History Trivia / ManosTheHandsofFate

* DoingItForTheArt: This was a movie made by a man who went out there with his friends and community theater actors and wanted to make an entertaining horror movie with no studio backing. TropesAreNotGood unfortunately, as he had no experience in actually shooting, editing, or basically anything regarding movie making and it’s universally seen as one of the worst and hardest movies to sit through. [[DamnedByFaintPraise Still, point for effort]].

* DoingItForTheArt: This was a movie made by a man who went out there with his friends and community theater actors and wanted to make an entertaining horror movie. TropesAreNotGood unfortunately, as he had no experience in actually shooting, editing, or basically anything regarding movie making and it’s universally seen as one of the worst and hardest movies to sit through. [[DamnedByFaintPraise Still, point for effort]].

* DoingItForTheArt: This was a movie made by a man who went out there with his friends and community theater actors and wanted to make an entertaining horror movie. TropesAreNotGood unfortunately, as he had no experience in actually shooting, editing, or basically anything regarding movie making and it’s universally seen as one of the worst and hardest to sit movies ever made. [[DamnedByFaintPraise Still, point for effort]].

* DoingItForTheArt: This was a movie made by a man who went out there with his friends and community theater actors and wanted to make an entertaining horror movie. TropesAreNotGood unfortunately, as he had no experience in actually shooting, editing, or basically anything regarding movie making and it’s universally seen as one of the worst and hardest to sit movies ever made. [[DamnedByTheFaintestBitOfPraise Still, point for effort]].

* DoingItForTheArt: This was a movie made by a man who went out there with his friends and community theater actors and wanted to make an entertaining horror movie. TropesAreNotGood unfortunately, as he had no experience in actually shooting, editing, or basically anything regarding movie making and it’s universally seen as one of the worst and hardest to sit movies ever made.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Harold Warren apparently talked a well-known Hollywood actress[[note]]It's not known exactly who it was, but there's some circumstantial evidence to suggest that it might have been Suzanne Pleshette.[[/note]] into flying to El Paso to play Margaret, but after realizing what an amateurish production it was (and that Warren wouldn't pay any money up front), she immediately quit.

* NoBudget:
** The film had no editing. At all. Instead, the film was edited in-camera. One shot shows Hal saying "Cut!", and then realized he didn't need to, because there was no way to stop the camera. The actress playing the girl making out with her boyfriend twice looked at the camera as if wondering when the shot would end. It also explains all of the endless shots of the car parking, and the reason why the film ran for several seconds before the Master's dog barked.

* RealLifeRelative:

** Peppi the poodle was the Warren family's dog.

** The camera they used was a 16mm Bell and Howell that not only didn't record sound, but only could record ''32 seconds of film''. The sound was later dubbed in in post-production by four members of the crew, Hal included. This explains a number of things, including the bad editing, the long pauses and why a few characters, such as Torgo and the little girl, sound horrible.
** The crew found themselves bemused by how amateur Hal was that they mocked the title of the movie (which was once called "Lodge of Sins") as ''Mangos: The Cans of Fruit''.

* The Master's "Lodge Of Sins" was actually the ranch of then El Paso County Judge, Colbert Coldwell. Sadly, the house where ''Manos'' was filmed burnt down. ''Hotel Torgo'' filmed the then abandoned house before it burnt down.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Harold Warren apparently talked a well-known Hollywood actress[[note]]It's not known exactly who it was, but there's some circumstantial evidence to suggest that it might have been Suzanne Pleshette[[/note]] into flying to El Paso to play Margaret, but after realizing what an amateurish production it was (and that Warren wouldn't pay any money up front), she immediately quit.

** John Reynolds even had to make the leg braces he wears in the film himself. The only actors who were compensated were Jackey Neyman (who received a bicycle) and the dog playing the hellhound (50 pounds of food).

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: According to Jackey Neyman, her father Tom (who played the Master) was a great guy in RealLife. Other reports have him functioning as the TeamDad on the set in contrast to Hal Warren's bumbling. Likewise, the Neyman family dog, Shanka, played the hellhound, yet was [[BigFriendlyDog the friendliest dog in the world]] according to Jackey.
** Averted soundly with Hal Warren, who (according to most reports) was little different than Mike.

* TroubledProduction: The was made when fertilizer salesman Hal Warren befriended and later made a bet with famous screenwriter Stirling Silliphant that he could make a horror film with a low budget. And ''[[MovieMakingMess it shows]]''. The problems included:

** Tom Neyman created a special rigging to give Torgo the illusion that he was a satyr. However, the actor, John Reynolds, set it up wrong and it damaged his knees so badly that he was reportedly taking medication that would lead to an addiction and later suicide.

* TheCastShowoff: Tom Neyman contributed the various "hand" sculptures, the Master's portrait, and most of the costumes.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: According to Jackey Neyman, her father Tom (who played the Master) was a great guy in RealLife. Other reports have him functioning as the TeamDad on the set in contrast to Hal Warren's bumbling. Likewise, the Neyman family dog, Shanka, played the hellhound, yet was [[BigFriendlyDog the friendliest dog in the world]] according to Jackey.

