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Gee, I wonder if I've had more comments than anyone else.  I wonder why, in this review, you didn't mention the doctor exploding when his computer terminal (or whatever it was) blew up.  That was hilarious!

Based on a novel by Graham Masterson, who basically rewrote the same damn story over and over with a different cultural background ("Tengu," "Djinn," even "Revenge of the Manitou").
The same doctor Warren H mentions gets his fingers bit off by a superimposed plastic lizard before he gets popped. Poor guy, bad day at work. Directed by William Girdler, who also gave us "Grizzly," "The Devil's Asylum," and "Day of the Animals" before dying in a chopper accident scouting locations for his first big-budget feature. Miss him.

I watched this recently.I had not seen it since it played in the theaters.It was pretty cool seeing bare boobs in a PG movie whaen I was just 7 years old.Tony Curtis made it enjoyable

Oh my God!  I had totally forgotten about this movie.  After I saw it (originally - God Forbid, every time someone in my family got a zit it was EWWW!  THE MANITOU!  Great family fun!

I simply love movies in general so I don't get any great joy out of bashing even the worst film. But this is a bad movie. There's just no getting past that. However, director William Girdler did his best to disguise the film's shortcomings(there are plenty), and you've got to hand it to him because one way or the other he convinced big name stars like Tony Curtis, Burgess Meredith, Stella Stevens, Susan Strasberg, and Ann Sothern to appear in the film. It's difficult to say which one of these remarkably talented performers comes off best, but you've got to hand it to all of them, they each keep a straight face in just about every scene they're in!

Ah William Girdler, I just love his movies to pieces.  The Manitou has always been great fun.  I love the part where Mrs. Kearns falls down the stairs and its blatantly obvious that its a really big dude in a dress, hell it's funnier than the big white guy in a dress stunt double gag in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!  This is one so-bad-it's-great movie that I can never get tired of watching.  Hell there are even some moments in the movie that are actually pretty scary (i.e. the head coming out of the table during the seance).  Ah Bill, why'd you have to go and die, I know you would have gone places in Hollyweird.  I still firmly believe you would have been another Carpenter or Hooper, given the same time and money and chances as those gentlemen.

I have seen "The Manitou" a number of times since 1986 and found it interesting.

You mentioned in the index of comments the that Graham Masterton wrote a second book entitled "Revenge of the Manitou." Did you know that Masterton Wrote also wrote a third volume based on his origional characters?
This book is called, "Burial: a Novel of the Manitou."

Yes, Misquamacus returns to plague mankind a third time. As uaual our friend Harry comes to the rescue. The book is rather long, but I found it interesting as well.

I will not give away the (cemetary) plot but I feel that The third book does show how vivid Masterton's mind is as he uses an historical reference to The Battle of the little Big Horn that took place, according to the author, on Sunday, June 25, 1876.

I like the stories of Masterton. I give the movie "The Manitou" 4 stars, but what we are dealing with, once again, is Hollywood.

As a spiritual person I would be very careful what I went looking for in a darkened room. There are things that no one should make an attempt to call forth.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of the Manitou.  I showed it to my 4 sons.  We were wondering whatever happened to Joe Gieb, the reincarnated shaman.  Does anyone know?  Does anyone care?

when i first saw the movie i thought it was good and i like the sp. effics in the movie i would like tobuy a copy

This morning I noticed a little bump on my neck and thought, "What is that, a pimple?".  Then I thought, "Oh, it must be an embryonic Manitou".  THEN I tought, "Where the hell did that come from?".  So glad I'm not completely nuts.

Great site! K

Wow! Memories. I saw this movie actually after reading Revenge of the Manitou. That book scared me; then I read The Manitou and saw the movie. It would have been great to see a movie of Revenge of the Manitou. Good to read that there is a 3rd book; I will look into it.

I was a wee lad of eight when I saw this movie, and it freaked me out! My older brother was fond of making me watch bizarre stuff (i.e. he snuck me into "It's Alive" and was all p**sed when I ran out crying... yes, those scars run deep).

Anyway, my memories of "The Manitou" have squatted in the back of my mind among our things I'm not really sure were real or bad dreams after eating expired Twinkies (including such noteworthies as the Star Wars Holiday Special).

So thanks for posting the review and confirming that that was something I really saw and not the weird workings of my imagination. Poor Burgess...

Hey, how come you didn't put Michael Ansara's name with an exclamation point?  Or even mention him?  He does Klingons, Native American medicine men, and the voice of Mr. Freeze.  This guy is B-movie mastery made flesh.  

Hmm...did he ever do work with Tim Thomerson?  That would be so much fun...

Joe Gieb currently works down at Six Flags,where
he appears in the HANNA BARBERA PARADE as Scrappy
Doo.
THE MANITOU is right up there with CUBE and
WITHOUT WARNING(1980)as one of my ultimate
favorite movies of all-time.

