History Film / ManosTheHandsOfFate

%% * AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: [=ToRgO dOeS tHiS, nAtUrAlLy.=]

* AngryGuardDog: Peppy is eaten a big Doberman.

%% * AngryGuardDog: Peppy is eaten a big Doberman.
%% * AndYourLittleDogToo: Peppy is first to die.

%% * BodyMotifs: Hands, of course.

%% * {{Catfight}}: After the wives try to decide on what to do about Debbie, they get into one of these, which was presumably intended as a form of {{Fanservice}}.

%% * CreepyMonotone: [[spoiler:When Mike replaces Torgo at the end as TheIgor, he talks this way, in contrast to Torgo's rather more animated style of speech.]]
%% * CrustyCaretaker: Torgo is one of these. [[spoiler:Mike presumably takes his place in the ending.]]
%% * {{Cult}}: Finally, a cult movie that is a cult movie!

%% * DullSurprise:
%% ** Mike, Margaret, Debbie and some of the wives all practice this trope at times.
%% ** The Master's attempt at a DeathGlare generally comes off more like "Not before my coffee."
%% * EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: The Master and some of his wives fall under this trope.
%% * TheEndOrIsIt: "THE END?"
%% * EvilLaugh: The Master is an altogether cheery guy.

%% * GratuitousSpanish: "Manos", of course.

%% * LovableSexManiac: Torgo again.

%% * MookFaceTurn: Torgo, though he really shouldn't have informed the Master of his intentions.
%% * NeutralFemale: Margaret, mostly, but she does take action when she slaps Torgo after being harassed by him.

%% * NothingIsScarier

%% * PornStache: The Master has one of these.
%% * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The Master's robes.
%% * RedheadInGreen: Margaret in the first half of the film, before remaining permanently in her slip.

%% * SycophanticServant: Torgo

%% * WifeHusbandry: "The child is a female! She must not be destroyed. She will grow up to be a woman!"

* WouldntHurtAChild: Half of The Master's wives refuse to kill a child.
* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: The Master's rants fall into this trope.

* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: [=ToRgO dOeS tHiS, nAtUrAlLy.=]

* AuthorAppeal: Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} suggests that this is the sole reason there’s a scene where Mike - [[WrittenByCastMember whose actor wrote]] and [[DirectedByCastMember directed]] the movie - gets licked by one of the wives.
* AndIMustScream: With a healthy dollop of {{Squick}}[[invoked]]:

* AngryGuardDog: The one that later eats Peppy is meant to be one of these. Presumably they thought a big Doberman would be inherently threatening, but [[TerrifyingPetStoreRat it comes across]] as more of a BigFriendlyDog, and its affection for Tom Neyman (its real-life master) is frankly adorable.
* AndYourLittleDogToo: Peppy is first to die.
-->'''[[Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} Mike Nelson]]:''' Man, this movie is racist. The black character dies first.
* ArtisticLicenceFilmProduction: A real life example that bleeds into the film. A clapperboard can clearly be spotted in several of the film's shots, having been accidentally left in the edit. It is well-known that Warren did no on-set sound recording, opting to dub everything later, making the use of a clapperboard (which is meant to help sync up audio and video recording) seem like something he just did because he thought that's how filming is meant to work.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: This was presumably behind the naming of the cult's god; the Spanish word for "hands" is "manos".
* AssholeVictim: Mike, in spades. EVERYTHING that happens to his family is because he wouldn't accept he'd gone the wrong way.

* BattleHarem: The Master has a harem of wives who are ready to fight for him--and fight each other.

* BilingualBonus: "Manos" is Spanish for "hands", which means the title literally translates to ''Hands: The Hands of Fate''--or, perhaps, ''Hands: Las Manos del Destino''.
* BodyMotifs: Hands, of course.
* BrokenRecord: Torgo in particular, but everybody falls under this trope. But, really, Torgo in particular.

