"Evil does not die… it waits… to be reborn" in THE MANITOU, on Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

When Karen Tandy (Susan Strasberg, SCREAM OF FEAR) goes to the Sisters of Jerusalem hospital with a moving lump that seems to be growing out the back of her neck, her doctor McEvoy (Paul Mantee, ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS) consults specialist Dr. Jack Hugues (Jon Cedar, DEATH HUNT). Although Hughes assures Karen that there is nothing to worry about, he wants to surgically remove the lump as soon as possible, especially when X-rays reveal the lump's resemblance to a human fetus. Karen is nevertheless unnerved and seeks comfort from Harry Erskine (Tony Curtis, SOME LIKE IT HOT), a spiritualist for whom she used to work who is now conning wealthy old ladies by telling them their fortunes. An avowed disbeliever in the occult, Harry also assures her that she will be fine; that is, until one of his clients (Lurene Tuttle, PSYCHO) throws herself down a flight of stairs while chanting the same foreign words Karen did in her sleep the night before. When Hughes will not listen to his concerns in spite of a seemingly possessed Karen causing telekinetic havoc with the laser he tried to use to remove the rapidly growing lump, Harry appeals to former hack medium Amelia (Stella Stevens, ARNOLD) and her partner McArthur (Hugh Corcoran, DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!). The séance they conduct with Karen's aunt (Ann Sothern, THE WHALES OF AUGUST) manifests the powerful spirit of Indian medicine man Misquamacus whom they learn from anthropologist Dr. Snow (Burgess Meredith, THE SENTINEL) had rebirthed himself before in the body of a native girl four hundred years before and is intending to do it again to seek vengeance against the white man. Their only hope is to fight fire with fire in the form of medicine man John Singing Rock (Michael Ansara, THE DOLL SQUAD) who must combat him by turning on him the same powers and gods over which Misquamacus has far greater control.

Based on the novel by Graham Masterton, the Panavision-lensed and Dolby Stereo-mixed THE MANITOU was the first shot at the big time for director William Girdler who had previous drive-in successes with the nature attacks films DAY OF THE ANIMALS and GRIZZLY along with the modest success of one of his Blaxploitation pictures SHEBA BABY for American International. His first stab at the possession genre in ABBY, however, was barred from release by an injunction from Warner Bros. over its similarities to THE EXORCIST. Shot on location in San Francisco and fully making use of its scenic possibilities and benefiting from a central performance by Curtis whose Harry Erskine deploys levity to deal with fear. While method actress Strasberg gets short shrift in a pivotal role, the supporting cast – particularly Stevens, Corcoran, and Ansara – is also a delight even if they too are mostly "special guest appearances" in a plot whose three-act skeleton is exposed with a middle that requires Erskine to literally go from point A to B to C to piece together information before the final act set entirely in the hospital. While Masterton's novel cooked up some grisly surprises for this part of the story, their realization in the film is blunted not so much by the make-up effects of Tom Burman (CAT PEOPLE) as the film's overall "old fashioned" feel that feels more like Girdler gone Hollywood – possibly out of need for a PG rating to draw a wider audience – than what Friedkin achieved in the studio system. The visual effects, on the other hand, are a letdown with the old gods Misquamacus summons up taking the form of magnified double exposures of a reptile Bert I. Gordon-style followed by a STAR WARS-esque laser light show. The film's best asset, however, is the score by Lalo Schifrin (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR) which seems inspired by Ennio Morricone's world music approach to EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC. While not a total success, it was Girdler's biggest film yet and suggested not so much a visionary as a talent for putting butts in seats that was sadly cut short when he died in a helicopter explosion while scouting locations for his next film at the age of thirty. Masterton would write six more Manitou stories and would carry Erskine over into his next novel THE DJINN.

Released theatrically by Avco Embassy, THE MANITOU was long available in a panned-and-scanned VHS from Charter Entertainment until Anchor Bay released a DVD in 2007. The barebones disc featured an attractive anamorphic widescreen transfer restoring the original Panavision framing but only featured a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono rather than the film's original Dolby Stereo soundtrack. Since the film was one of the Avco Embassy films that went to Studio Canal rather than MGM, it would be a long time before requests for the film's release on Blu-ray. The title was hotly anticipated when it was announced earlier this year that Studio Canal had licensed a number of titles to more than one independent label (Kino Lorber being the other one of which we are aware). A 4K scan from the original interpositive, THE MANITOU's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen looks quite spiffy, contrasting bright and colorful though sometimes diffused location exteriors and crisper-looking studio interior (although the intended murkiness of some hospital room interiors does not always hide the weaknesses of some prosthetics like the sights of an undead orderly supposedly stripped of his skin). Opticals of course call attention to themselves by looking a bit coarser in grain and it just as well that Ansara's medicine man explains to Erskine that a bit of bluescreen work is "just an illusion." Although the back cover only states the inclusion of a mono soundtrack, the disc does indeed include the Dolby Stereo track in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (along with the mono track also in 2.0). While it is a pleasure to finally hear the mix, it is not one of the more adventurous Dolby Stereo tracks of the early days of the format. For the most part, the mix is very centered with some directional effects, crowd atmosphere, and Schifrin's score getting the most spread for much of the film until the third act where there is much room-shaking rumbling, roaring, and laser firing. It's not STAR WARS but it was another seeming indicator of Girdler's ambitions and what might have been even if he might not have moved on to studio work. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.