The Manitou
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Movie Reviews of The Manitou
Movie Review: Welcome The Devourer...
Summary: 4 Stars
"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.
Movie Review: preposterous, silly, laughable, and the like
Summary: 4 Stars
While I must agree with many of the reveiewers of this film that say it is preposterous, silly, laughable, and the like, I must also add that watching the film is an entertaining experience. Yes, the story about a fetus growing on a woman's back and then becoming a four foot Indian ripping his way out of a tumor the size of basketball stretches the line of credibility. This pint-sized spirit has amazing powers as he can literally freeze an entire hospital ward, call forth the devil himself, and take the skin off of people's bodies through his mind. The most ridiculous aspects of the film, however, are the explanation and execution of how to fight the manitou. Apparently all things in life have their own manitou, so we see this incredibly powerful spirit temporarily beaten when Tony Curtis throws a typewriter at him. We are to believe the spirit of the machine harmed this powerful spirit. Yeah, okay. The special effects are very outdated and some of those will just make you burst out laughing. The scene where Tony Curtis(the former boyfriend of the girl with the shoulder-weilding fetus/pint-sized Indian spirit) and Michael Ansara(playing John Singing Rock or something like that who just happens to be an Indian medicine man ready, able, and willing to do battle with the most powerful Indian medicine man's spirit that ever lived...and this one apparently has ripped through the shoulders or bellies of five previous people) walk into the hospital room and see what I guess is suppose to be space will have you slapping your knee. But the very worst scene has to be the finale which I will not explain in great detail. Suffice it to say that Susan Strasberg(the poor woman aforementioned) is sitting up on a bed topless..., yes, you heard me, TOPLESS, throwing ele trical current from her fingers as she battles the manitou. It has to be seen to be believed. The acting in the film is not very good, but again very likable. Curtis plays a mystic and some of his scenes are good in the beginning. Ansara is ok, and Burgess Meredith gives the best performance in his five minute cameo. The little Indian who could was played much of the time by Felix Silla, the same fella that played Cousin It on The Addams Family and has appeared in countless horr/science fiction films.
Movie Review: Trash...But Really Great Trash.
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: MANITOU!
Summary: 4 Stars
The Manitou is another example of how the movie industry in the 70s would get behind just about any outrageous concept and let it rip, sometimes getting established stars to be in the film. This movie is kinda like a Native American variation on the Exorcist. Not that it's a carbon copy of that film, but there are similarities. Using Native American mythology and folklore for horror films is something I wish we saw more of, and I'm not talking about the old plot device of haunted houses being built on Native American burial grounds. It's directed by William Girdler, who directed the Oscar(TM) winning, blockbuster smashes, Grizzly and Day of the Animals. Susan Strasberg finds a lump on the back of her neck, and naturally the concern is cancer. But cancer would be letting her off easy...This is a MANITOU!! That's right, a never-dying lifeforce of a 400 year old medicine man who's out to put the kibosh on humanity. He just needs to use Susan's neck as a kind of incubator before he's ripe enough to bust out. So he uses Susan to cause some supernatural mischief and occasionally communicate through her. When he does bust out(around an hour into the film), he looks a bit underdone coz he's less than four feet high. Then the MANITOU must do battle with none other than Tony Curtis himself along with a Native American medicine man(at least I think he's a medicine man) that Curtis has brought along for the "exorcism". The battle is played out on an abandoned hospital wing with the climax looking like something from Buck Rogers. If this sounds silly, it is. If it sounds fun and entertaining, it is. Movies like this are definitely a good time. What's really a good time though is watching Tony Curtis turning on his stereo and getting down to a funky disco tune. How often do you see that? And how often to you see a midget in heavy makeup to make him look Native American? Not often, I'd say. But if you want to see all this and more, you should check out...THE MANITOU!!!!!Movie Review: "You might almost describe it as a fetus... On her neck?"
Summary: 4 Stars
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.