checked out and he goes on about his business reading cards and conning old ladies. Until that is, a bizarre incident when one of his clients goes haywire midway through a fortune telling and throws herself down a flight of stairs (believe me, you have to see this to believe it. Its brilliant) and 'ol Harry starts to get suspicious. Across town, Karen's hospital check up has also gone wrong where the growth is deciphered to be not a growth at all . . . but, an unborn fetus.

Following a strange stop off at Burgess Meredith's house (who I swear is acting in another movie) and begging a native indian to help him save Karen, Harry returns armed with a medicine man (John Singing Rock who has obviously got a few days to spare) intent on battling the unborn child which has been revealed to us as the rebirth of an ancient indian shaman hellbent on revenge and world domination. (Stick with me, it gets better).

Now, the movie kicks into high gear and all kinds of drugs seem to have been consumed by the screenwriters and production crew as what follows not only makes no sense it also . . . er, makes no sense.

The shaman is born and is depicted as an evil midget with bad acne and greasy hair. Strange deaths follow and now our friend Singing Rock has to battle this rather short force of evil with all his might, whilst Mr Curtis' toupee also puts in a particularly frightened and convincing performance - culminating in one of cinema's best sequences ever! You haven't lived until you have seen Susan Strassberg in her birthday suit shooting cartoon laser beams from her hands at a midget dressed as a demon on a fake star field background. Its as if the film makers wanted to combine the space sequences from the old Buck Rogers TV show with the demonic possession scenes from The Exorcist and then decided to give it a Saturday Night Fever disco feel - I guess all they left out was the kitchen sink, but at least they tried.

I cannot recommend how good/bad this movie is - but, it excels as both and demands to be seen. Its strange that it hasn't had the notoriety that it so richly deserves as it is seriously a lost gem. Its a shame that director William Girdler died shortly after its completion - because, I am sure he would have had an interesting career after this. However, he has left us this movie that once watched, will surely never be forgotten. Highly recommended.

How can you not love a film where the invitations to the South African premiere were printed on barf bags? Especially when it has a pitch as insane as The Manitou, which sees Susan Strasberg growing the foetus of a 400-year-old reincarnated Native American medicine man in her neck and calling on Tony Curtis' psychic for help. Of course, Curtis being a phoney he seeks help himself, first from Stella Stevens' gypsy and then, deciding to fight fire with fire, Michael Ansara's medicine man. Ansara gives a surprisingly good performance considering the material, but even his Indian magic isn't enough to fend off an evil Felix Silla from summoning the Devil himself, who can only be defeated by turning on every computer in the hospital at the same time and Susan Strasberg getting her bits out in a vaguely New Age Meets 2001 finale. Despite the synopsis, unintentional laughs are in short supply, although a sequence where one of Curtis' elderly customers is possessed, floats down the hallway and throws herself down the stairs is a mini-masterclass in ineptitude as it fluctuates between failed attempts at humor and laughable attempts at drama. Still, any film where the co-writer is blown up onscreen and where a frozen nurse is accidentally decapitated isn't entirely without some merit.

Not much in the way of extras - just the trailer and a TV spot - but an acceptable 2.35:1 widescreen transfer.

"Manitou: a supernatural being that controls nature; a spirit, deity, or object that possesses supernatural power." - American Heritage Dictionary.

When a fetus grows on the back of his girlfriend's neck, it is up to Harry Erskine, a psychic scheisster, to find help for her. Seems he began to meddle in certain occult practices that he could not handle, and so his problems surmount, amusingly displayed when an elderly client is possessed and floats out the door and tumbles down the stairs. Despite all attempts to help her condition using "white man's medicine", he realizes he must consult alternative methods including a seance where an "evil spirit" manifests as a black head rising from the table.

While researching, he finds the name of professor Dr. Snow {Burgess Meredith} who recommends he fight fire with fire, leading him to a reservation where he meets reticent Medicine Man John Singing Rock, who takes on the challenge for a generous donation to the Native American education fund and some tobacco. When he discovers the fetus is the reincarnation of a legendary powerful shaman named Misquamacus {played by Felix "Cousin Itt" Silla and Joe Gieb}, his reticence grows but nonetheless decides to attempt a fight, despite a warning by Misquamacus to not help the palefaces. Every effort is met with defeat as Misquamacus summons everything from a lizard demon, the zombified body of a dead orderly, to the elements themselves, transforming the floor level into a veritable cave. Unfortunately, Misquamacus is deformed and diminuative due to profuse X-radiation while attempting to decipher the mysterious growth.

When John Singing Rock explains that all things have a manitou, even seemingly inanimate objects, and when all else fails, Harry conceives of an idea to use the manitous of all the hospital's computers, hoping to amass their combined energy to combat Misquamacus, who at that point has summoned forth "The Devourer", a supposed equivalent to The Devil, which leads to a surprisingly impressive phantasmagoric ending.

