Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

GazerRise Fantastic!

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Michael_Elliott 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.

Neil Welch In commemoration of Tony Curtis' sad passing yesterday, I thought I would use it as a reason to visit one of my guilty pleasures.The Manitou was a horror novel hacked out (not to put too fine a point on it) in the early 70s by horror pulp novelist Graham Masterton. The story concerns the girlfriend of a small-time stage magician and psychic con artist called Harry Erskine, who finds herself with a mysterious growth on her neck. The growth turns out to be the reincarnation of malevolent native American demonic shaman Misquemacus, who has bad things in mind. Harry, enlisting the aid of untried medicine man John Singing Rock, becomes reluctant hero and joins battle.This sounds fairly daft (and is), but it works fairly well on the printed page. This film adaptation, with Curtis as Erskine, translates it fairly faithfully to the screen, at which point you realise what a load of preposterous old tosh it actually is. Having said that, it has moderate production values, and is played straight albeit with a twinkle in its eye, and is entertaining if you are prepared to crank up the suspension of disbelief (and, let's face it, if you've sat down to watch it then that's probably the case).Curtis had five phases to his career. There was an introductory phase, where he got by on cheesecake good looks while learning his trade. Then the second phase saw him garnering respect in movies like Spartacus and Some Like It Hot. The third phase was a plateau which included critical successes like The Boston Strangler and crowd pleasers like The Great Race. The fourth phase was a slow and graceful decline, encompassing high profile TV series The Persuaders and low rent (but relatively high budget) potboilers like The Manitou. Finally, having retired to all intents and purposes, he popped up for the odd cameo here and there.It was a successful and well structured career, the career of a man who entered it based solely on his looks, but who had sustained success in it based largely on his talent, skill, and ability to learn.He will be missed.

Aaron1375 When I watched this on television years ago it simply screamed made for television movie to me. The quality of the film, the incredibly cheesy story that tries in vain to be serious and the stable of actors one expects to see in a made for television movie. However, it was apparently a film that got a film release and that is kind of sad considering how weak the film is as a horror movie. You would expect more blood, more frightening scenes, this one just does not have it at all. It seems almost like a lifetime channel movie of today in its production values and plot. The plot is simple enough to explain, seems a demon like creature called the manitou is growing on Tony Curtis' wife and he must try to stop this evil entity before it is to late. I also recall it being some sort of Indian legend and there may have been an Indian in the movie to help out, but do not quote me on that one. In the end a very light and frothy horror movie that does not contain really all that much to justify that R rating.

BA_Harrison 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.