Manos: The Hands of Fate

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For the video game based on the film, see Manos: The Hands of Fate (video game).
Manos: The Hands of Fate
Poster for film showing a gripping hand in the foreground, and a flame between a woman on the left and apparently the same woman on the left. The top of the poster has the word "shocking" in large letters.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Harold P. Warren
Produced by Harold P. Warren
Written by Harold P. Warren
Starring Harold P. Warren
Diane Mahree
Jackie Neyman
Tom Neyman
John Reynolds
Music by Russ Huddleston
Robert Smith Jr.
Cinematography Robert Guidry
Edited by James Sullivan
Production
company
Sun City Films
Distributed by Emerson Film Enterprises
Release dates
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  • November 15, 1966 (1966-11-15)
Running time
 69 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $19,000

Manos: The Hands of Fate is a 1966 American low budget horror film written, directed, produced by, and starring Harold P. Warren. It is widely recognized to be one of the worst films ever made. In 1993, the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), a show based on the premise of mocking B movies, featured Manos: The Hands of Fate, helping the film develop a cult status.[1]

The film's plot revolves primarily around a vacationing family who lose their way on a road trip. After a long drive in the Texas desert, the family is trapped at a lodge maintained by a polygamous pagan cult, and they attempt to escape as the cult's members decide what to do with them. The film is infamous for its technical deficiencies, especially its significant editing and continuity flaws; its soundtrack and visuals not being synchronized; tedious pacing; abysmal acting; and several scenes that are seemingly inexplicable or disconnected from the overall plot, such as a couple making out in a car or The Master's wives breaking out in catfights.[2]

Warren was an insurance and fertilizer salesman from El Paso, Texas, who produced the film as the result of a bet. He also starred in it, alongside El Paso theater actors Tom Neyman and John Reynolds. Manos was an independent production by a crew with little or no background or experience in filmmaking and a very limited budget at its disposal. Upon its theatrical debut, the film was poorly received, playing only at the Capri Theater in El Paso and some drive-ins in West Texas and New Mexico. It remained obscure until its Mystery Science Theater appearance in 1993, which sparked two DVD releases (the original film and the three separate releases of DVDs featuring the MST3K episode of the film).[3] The original 16 mm work print was discovered in California in 2011, from which a new copy of the film, of vastly superior visual quality, was released on BluRay on October 13, 2015.

Plot

While on a road trip near El Paso, Texas, Michael, Margaret, their young daughter Debbie, and their dog, Peppy, search for the "Valley Lodge". Michael and his family finally reach a house which is tended by the bizarre, satyr-like Torgo, who takes care of the house "while the Master is away". Michael and Margaret ask Torgo for directions to the Valley Lodge; Torgo denies having knowledge of such a place. With this information, Michael asks Torgo to let him and his family stay the night, despite objections from both Torgo and Margaret.

Inside the home, the family sees a disturbing painting of a dark, malevolent-looking man and a black dog with glowing eyes; the man it depicts is the Master. Margaret becomes frightened upon hearing an ominous howl; Michael investigates, retrieving a flashlight and revolver from his car, and later finds Peppy lying dead on the ground. Torgo reveals his attraction to Margaret and tells her that, although she is doomed to become yet another bride of The Master, he intends to keep her for himself. Margaret threatens to tell Michael of Torgo's advances, but Torgo convinces her not to say anything to her husband by promising to protect her. Michael returns, unable to start the car. With the revelation that there is no phone in the house, the family reluctantly decides to stay the night.

Michael and Margaret stumble upon "The Master" and several women dressed in translucent nightgowns and later revealed to be his wives. They are all asleep. Torgo uses a stick to knock out Michael, and then ties Michael to a pole, after dragging him to it, and The Master suddenly comes to life. His wives also awaken, and a short argument over the fate of the family ensues. The Master decides he must sacrifice Torgo and his first wife to the film's mysterious deity and namesake, "Manos." When The Master leaves, his wives engage in further argument that soon degenerates into a fight, and the women wrestle in the sand.

