Nice effects though.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The Manitou (1978) * (out of 4) Karen (Susan Strasberg) begins to have what appears to be a tumor grow on her back but it soon becomes clear that it's some sort of fetus. Her friend and psychic Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis) manages to find out that the fetus is actually an Indian medicine man growing so he calls in another medicine man (Michael Ansara) to try and destroy it.THE MANITOU was based on a very popular novel but whatever the book had going for it certainly didn't follow to the screen. Cult director William Girdler was killed before this movie was released so sadly this was the last film he worked on. Rumor has it that his screenplay took three days to complete and that's probably true because there's some pretty silly stuff going on here. For the most part the film appears to be THE EXORCIST with a bit of STAR WARS thrown in for good measure. Does that sound crazy? Well, THE MANITOU is a pretty crazy little movie.The biggest problem I had with the movie is that it simply ran on way too long, took itself way too serious and it just wasn't scary at all. The movie contains non-stop dialogue with Curtis talking to countless people about what's going on. I'm going to guess that this here was meant to make the viewer feel more tension whenever the final battle happened but the director never really builds any suspense or tension. Even worse is that this dialogue scene just move at a snail's pace and the film gets very tiresome. The entire plot is rather stupid and especially towards the end when all sorts of strange things begin to happen. The snow storm in the hospital was just the start of things but once space gets involved you can't help but throw your hands up and roll your eyes. The final battle with the medicine man will bring up memories of THE EXORCIST but this film never comes close to that level of scares.The film, like many of Girdler's pictures, offers up a great cast of characters. Curtis was clearly just picking up a paycheck as he pretty much sleepwalks through the role. Perhaps he too just realized how dumb the plot was and didn't take it too serious. Just take a look at a scene early in the movie where an old woman become possessed in his apartment. The "comic" nature to how Curtis acts makes him look pretty bad even if it was what the director was asking for. Strasberg is good but isn't really given much to do. I also thought Ansara was good in his moments. Stella Stevens and Jon Cedar are also on hand as is Burgess Meredith who also comes across rather comical when he didn't need to be.THE MANITOU is a deadly dull movie that can't even work on a "so bad it's good" level because of how slow it is. There's a lot of campy stuff going on here but sadly it just never adds up to anything entertaining. I will say the movie looks very professional, which is a credit to Girdler's talents but sadly the end result is just a complete mess of a film.

I saw this for the first time in 2015 on TCM of all places, but I remember when it came out. What makes this so laughable are the effects which look like an old SCTV skit. The movie loses me totally with the guy in the alligator suit. This feels more like a TV movie than a theatrical movie. It's a 1970s "B" movie but with a considerable cast of Tony Curtis, Michael Ansara and Susan Strasberg of all people. It's probably typical for its time. I also would like to make a suggestion to Amazon that they change the minimum of a review from 10 lines to 5 lines. The reviews can still be good without having to make so many points about the movie.

This movie is based on Graham Masterton's classic horror novel of the same name. While the movie is not as good as GM's original novel it is well worth watching if you are into novel ways of looking at the horror genre. Intrigued? Read on.The Manitou is the tale of a two hundred year old medicine man (the protagonist), Karen Tandy (the victim of the tale) and Harry Erskine (the hero)(who is played by Tony Curtis (he says he does not remember making this movie) ). Karen gets a lump on her shoulder and goes to hospital, they tell her it is like a foetus. She goes to Harry for help and that is when it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary tumour. The medicine man from the past is seeking a way to get to the future and Karen is his portal. Will Harry be able to stop the native American magic from coming into the 20th century? Watch the movie and find out.It is a well made horror movie from the seventies from cult director William Girdler who also made Grizzly and day of the animals. Incidentally GM did not leave the tale there. He went on to right a number of very good sequels none of which have been made into movies.

When the immortal spirit of Misquamacas, a 400-year old medicine man, selects the neck of Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg) as the ideal place to be reborn, her ex-boyfriend (and professional mystic) Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis) enlists the help of Indian magic man John Singing Rock (Michael Ansara) to help try and defeat the evil creature.Although Graham Masterton's very creepy supernatural story The Manitou works brilliantly on paper, it doesn't translate quite so well to the big screen, with it's more grotesque and absurd moments appearing laughable rather than horrifying. That said, this film is still hugely enjoyable thanks to its somewhat camp/trashy vibe, bonkers special effects laden ending, and fun performances from a talented cast (that also includes Stella Stevens and Burgess Meredith in supporting roles).Curtis, as the film's unlikely hero, is great, putting in a deliberately theatrical performance that veers from semi-comedic buffoonery to stoic heroism, and he is given solid support from Ansara; however, Strasberg isn't really required to do much other than look scared and scream (oh, and flash her tits during the finalé). Stevens, however, is worthy of note, giving a decent turn as a medium who decides to give up the business after a face-to-face encounter with the evil Indian spirit.The film's special effects range from the very impressive to the quite embarrassing: Tom Burman's deformed shaman make-up is damn creepy and Misquamacas' eventual emergence from Karen's massive tumour is nice and gloopy (also, keep an eye out for a terrific blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when a frozen nurse gets her head knocked off!!!); in contrast, the optical effects during the film's climax are utter rubbish—cheesy blue-screen stuff, a few trippy kaleidoscopic visuals, and some lousy lightning bolts.It's a damn shame that The Manitou wasn't a huge success, because it might have kick-started a series of Masterton movies in the same way that Carrie did for Stephen King. If you haven't read any Masterton, I highly recommend his novels; The Pariah, in particular, would make a superb film if tackled in the right manner.