With subtle shades of Koyaanisqatsi, the plot seems to convey a message of the progression of technology at odds with the natural world, although in the end, a cooperative balance can be found.

"Mighty be the powers of the old medicine man
Whispers of his rain dance flow across the desert sands
Guardian of the elder spirit summoning the storm
Awaiting his arrival, Manitou of flesh is born..."
~ 'Manitou' by Venom; At War With Satan.

THis sounds like such a creepy plot and as a child I couldn't see this exploiter because of the R rating. I finally got to see it recently and there's not much happening here.
William Girdler, producer and director put out some decent B-flicks in the 70's. This one is plain hokey, it starts with a scary premise of a fast growing tumor on a young woman. When doctors find it is a parasitic twin, friend and phony psychic (redundant!) Tony Curtis comes to her aid and jumps to the discovery that an ancient Indian shaman has possessed her. After seeking the help of an Indain spiritualist, there is an "Exorcist"-like showdown between good and evil where the initially decent effects go downhill quickly.
Tony Curtis was once a respectable player, but because of substance problems in the late 70s he appeared in Bad News Bears sequels and clunkers like this. A shame.

How do you write a review for a movie whose premise is the rebirth of a 400 year old Native American medicine man from the neck of a beautiful young woman? Chances are that after reading a description like the aforementioned you'll have made up your mind on whether you like it or not before even putting it in the DVD player. For myself the storyline was too bizarre to pass up on and I was sure that it would have at least something to enjoy... pleasantly enough, it had lots to enjoy! Now the storyline would be difficult enough to try and convey in the year 2007 let alone 1978 but thankfully they give it all the effort they can muster and the results are suprisingly solid (and sometimes amusing). The acting is very good here and you almost get the feeling that the casting agent must have lied ("this film will be bigger than the Exorcist I tell ya")to get such good actors behind this material. The movie starts slow with the first hour mostly consisting of dialogue and speculation on what to do to save our poor victim... but if you can make it through that (which actually moves along pretty well) you will be treated to a finale that could only come from the swinging 70's (no really... this is something!). Although rated PG at the time there is no way that it would pass for that now with scenes that include an exploding man (pretty good), a decapitation (pretty bad), and breasts (self explanatory)! The movie is most likely worth 3 stars but I can't stress the finale enough and have decided to bump it to four stars in the hope of getting every single person alive to see it at least once.

"Guard well the pips," mystic Harry Erskin tells an elderly client just prior to encountering Misquamacus, a 200 year old medicine man that has been reborn out of Susan Strasberg's back! Okay, this sounds weird but it's very enjoyable and wonderfully weird in a good way! THE MANITOU is one of those rare movies that just gets better and better as it moves along.
Tony Curtis is great as the mystic ("Ya oughtta see him in his Mr. Wizard outfit!") and Susan Strasberg is electrifying as Karen Tandy in this wild sci fi/ horror flick. Michael Ansara almost steals the show as John Singing Rock, a modern day medicine man hired to do battle with the most powerful entity of them all. Stella Stevens, Eve Arden, and Burgess Meredith are also along for the ride in William Girdler's (GRIZZLY, DAY OF THE ANIMALS) most ambitious movie. I can't help but wonder what he might have accomplished if he hadn't died in that nasty helicopter crash!
This movie is like a slow moving freight train that just keeps pickin' up steam. A freaky seance, a frozen nurse who gets decapitated, a powerful earthquake that occurs only in the hospital, and then...and then Miss Strasberg steals the show from Mr. Ansara in one ot the most visually stunning showdowns ever put on film. Just imagine opening a hospital door to see an illusion of outer space in the tranquil, private room. Imagine that the deformed Misquamacus is floating in space in front of you while Miss Strasberg is floating lifeless on the bed to your left. In the distance, behind the fiendish medicine man, is a great mass of energy know as "the Great Old One." Then imagine that this entity is throwing blazing fireballs at you as you cower in the doorway. All seems to be lost until Miss Strasberg suddenly sits up as her hospital gown slips down. The tragic girl, not quite as dead as the viewer has presumed, raises her arms and fires bolts of electricity (machine manitous) at the medicine man, quickly dispatching the rascal. Then she and the Great Old One go at like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef! The topless woman firing bolts of electricity from her fingertips as the Great Old One counters with his cosmic fireballs! Wow...what a battle!! You have to see it to believe it! Who wins? Buy the movie and you'll find out!
Five stars just ain't enough for this one folks...so, unofficially, I'll give it a TEN!! This is one of the most entertaining movies I've ever seen...Period! Don't look for award winning acting or some deep, profound message...you'll be disappointed. But, if ya wanna be entertined, this oughtta do the trick! If it doesn't work for ya, try reading a MILLIE THE MODEL comic book. 'Nuff said!