I can't remember which story this was in, but I'm pretty sure that H.P. Lovecraft at one point explained that Miskatonic (the river and the university in steep-gabled, dream-wracked Arkham) was a corruption of the local native name Misquamacus.  So the writer of this item is not only a bit of a hack (see other comments), he lifts material from his betters.  Charitable folk would call it an homage.

Where is the Gichi Manitou soundtrack?

I saw this movie when it came out and read all the books, its a great story if it were protrayed in the right way I would like to rewrite the screen play, and will be looing into getting the rights to it.

I never realized what a fox Susan Strasberg was. What a RACK!!!!

After seeing this movie, I was wondering?  I have a zit on my back.  Should I be concerened? I had sex with a spirit and am really freaked out.  How am I going to explain this to my family?

I also went to see this when it came out. We were debating whether to see Martin Scorcese's The Last Waltz or The Manitou. We chose this and it scared the crap out of me! I haven't seen it since then.

I picked "Manitou" up on DVD a while ago for a few euro... egawds! I forgot how awful it was. I suppose that's what happens when a horrible "director" (girdler) meets a horrible "writer" (masterton).

I used to like Masterton when I was 14 or so... As I reread his books in adulthood, I realized what a damn, self-plagiarizing, talentless hack he actually is.

Admittedly, though, his 70s-80s-early 90s "novels" make decent pulp trash for a dentist's waiting room... His "new" books, on the other hand, are beneath terrible - the hack is no longer even trying; he's apparently just pressing keys at random.

One of my very favorite bad movies of all time.

Unintentionally hilarious throughout--I thought so when I first saw it in 1979 and it holds up brilliantly! I see that it's been released in the UK on DVD. When, oh when will this slice of cinematic gold hit its home shores!?  I fully intend on buying as many copies as I can afford to give to friends, as I've been hocking this film for literally decades. I await its release with bated breath.
AND--I have recently (well, within the last 2-3 years or so) seen a GORGEOUS 35mm print of it, presented as part of a Tony Curtis retrospective at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.. It still exists and it rocks!
So please, whoever is in charge of these things, please know that an audience for this film is still out here. Don't keep us hanging much longer!

Just to get your facts straight. Misquamacus is not reborn as a midget. It's the X-rays that damage his cells in a way that he becomes deformed.

I saw this movie several times when it came out the first time. I have been trying to find it for years. Do anybody know where to buy it?

I rented this convoluted laugh-a-second years ago at a now-defunct rental chain where I also found "Day of the Animals", as well as my first uncut Hentai flick. Andrew was right about the actors saying everything with a straight face. Meanwhile, I was either laughing like crazy or just staring with my mouth hanging open. I especially enjoyed the Burgess Meredith/Colonel Sanders guy. My favorite part, though, was that scene on the operating table where the surgeon cut his own hand while Karen kept repeating that stupid phrase over and over again. I couldn't get that lame, made-up phrase out of my head for weeks after that movie! I think I'll stick to the Hentai.  

I just received the recent Anchor Bay copy of The Manitou.  Amazing how it stands up to the claims that it is the silliest big-budget horror movie ever made.  Burgess Meredith is characteristically over the top, Michael Ansara gives his all to save a sinking ship, but I mostly liked Tony Curtis' serious delivery--although his scenes as the sham psychic are intentionally and effectively comic.  Yeah, I love the light show at the end, and  Susan Strasberg was a dish.

I saw this movie on TV its pretty awful when it comes to being scary

It is interesting that the performances are actually pretty good in this.  I think the one talent Girdler had is that he could get convincing performances out of actors, even if the lines they were being asked to read were terrible.  Carol Speed did a pretty good job in the equally silly but less entertaining ABBY.

And dig that crazy cosmic climax!  It's like the finales of THE EXORCIST, STAR WARS and 2001 and rolled into one!  Laser beams, fiery meteors and kaleidoscopic nebulae everywhere!  I only wish it had lasted longer!

I liked the manitou, it was really weird and the whole idea freaked me out. My dad brought it home one day and I watched it followed by Dr.Strange. I think I was about 9 or something....ahh memories...

I saw this movie a long time ago and I liked it then and I like it now.  Sure it's crummy on a lot of levels but the acting is competent and the creepiness factor was pretty pronounced.  I appreciate that the actors made it watchable for the viewers and I will see it again in a few days.  It was something different for it's day, that's for sure.

All the time Burgess Meredith was babbling about how powerful Indian magic was I kept thinking, if it was so powerful why couldn't it make the white man vamoose?

Saw it on TV and wow was it scary at times

Its now Streaming on Netflix!
Watch as the power of love and 70's fake native american spirituality defeats satan in a boobie-infused laser battle!

Your kidding right?

How could you not mention Michael Ansara as John Singing Rock?

To me, Burgess Meredith's character looked like the late astronomer and ufologist J. Allen Hynek.

Great review!!  Hilarious!!!

Agreed.  :teddyr: :teddyr:


 :teddyr: :teddyr:

I'm amazed at how many people posted here that aren't here anymore  :buggedout: