well and then . what can i say about a movie i use to think be one of the cool supernatural indian thriller i would ever see . for starter and i be eighteen in 1978 when the manitou be release . and of course and special effect that be consider state of the art back then and look more than a little cheesy now . i mean and look at superman and which come out the same year . grant and there will never be anyone good than christopher reeve ( sorry and mr. routh ) and but those effect . baaaad and sport and real bad . and they do not get all that much well in supe 2. not that they suck back then and but consider what possible today . ehhh . but back to our feature presentation . the casting do nothing but increase the cheese factor exponentially and i be afraid . the list read like all the people who do not get cast in the sentinel . but it be the seventy and and where be all those fade golden age of holly weird star find most of their work . in horror and sci fi and of course . and so it go . our movie go something like this represent psychic con artist harry erskine ( tony curtis ) be happily living in san francisco and ply his trade and bilk money off of rich little old lady ( our two feature mark be jeanette nolan and lurene tuttle ) . harry be use to sell the izzle without the steak and and have never really believe in the faux tarot card readings he haphazardly give . until old flame or former fellow con karen tandy ( susan strasberg ) come back into his life . she just as beautiful a ever and but now she a girl with something extra . a tumor on the back of her neck that grow at an alarm rate . and it seem to have a mind of it own . her doctor ( jon cedar and paul mantee ) can not figure out what it be or how to retard it growth and and whenever they try and really weird s start to happen . like when a surgeon be force to carve up his own hand with a scalpel . and one of harry elderly visitor go levitate to her death and but not before utter a phrase that karen have mumble in her sleep represent pana witchi salatou . a karen grow bad and harry be force to turn to his old mentor and amelia crusoe and ( stella stevens ) who do believe in all the hocus pocus . amelia conduct an explosive seance with a medium friend and mrs. karmann ( ann southern ) and and through the seance and some research and courtesy of a specialist in indian folklore and dr. snow ( burgess meredith ) and they discover that karen tumor be actually the manifestation of a demonic native american spirit and which be ready to be reborn . this roundabout path finally lead to the door of modern day medicine man john sing rock ( michael ansara ) and who grudgingly offer to help . until he make an even more startling discovery . karen get a manitou on her back and alright and but not just any old shaman . she become the host for misquamacus and a 400 year old shaman and the most powerful who ever live . now harry and john must face off with him in a fight to the death and not just for karen body and soul and but for the fate of the world itself . gee and from the way that sound and i sure a hell would like to see it . only problem be that they have already make it and i already have and and it just sound so much good describe it than what you actually get on screen . in classic fashion and if you can still find graham masterton novel ( which make the best seller list back then ) and when you read it you will discover that what be great in print do not necessarily come across that way on the big screen . curtis be do pretty much everything to pay the bill about this time period and so although he not exactly phone it in a harry and he also get this look like he go over line for his next gig in his head and even while he do this one . a co writer or co producer and co star on this and jon cedar presence a karen surgeon speaks for itself . and michael ansara . one of the good character actor who ever work in hollywood and he be one of those go to guy like jack palance and anthony quinn and who could virtually play any nationality . so and not that i do not think the guy have talent and but it kind of hard to take him seriously a a native american medicine man and because when i look at him and all i can see be the klingon general kang and whom he play in the star trek represent tos episode day of the dove . a for susan strasberg . well and she be a knockout and and she doesn not have much to do except play a second generation copy of linda blair in the exorcist and while look like quasimodo girlfriend . and then she get to camp it up at the end and with some visual effect that look like what george lucas leave on the cutting room floor while make star war . and a it usually go for seventy schlock like this and do not blink or you will miss the appearance of the rest of the cast . the most memorable actor out of the rest of the bunch would be tuttle and whose character have one of the good death scene and and meredith and who i could swear be channel mr. magoo a he play the professor and ( watch him closely and tell me i be wrong . ) yeah and i still have a soft spot in my heart for flick like this and because without them and i wouldn not be the salivating and drool horror or sci fi or fantasy geek i be today . but i have really get to be honest . movie like the manitou make good time capsule artifact than they do flick you would intentionally go out and rent and or sit down to watch on a saturday night . unless you be really and really bored . i do not say this very often and but i wonder if anyone out there could do a decent remake of this one . it might be interesting .