Directed by the great William Girdler, this thriller is one of my favorites and stars Tony Curtis as a psychic whose distant girlfriend (Susan Strasberg) finds that she has a tumor growing on her neck. It soon become apparent that the tumor is really a fetus housing a soon to be born ancient Indian medicine man that is all powerful.
The doctors at the hospital are stumped and find they cannot do anything as the fetus grows to very large size. Curtis enlists the aid of a medicine man living on a small farm who at first is very reluctant to help, but finally agrees. John Singing Rock is played by the great character actor Michael Ansara.
The spirit rips it's way out of Strasberg's back and soon beings working his evil black magic. The deformed medicine man is something to see and he is angry about what has happened to him from all the radiation the doctors used taking hundreds of x rays.
The ending is rather esoteric and bizarre, but it fits perfectly. There are some bizarre and scary moments and Girdler makes the most of them. Sadly, Girdler died a few months before the release of the film when the helicopter he was in crashed in the Philippines while scouting locations for his next film.
The rest of the top notch cast includes Burgess Meridith, Stella Stevens, Jon Cedar, Ann Southern, Paul Mantee, and Laureen Tuttle. I hope this is re-issued on DVD on Blu-ray soon, but for now I will make due with a disc recorded from TCM by a good friend.
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