The Manitou (1978)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

William Girdler

Writers:

Jon Cedar (writer)
William Girdler (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1979 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Evil does not die... It waits to be re-born!

Plot:

A psychic's girlfriend finds out that a lump on her back is a growing reincarnation of a 400 year-old demonic Native American spirit.

Plot Keywords:

Tumor | Doctor | Fetus | Hospital | Reincarnation

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Harry Erskine
Michael Ansara	...	John Singing Rock
Susan Strasberg	...	Karen Tandy
Stella Stevens	...	Amelia Crusoe
Jon Cedar	...	Dr. Jack Hughes
Ann Sothern	...	Mrs. Karmann
Burgess Meredith	...	Dr. Snow
Paul Mantee	...	Dr. McEvoy
Jeanette Nolan	...	Mrs. Winconis
Lurene Tuttle	...	Mrs. Herz
Hugh Corcoran	...	MacArthur
Ann Newman-Mantee	...	10th-Floor Nurse
Jan Heininger	...	Wolf, an orderly
Michael Laren	...	Michael, an orderly
Cindy Stanford	...	Neighbor

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) (1991) | UK:18 (re-rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16 | USA:PG (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mid-America Pictures

Trivia:

Last film of director William Girdler. Shortly before the film's release he was killed in a helicopter crash in the Philippines while scouting locations for an upcoming film.

Quotes:

Dr. Snow: What you have to understand is that the magic of ancient Indian tribes was very, very powerful. They were, in fact, one of the great magical societies of modern times, of pure ethnic occult art. And, er, they were,
[wiping bookcase]
Dr. Snow: Ugh, this is a mess! They were, er, undiluted with European conceptions and preconceptions. The whole concept of the Indians, the whole concept of life and death and inner space was rolled up in the Indians demon, the equivalent demon. That demon would be possessed of monstrous, monstrous power!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Empire of the Censors (1995) (TV)

So weird, so bad, that it's a beautiful thing. Don't miss it.

How can I begin to describe this amazing film? Random images pop into my head from memory... Tony Curtis as a dashing fortune-teller and huckster, prancing around his San Francisco bachelor pad wearing a sorcerer's outfit... one of his elderly female clients being possessed by an Indian spirit and being tossed down a flight of stairs... (you don't even need the pause button to see that the stunt "double" going down the stairs is a big dude in a dress and wig!!)... Burgess Meredith muddling through one of his last film roles, playing a senile old coot with amazing realism, to no one's surprise... an Indian shaman with a Yiddish-sounding New York City accent and a penchant for stale one-liners... a naked midget dressed up like an evil reincarnated Indian fetus covered with goo... a topless Susan Strassberg hovering in the fourth dimension and firing lightning bolts at the evil spirit using electrical energy from a huge 70's-model computer... YOU MUST SEE THIS FILM!!