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Movie Reviews:

The Manitou
Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2007

Directed by William Girdler
Based Upon The Novel "The Manitou" by Graham Masterton
Screenplay by William Girdle and Jon Cedar & Thomas Hope

Starring
Tony Curtis
Susan Strasberg
Burgess Meredith
Michael Ansara
Stella Stevens

A woman (Susan Strasberg) has a sudden rapid growth on her neck.  When Surgeons check out the ever increasing bump, they discover that it is actually a fetus growing at an accelerated rate.  The woman contacts ex-boyfriend (Tony Curtis) who is supposedly a psychic-medium.  He finds out that she is possessed by the reincarnation of a 400-year old Native American demon.  With the help of a modern-day medicine man (Michael Ansara) they go to battle within the confines of a hospital and all hell breaks lose.

I saw this film the first time on Showtime back when Cable TV was at it's prime (before VHS).  There are some scenes and potent imagery I never really forgot (growth on neck, battle within the hospital and creepy séance scene to name three).

Tom Burman's Special Make-Up Effects are outstanding and totally effective.  His artistry is at it's finest in this film and he's certainly one of the stars of the movie.

Lalo Schifrin's music is moody and helps makes the movie as atmospheric as it is.

I applaud Anchor Bay for finally putting this out on DVD.  I only wish they could have created some behind the scenes supplements because these older titles are always the most interesting to learn how they were made.  I think this is because they were made before the electronic press kit age, where all sorts of information is given to us by Internet, print and television.

THE MANITOU is a nice little, eerie film.

www.anchorbayentertainment.com