Torgo succumbs to what appears to be a hypnotic spell by The Master. The Master stops the fight, and has his first wife tied to a pole to be sacrificed. Torgo is laid on a stone bed, where he is attacked by The Master's other wives, but this in itself does not prove fatal. Evoking some mysterious power, The Master severs and horribly burns Torgo's left hand. Torgo runs off into the darkness, waving the burning stump that remains. The Master laughs maniacally and goes to look for the family and subsequently sacrifices his first wife.

The family runs off into the desert. When a rattlesnake appears in front of them, Michael shoots it, attracting the attention of nearby deputies. Margaret and Michael are later convinced to return to the Master's house, where the Master welcomes them. Michael fires several shots into The Master's face at point-blank range, but they have no effect. The screen fades to black, likely indicating that The Master has again applied his hypnotic power.

An undisclosed amount of time later, an entranced Michael greets two new lost travelers. Margaret and Debbie have become wives of The Master. The film concludes with Michael echoing Torgo's line of "I take care of the place while the Master is away." The production credits are superimposed over past scenes from the film with the words: "The End?"

Cast

John Reynolds as Torgo
  • Harold P. Warren as Michael
  • Diane Mahree as Margaret
  • Jackey Neyman as Debbie
  • John Reynolds as Torgo
  • Tom Neyman as The Master
  • Stephanie Nielson, Sherry Proctor, Robin Redd, Jay Hall, Bettie Burns, and Lelaine Hansard as the Master's wives
  • Bernie Rosenblum as Teenage boy
  • Joyce Molleur as Teenage girl
  • William Bryan Jennings and George Cavender as Cops
  • Pat Coburn as Girl in convertible

Production

File:Torgo knees.jpg
Still film image showing Torgo wearing a jacket, shirt, and pants bulging at the thighs, carrying a walking staff. The character of Torgo was intended to be a satyr and actor John Reynolds wore the metal rigging backwards under his trousers.

Warren was very active in the theater scene in El Paso, Texas, and once appeared as a walk-on for the television series Route 66, where he met screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. While chatting with Silliphant in a local coffee shop, Warren claimed that it was not difficult to make a horror film, and bet Silliphant that he could make an entire film on his own. After placing the bet, Warren began the first outline of his script on a napkin, right inside the coffee shop.[2] To finance the film, Warren accumulated a substantial, but nevertheless insufficient amount of cash, $19,000 (equivalent to $Error when using {{Inflation}}: |end_year=2,024 (parameter 4) is greater than the latest available year (2,021) in index "US". in 2024 dollars), and hired a group of actors from a local theater, many of whom he had worked with before, as well as a modeling agency.[2] Because he was unable to pay the cast and crew any wages, Warren promised them a share in the film's profits.[4][5]

Under the working title The Lodge of Sins or Fingers of Fate, the movie was filmed in mid-1966. Filming mainly took place on the ranch of Colbert Coldwell, a lawyer who shared an office floor with Warren and who later became a judge in El Paso County. Most of the equipment used for production was rented, so Warren had to rush through as many shots as possible to complete filming before the deadline for returning the equipment.[6] Footage was shot with a 16 mm Bell & Howell camera which had to be wound by hand and thus could only take 32 seconds of footage at a time,[4] resulting in many editing problems present in the final cut.[7] Rather than using double-system recording, all sound effects and dialogue were dubbed later in post-production, done by only a handful of people, including Warren, Tom Neyman, Reynolds, Jennings and Warren's wife, Norma.[4][8] Later during production, Warren renamed the film from its working title to Manos: The Hands of Fate.[4] What makes this title a discrepancy is that "manos" is Spanish for "hands", which means that the title literally translates to Hands: The Hands of Fate. Warren's small crew became so bemused by his amateurishness and irascibility that they derisively called the film Mangos: The Cans of Fruit behind his back.[4][6][9]

During filming, Warren knew that presenting Diane Mahree as the Texas Beauty Queen would generate good publicity for his movie. He signed Mahree up for a regional West Texas beauty pageant that would lead to Miss Texas and then to the Miss America pageant, but he neglected to tell her about it until she was accepted as an entrant. She went along with it, and soon found herself onstage as one of the finalists.

