NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Shout! Factory have put The Manitou to Blu-ray in a "NEW 4K Scan Of The Original Film Elements with a NEW Restored Stereo Soundtrack". It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with a max'ed out bitrate. But this doesn't seem to help the image appearance which has many inconsistencies mostly looking clunky, obviously flat, hazy and heavy. It is in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and shows a few marks and an uncomfortable softness that, we presume, is due to the available source or original production. You can judge by the screen captures below. It doesn't look very crisp or glossy - but thick and rather uneven and lumpy with, what can appears as, background artifacts. 

Shout! Factory give the option of two DTS-HD Master tracks - one in 2.0 channel stereo (new) and the other in mono. There are some funky effects and a score is by Argentinean Lalo Schifrin (famous as the guy behind the Mission: Impossible theme as well as Rollercoaster, Charley Varrick, Day of the Animals, Hit!, Man on a Swing, The Nude Bomb, Tango and many other films) which adds to this quirky film - normalizing it somewhat with the extensively dramatic music. The stereo has some buoyancy and depth where the mono is, predictably, flat. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Shout! Factory adds a new audio commentary by Troy Howarth who is one of my favorites filling the film with some wry humorous comments and plenty of details on the cast, crew, composer and director, plus differences from the book - barely taking a breath throughout. There is also a new 1/2 hour interview with author of The Manitou Graham Masterson who has a lot to share about the film and evolution of his book to the screen. We also get 11-minutes of Executive Producer David Sheldon in a piece entitled Producing Girdler - he seems frank and open about the film's director. There is also an original theatrical trailer, original TV Spots and an Image Gallery.

The Manitou is a fascinating camp film experience. Truly one of the stranger films of its time - an ambitious horror that, for many, fails... but you can't stop watching to see what is next - especially as it may be so over-the-top that it's laughable. The Blu-ray transfer is probably done the best that it could - 4K-restored with a full bitrate - but it's seems apparent that nothing can save this film from its fate - a bizarre 'campy' effort that only its niche could appreciate.

Gary Tooze