2 October: The Manitou

“Pana...witchy...salatoo!”

No, I’m not ordering a panini with a side salad. I’m letting the spirits of the great old ones speak through me to tell you about today’s entry in the Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween Movie Challenge: “Exorcist Knockoff.” My choice is the 1978 William Girdler classic (?) The Manitou.

Based on Graham Masterton’s 1976 novel and starring Tony Curtis, Michael Ansara, Susan Strasberg, Stella Stevens, and Burgess Meredith, The Manitou tells the story of a girl and her baby bump. Unfortunately for Karen Tandy (Strasberg), said bump is on the back of her neck, and they don’t make maternity clothes with a lot of room in that area. Also, it’s not a baby she’s carrying, but the spirit of a 400-year-old Native American medicine man named Misquamacus, who is seeking revenge on the white men who pillaged his land and killed his people. It’s up to phony fortune-teller Harry Erskine (Curtis) and modern-day Native American shaman/Tom Araya from Slayer lookalike John Singing Rock (Ansara) to save Karen’s life and stop Misquamacus.

We may be in trouble.

The Manitou is a fun, campy romp through and through. It’s hard to take a movie that features Tony Curtis tossing an electric typewriter at a little person in “evil shaman” make-up too seriously. One wonders if Father Karras could have saved Father Merrin’s life had an IBM Selectric been handy in The Exorcist. This is the kind of movie where every line of dialogue is filled with exposition that unfortunately doesn’t explain anything that’s happening.

Still, there are a few creepy moments that can raise the ol’ gooseflesh. One is during the seance that Amelia (Stevens) leads in order to learn what spirit has targeted Karen and why. As the lights dim on their own and one of the participants begins to speak in tongues, a head slowly appears in the middle of the table. This is a pretty great effect and very creepy. Misquamacus’s visage rises out of the surface of the table as though it was a pool of black ichor. Another great scene is Misquamacus’s birth. As Karen moans and writhes on her belly, you can see the shaman squirming beneath her flesh. Finally, he tears through and falls to the floor. It’s not as gooey and bloody a scene as it should be, but it’s still pretty effective.

The Manitou is the type of groovie movie Commander USA would have gleefully shown back in the 80s. It’s perfect Saturday afternoon fare for doin' nothin' but loungin' on the couch all darn day.

Unless, of course, the thought of Tony Curtis unwinding with some disco music on a reel-to-reel tape recorder after a long day of giving old biddies tarot card readings makes you queasy. If that's the case, then...run!