Warren contracted with a modeling agency to provide the actresses who would play the Master's wives, including Joyce Molleur. Molleur broke her foot early in production, so to keep her in the film, Warren rewrote the script to include a young couple making out in a car on the side of the road who are seemingly completely incidental to the film's plot.[4][10]

File:Manos Hands of Fate clapperboard.jpg
This scene shows a failure to edit out the clapperboard, which was momentarily visible for a few frames on the right side of the image.

To portray his character Torgo as a satyr, John Reynolds wore a metallic rigging under his trousers made out of wire coat hangers and foam by costar Tom Neyman.[4][6] Reynolds unintentionally wore them backwards, meaning the effect conveyed made him look nothing like a satyr and more like a man with oversized knees who had difficulty walking.[11][12] No one ever corrected Reynolds' mistake on-set, so the device damaged Reynolds' kneecaps, causing him chronic pain in the months before his death; reportedly, Reynolds attempted to overcome the pain by self-medicating with drugs, visibly affecting his performance in the film.[13] Fake cloven hooves should also have been part of Reynolds' satyr costume, but he is instead clearly shown wearing boots in several scenes, which can even be seen in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version. The film's dialogue never mentions Torgo's satyr nature, and none of the characters seem to notice anything unusual about his appearance.[4]

Warren decided to shoot night-for-night scenes, because many of the cast and crew also held day jobs.[5] In many of the night scenes, the camera and lights attracted swarms of moths, which can be seen in the film's final production.[14] In the scene in which the cops "investigate" Mike's gunfire, they could walk only a few feet forward, because there was not enough light to illuminate the scenery for a panning shot,[4] creating the unintentionally amusing impression that the officers hear the gunfire, step out of their car, consider investigating but then give up and leave before making a proper check of the scene.

Post-production efforts were minimal, despite promises made to Warren by crew members that any problems in the film would be fixed in later editing.[4][6][15] One of the more visible examples of this is a brief moment at the beginning of the film in which the clapperboard is visible after a cut to the "make-out couple."[11][12] The entire nine-minute opening sequence, which consisted of the main characters driving around looking for their hotel with minimal dialogue or effect on the plot, was the result of such neglect: Warren had likely intended to include opening credits over these shots, but either forgot to add them or did not have the post-production budget to do so.[16]

John Reynolds, the actor who played Torgo, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun on October 16, 1966,[17] a month before the film was to premiere.[4] Reynolds was 25; Manos would be his first (and only) film appearance.

Reception

The film premiered at the Capri Theater in Warren's hometown of El Paso, Texas on November 15, 1966 as a benefit for the local cerebral palsy fund.[18][19] Warren arranged for a searchlight to be used at the cinema,[4] and for the cast to be brought to the premiere by a limousine, in order to enhance the Hollywood feel of the event. Warren could afford only a single limousine, however, and so the driver had to drop off one group, then drive around the block and pick up another.[20] Jackey Neyman-Jones, who played Debbie and was 7 years old at the time, remembered weeping in disappointment at the premiere, particularly when another woman's (dubbed) voice came out of her mouth onscreen.[21] The following day, a review of the film was featured in the El Paso Herald-Post, which described the film as a "brave experiment." It criticized some elements, such as the attempted murder of Torgo by being "massaged to death" by The Master's wives, and Margaret's claim of "It's getting dark" while she stands in front of a bright midday sun.[18] The review nonetheless noted Reynolds' screen presence by crediting him as the film's "hero".

Following the premiere, Warren claimed that he felt Manos was the worst film ever made, even though he was proud of it,[3] and he suggested that it might make a passable comedy if it were to be re-dubbed.[4] The film was briefly distributed by the Emerson Releasing Corporation. Following its debut, the film had a brief theatrical run at the Capri Theater, as well as a few screenings at various drive-in theaters in West Texas and New Mexico towns, including Las Cruces.[22] Reports that the only crew members who were compensated for their work in the film were Jackey Neyman and her family's dog, who received a bicycle and a large quantity of dog food, respectively, would seem to indicate that even with its extremely low budget, the film failed to break even financially.[4][15] Official box office figures for the film are unknown, if indeed they ever existed. Although the film received poor reception, Warren did win his bet against Stirling Silliphant, proving that he was capable of creating an entire film on his own.[8]

