Manos: The Hands of Fate
“It's Shocking! It's Beyond Your Imagination!”
About Manos: The Hands of Fate
Michael (Harold P. Warren), Margaret (Diane Mahree), their daughter Debbie, and the dog Peppy drive the Texas desert looking for Valley Lodge. They stop at a house kept by Torgo (John Reynolds), who says he takes care of the place while the Master is away. The car will not start. In the night they find the Master (Tom Neyman) and his wives asleep around a fire; he marks Michael for sacrifice and Margaret and Debbie as new wives, then turns on Torgo. The family runs, comes back, and fails to leave. Later, in the rain, two women pull up and Michael, now blank, greets them with Torgo's line. Margaret and Debbie sleep among the Master's wives.
Cast & crew
More about Manos: The Hands of Fate
Harold P. Warren, an insurance and fertilizer salesman in El Paso, wrote, directed, and produced the film after betting screenwriter Stirling Silliphant that he could make a horror picture. A hand-wound 16mm Bell & Howell held about 32 seconds of film. Dialogue was dubbed afterward by Warren, Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, William Bryan Jennings, and Warren's wife Norma. A grown woman supplied Debbie's voice.
Themes
Background
After a short run on West Texas and New Mexico screens in late 1966, the film sat unseen by most audiences until the 1993 Mystery Science Theater 3000 broadcast.
In film history
The MST3K episode fixed its reputation. Stage versions followed. A planned sequel, Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge, was canceled in 2014. A prequel, Manos: The Rise of Torgo, and a sequel, Manos Returns, both appeared in 2018.
Making
Night scenes were shot at night on rented gear. Tom Neyman designed the set and the Master's robe. Most of the cast and crew had little or no film experience. Jackey Neyman, Tom's daughter, plays Debbie.
Reviews
Betty Pierce, in the El Paso Herald-Post, called the premiere a brave experiment and complained that Torgo is massaged to death and that the sun is still bright in a scene that claims night is falling. Entertainment Weekly later called the film "The Worst Movie Ever Made." Dan Neil wrote in the Los Angeles Times that after about ten viewings it seemed like a direct slice of Warren's mind.
Audiences
The first run was a handful of theaters and drive-ins. The audience that still watches it comes largely from the 1993 MST3K episode and later home-video editions of that show.
Look
Robert Guidry was director of photography. The hand-wound 16mm camera left many shots soft, and the opening drive runs about nine minutes before any credits.
Music
Russ Huddleston and Robert Smith Jr. are credited with the music. Nicki Mathis sings on the track.
Preservation
Ben Solovey located the 16mm workprint in 2011. Synapse Films issued a remastered Blu-ray on 13 October 2015. The release print carried no copyright notice. Harold P. Warren's son Joe has argued that a Library of Congress registration of the script covers the film. A trademark filing on the title was abandoned on 6 December 2018.
Notes
- It opened at the Capri Theater in El Paso and played drive-ins in West Texas and New Mexico, including Las Cruces.
- John Reynolds, who plays Torgo, died of a shotgun wound on 16 October 1966. He was 25. The premiere was still a month away.
- Frank Conniff chose it for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 season-four finale, broadcast on 30 January 1993.
- RiffTrax riffed the film in a live show in August 2012.
- Ben Solovey found the original 16mm workprint in 2011.
- Manos is Spanish for hands, so the title says the same thing twice.
- A clapperboard stays in some frames, and an insect crosses the lens in one shot.
Scenes
- The family drives for minutes before the story starts.
- Torgo meets them at the door and says the Master is away.
- The Master and his wives lie asleep around a fire.
- The Master burns Torgo's hand.
- In the rain, Michael repeats Torgo's greeting to two women in a car.
Influenced
- Manos: The Rise of Torgo (2018)
- Manos Returns (2018)
Also available
- Internet Archive (ManosTheHandsofFate)
- Synapse Films Blu-ray (13 October 2015)
- Alpha Video DVD
- Shout! Factory DVD Manos y Manos
Quotes
I am Michael, I take care of the place while The Master is away.