* TroubledProduction: Ay, yi, yi. Working on what couldn't even be called shoestring budget, a PrimaDonnaDirector ''and'' dance instructor, tempers flaring because of how wild the film was going, it's a miracle things got to the point where it was released!

* ActorInspiredElement: Tom Neyman was going through a phase of [[BodyMotifs hand motifs]] in his art, so when he did the set design he incorporated some of the sculpted hands he'd been working on, which led to the hand fixation of The Master and his cult.

** The film had no editing. At all. Instead, the film was edited in-camera. One shot shows Hal saying "Cut!", and then realized he didn't need to because there was no way to stop the camera. The actress playing the girl making out with her boyfriend twice looked at the camera as if wondering when the shot would end. It also explains all of the endless shots of the car parking, and the reason why the film ran for several seconds before the Master's dog barked.

* VindicatedByCable - This film was virtually unknown to the public at large until appearing on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Now, it stands as a "classic" alongside ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'', ''Film/RobotMonster '', and ''Film/SantaClausConquersTheMartians''.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Harold Warren apparently talked a well-known Hollywood actress[[note]]It's not known exactly who it was, but there's some circumstantial evidence to suggest that it might have been Suzanne Pleshette[[/note]]into flying to El Paso to play Margaret, but after realizing what an amateurish production it was (and that Warren wouldn't pay any money up front), she immediately quit.

!!Listed Trivia:

!!Other Trivia:
* The pillars where the Master and his wives sleep is a real location.
* The Master's "Lodge Of Sins" was actually the ranch of then El Paso County Judge, Colbert Coldwell. Sadly, the house where ''Manos'' was filmed burnt down. ''Hotel Torgo'' filmed the then abandoned house before it burnt down.
* The scene at the beginning where the family pulls into a scenic overlook and talks about putting the top down was filmed on Scenic Drive in El Paso. It looks the same to this day. The city in the background that Joel calls "Beautiful Ground Zero" is Ciudad Juarez.[[note]]Given the reputation that Ciudad Juarez has today, that riff becomes all that much more HilariousInHindsight.[[/note]]
* According to the daughter of Hal P. Warren, his Halloween tradition was putting on the Master robe when he gave candy out. After her father died, her brother continued the tradition.
* John Reynolds, who played Torgo, was usually high while filming, according to Jackey Neyman. He committed suicide about a month before the film was supposed to premiere.
* Jackey Neyman said in an interview that she had spent some time as a teenager and young adult looking for a copy of ''Manos'' in libraries and such, but never could find a copy.[[note]]Too bad she never checked the Video Watchdog catalog, which sold copies of it for years before the ''[=MST3K=]'' airing.[[/note]] Then, one weekend in 1993, she received a call from her father. Apparently, he had settled in to snooze in front of the TV with Creator/ComedyCentral on, and heard some familiar music during [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S04E24ManosTheHandsOfFate a certain episode]] of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. Elated, Jackey called Comedy Central in New York, told them that she'd been in this movie that they'd shown, and requested that she get a copy. The person on the other end was absolutely floored when Jackey identified what movie.

* TalkingToHimself: Everyone is dubbed by five actors, including Warren himself. When the sheriff points out Mike's burned-out taillight, it becomes an odd Dada experiment in alternate reality.
* TroubledProduction: Ay, yi, yi. Working on what couldn't even be called shoestring budget, a prima donna director ''and'' dance instructor, tempers flaring because of how wild the film was going, it's a miracle things got to the point where it was released!

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Harold Warren apparently talked a well-known Hollywood actress[[note]]It's not known exactly who it was, but there's some circumstantial evidence to suggest that it might have been Suzanne Pleshette [[/note]]into flying to El Paso to play Margaret, but after realizing what an amateurish production it was (and that Warren wouldn't pay any money up front), she immediately quit.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: According to Jackey Neyman, her father Tom (who played the Master) is a great guy in RealLife. Other reports have him functioning as the TeamDad on the set in contrast to Hal Warren's bumbling. Likewise, the Neyman family dog, Shanka, played the hellhound, yet was [[BigFriendlyDog the friendliest dog in the world]] according to Jackey.

* NoBudget: And how! John Reynolds even had to make the leg braces he wears in the film himself. The only actors who were compensated were Jackey Neyman (who received a bicycle) and the dog playing the hellhound (50 pounds of food).

* RealLife/MeanCharacterNiceActor: According to Jackey Neyman, her father Tom (who played the Master) is a great guy in RealLife. Other reports have him functioning as the TeamDad on the set in contrast to Hal Warren's bumbling. Likewise, the Neyman family dog, Shanka, played the hellhound, yet was [[BigFriendlyDog the friendliest dog in the world]] according to Jackey.

* TroubledProduction: Ay, yi, yi. Working on what couldn't even be called shoestring budget, a prima donna director ''and'' dance instructor, tempers flairing because of how wild the film was going, it's a miracle things got to the point where it was released!

* The pillars where the Master and his wives sleeps is a real location.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Harold Warren apparently talked a well-known Hollywood actress[[note]]There's no concrete record of who it was exactly, but it ''may'' have been Suzanne Pleshette [[/note]]into flying to El Paso to play Margaret, but after realizing what an amateurish production it was (and that Warren wouldn't pay any money up front), she immediately quit.