The majority of the cast and crew never appeared in another film following Manos. Warren attempted to pitch another script he had written called Wild Desert Bikers, but with the failure of Manos, no one he approached showed any interest in producing it.[6] Attempts to turn the screenplay into a novel were equally unsuccessful.[3]

Obscurity

Following these few local screenings, Manos was almost entirely forgotten. When Jackey Neyman attended University of California, Berkeley, her friends unsuccessfully made an effort to track down a copy of the film.[15] A 1981 newspaper article by cinematographer Bob Guidry's ex-wife Pat Ellis Taylor[6] reports the film may have appeared on a local television station, and that it was "listed at the bottom of a page in a film catalogue for rent for $20."[22] The film re-surfaced through a 16 mm print, presumably from this television package, which was introduced into the home video collecting market by a number of public domain film suppliers. One of these suppliers was ultimately the one that offered the film to Comedy Central, after which it found its way into a box of films sent to Frank Conniff in 1992, when he chose Manos as one of the films to be shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000.[8]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 and RiffTrax

Photo of a man in giving a presentation to an audience in front of a theatrical curtain
Frank Conniff chose Manos to be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1992.

The film was featured in the season four finale of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) on January 30, 1993, preceded by the second half of the short Chevrolet training film Hired!. The "bots" (Tom Servo and Crow) used the long uneventful drive at the beginning of the film to repeat its title numerous times, as there was yet to be any action to heckle. During the host segment breaks, Joel and the "bots" mocked the film's opening sequence, debated whether Torgo should be considered a monster, and impersonated "The Master" and his dog. At one point during their sketches, both bots broke down sobbing due to the poor quality of the movie, which was beyond even their attempts at making it interesting. After the film had finished, the slow-moving Torgo, played by Mike Nelson, appeared at the lair of Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank to deliver a pizza two hours after it was ordered.[23] Torgo would also be featured in the later episodes Operation Double 007 (where he finally brings the Mr. Pibb that Dr. Forrester and Frank had ordered in this episode), Village of the Giants, Danger!! Death Ray, and Samson vs. The Vampire Women, when he appeared as "Torgo the White" to bring Frank to "Second Banana Heaven" [24][25] Both Forrester and Frank were shown apologizing for showing the film, which they admitted was abysmal and went beyond even their acceptable limits for torturing Joel and the bots.[23]

During a Q&A session at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International, a question was put to the cast and writers of MST3K about any film they passed on that was worse than Manos, and many cited the film Child Bride.[26]

The Manos episode has been described as one of the best of the MST3K series by Entertainment Weekly.[3]

On February 27, 2012, Nelson's RiffTrax announced they would be riffing on Manos.[27] This was a live event simulcast in film theaters across the United States on August 16.[28] While Nelson and fellow MST3K alum Kevin Murphy were part of the cast when MST3K riffed on Manos, neither their fellow Rifftrax star Bill Corbett nor their writers were involved in the original episode; the riffing was expected to be all-new. This live version used a cleaner print of the original Manos, allowing them to joke on things not obvious in the original television episode.[29]

Popularity as a cult film

File:Manos the Hands of Fate screenshot from PD version.png.jpg
Frame from a public domain DVD release, depicting Harold P. Warren and Diane Mahree.
File:Manos the Hands of Fate screenshot from Solovey workprint.jpg
The same frame from the workprint discovered in 2011.

The MST3K episode featuring the film was released on DVD on its own in 2001, and in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Essentials collection in 2004.[30][31]

A DVD of the original version of Manos has also been made available through Alpha Video,[32] which also released original versions of other "MST-ed" films such as Teenagers from Outer Space and Eegah.[33] In attempting to explain the film's appeal, the Los Angeles Times hypothesized, "After screening Manos for probably the 10th time, I've concluded it has to do with intimacy. Because it is such a pure slice of Warren's brain – he wrote, directed, produced and starred, and brooked no collaboration – Manos amounts to the man's cinematically transfigured subconscious."[34] Manos buff Bobby Thompson put it more succinctly: "It's like a train wreck; you just can't take your eyes off it."[3] Shout! Factory released a special edition of the film which includes both the MST3K and uncut versions called Manos y Manos [sic].[35]

Manos holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews.[36] The book Hollywood's Most Wanted lists Manos as the #2 in the list of "The Worst Movies Ever Made," following Plan 9 from Outer Space.[37] Entertainment Weekly proclaimed Manos "The Worst Movie Ever Made."[2] The scene in which the seven-year-old Debbie is dressed as one of the Master's wives was included in a list of "The Most Disgusting Things We've Ever Seen" by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew.[38]

Four comedy stage adaptations of the film have been made. The first, by Last Rites Productions, was given in Portland, Oregon in early 2006.[39] The second, a musical titled Manos: Rock Opera of Fate by the New Millennium Theatre Company, was launched in Chicago in October 2007.[40] The third, a puppet musical titled Manos – The Hands of Felt, was performed by Puppet This in Seattle in April 2011.[41] The fourth, by Capital I Productions, took place in Portland, Oregon in April 2013.[42]

In March 2008, the How I Met Your Mother episode "Ten Sessions" featured main character Ted Mosby arguing that Manos is the worst film ever made, even when compared to Plan 9 from Outer Space. The show featured a brief discussion of the film, and a condensed, 12-second screening of the film as part of a two-minute date.[43]

In November 2008, a 27-minute documentary film about Manos was released on DVD, titled Hotel Torgo.[44]

In March 2015, the murderers on the Elementary episode "T-Bone And The Iceman" used the physical features of Torgo (portrayed by John Reynolds) to compose a fake facial composite to get the NYPD off their trail. It worked for a while before they were caught, due to the character of Dr. Joan Watson having recognized Torgo's features from the film. The film’s editor, James Sullivan, was the namesake of one of the characters in the episode.[45]

Restoration

In 2011, the original 16mm Ektachrome camera workprint of Manos: The Hands of Fate was discovered in a collection of 16 mm films by Ben Solovey, a Florida State film school grad. Solovey announced his intention to preserve and restore Manos for a Blu-ray release.[46][47][48] Solovey financed the restoration via crowd funding website Kickstarter, raising $48,000 (nearly five times the initial goal). A 90% finished print was premiered at the El Paso Plaza Theatre, not far from where the original premiere was held in 1966.[21] The new restoration premiered on Blu-Ray on October 13, 2015 with an unrestored version ("Grindhouse") as one of the bonus features.[49]

Copyright dispute

Manos: The Hands of Fate is generally believed to be in the public domain because director Hal Warren failed to include a copyright symbol in the film (in the US in the 1960s this was enough to disqualify a film for copyright). When news broke of Solovey's restoration, the son of Hal Warren, Joe Warren, started exploring the possibility that the film was in fact not in the public domain. Joe Warren discovered in 2013 that the script had been copyrighted, and he believes this means that the film is also copyrighted. However, no precedent exists for this case so the legal status of the film is uncertain. The release of the restored film is going ahead in spite of this.[50]

Video game adaptation

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Main article: Manos: The Hands of Fate (video game)

A video game based on the film for iOS systems was released in 2012. A Microsoft Windows port and Android port were later released.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "I" defined multiple times with different content
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ John M. Reynolds, Jr. certificate of death, Texas state file #72646
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ El Paso Herald Post. November 12, 1966.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Doug Pullen, Horrifyingly bad, lovingly restored: El Paso-made "Manos: The Hands of Fate" stars at Plaza Classic El Paso Times, Retrieved 2012-08-13
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ RiffTrax Live: "Manos" The Hands of Fate[dead link]
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Hotel Torgo (2004) imdb.com accessed 22-09-14
  45. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  46. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  47. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Manos-The-Hands-Fate-Blu-ray/dp/B012BD3RNU
  50. ↑ THE BATTLE OVER THE WORST MOVIE EVER playboy.com accessed 2015-10-03

External links

Mystery Science Theater 3000

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