* BumblingDad: Mike. It's hard to say how intentional this was, but he really comes across as a dim-witted, grouchy, and all-around unlikeable guy.
* TheCastShowOff: Tom Neyman was an artist; the proof is in The Master's portrait, which he painted. See OffTheShelfFX for more.
* CatchPhrase: "[=ThE mAsTeR wOuLd NoT aPpRoVe=]."
* {{Catfight}}: After the wives try to decide on what to do about Debbie, they get into one of these, which was presumably intended as a form of {{Fanservice}}. On ''[=MST3K=]'', Servo suspects the film was made specifically for this scene.
* CelebrityResemblance: Tom Neyman, who plays The Master, bears a strong resemblance to ''Music/FrankZappa'', which certainly doesn't [[{{Narm}} help make him any scarier.]]
* CentralTheme: Hands. The title translates to ''"Hands": The Hands of Fate''. The Master has hands represented on his robes. Torgo's staff is topped with a hand. There's a lot of focus on Torgo's hands as he awkwardly tries to grasp and paw at various women throughout the film. One of his hands is taken as punishment for his transgressions. The Master and his wives worship a god named "Manos" (which as mentioned elsewhere is Spanish for "Hands"). See OffTheShelfFX for context.
* ChestInsignia: The Master has a black robe with a big pair of red hands on it. It's an interesting effect, since it's not obvious they're hands until he spreads his arms out, but it gets old quick.
--> '''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Crow]]:''' Oh, I wish those hands would just ''push him over''.
-->'''[[Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} Mike Nelson]]:''' If you took away 8 of those fingers, you’d have [[FlippingTheBird my opinion of this movie]].\\
'''Bill Corbett:''' Two thumbs up?
* ClosedCircle: The characters are unable to leave, because Mike is lost, his car won't start, and his family wouldn't be up for a long overland hike even if they did know where they were going. Also, some of the dialogue implies that the roads leading away from Valley Lodge would end up leading back ''to'' it, suggesting an EldritchLocation.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster claims that the cult of "weird, horrible people" (which seems to consist of only the Master and Torgo) gathers beautiful woman and then defaces them with a burning hand. While they do gather beautiful women, they don't deface them with anything. They just make them stand out in the desert against pillars while wearing nightgowns. [[spoiler: They ''do'' end up defacing Torgo by burning ''his'' hand, though.]]
* CreepyJazzMusic: The score, by Russ Huddleston and Robert Smith Jr., is an interesting use of stripped-down modern (circa 1966) jazz in a horror setting, mainly centered on piano and woodwind (flute and saxophone), with a few elements of free jazz (the discordant piano, the repetitious riff in Torgo's {{Leitmotif}}) tossed in to add to the unsettling vibe of the rest of the film, though it's hard to know how much of the ragged sound is deliberate or is just the result of a couple of guys from El Paso trying to sound like Music/OrnetteColeman.
* CreepyMonotone: [[spoiler:When Mike replaces Torgo at the end as TheIgor, he talks this way, in contrast to Torgo's rather more animated style of speech.]]
* CrustyCaretaker: Torgo is one of these. [[spoiler:Mike presumably takes his place in the ending.]]
* {{Cult}}: Finally, a cult movie that is a cult movie!
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
** The title itself; "manos" is Spanish for "hands", translating to ''"Hands": The Hands of Fate''.
*** In Mexico and Spain, they call this movie ''Hands: Las Manos del Destino''.
** Torgo's frequently repeated line about how the Master would not approve of '''anything''' counts, too.
** '''Torgo:''' There is no way out of here. It'll be dark soon. There is no way out of here.
-->'''Crow T. Robot:''' ...It'll be dark soon!
** One character even appears to ''[[ImmediateSelfContradiction contradict herself]]'' with this redundancy! The following quote is, more or less, one sentence thanks to the actress' poor attempt at dubbing two separate voices.
---> '''Bride of Manos:''' The woman is all we want. The others must die. They ALL must die. We do not even want the woman.

* DullSurprise: Mike, Margaret, Debbie and some of the wives all practice this trope at times.
** The Master's attempt at a DeathGlare generally comes off more like "Not before my coffee."
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: The Master and some of his wives fall under this trope.
* TheEndOrIsIt: "THE END?"
* EvilLaugh: The Master is an altogether cheery guy.

* GratuitousSpanish: "Manos", of course.
* HeldGaze: Characters stare blankly at each other for long periods, to the point of {{Padding}}.
* HellHotel: The family try to stay the night at the Master's home, treating it like a hotel, which goes poorly for them.
* {{Hellhound}}: Well, the dog is '''supposed''' to be one. While he barks up quite a storm off-screen, he's very docile on-screen.

* {{Jerkass}}: Mike is an unbelievably callous guest.
** Mike shows up at a place that, despite being called "Valley Lodge", looks like a crappy shack in the middle of the desert. There is no real indication that this is even a place that accepts guests, but Mike immediately starts insisting that Torgo carry his bags and gives them a place to stay. All Torgo did was wander out to see who was outside. For all we know at this point in the film, this could just be Torgo's home, and Mike forced him to put him and his family up against his will. Who does that???
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: The Master manages to capture the guests and may very well attract more to a similar fate. [[MeaninglessVillainVictory Then again he is still in “Manos” the Hands of Fate]]]].
** [[spoiler: Played straight in the bad ending of the video game, but interestingly Averted in the good ending where Mike is able to kill the Master]].
* LaughablyEvil: All of the villains completely unintentionally fall under this trope.
* LargeHam: Tom Neyman ''tries'' to be this while playing The Master, but whoever dubs over him doesn't have the voice to pull it off right.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Technically averted. Several scenes drag on to the point of distraction, but almost no single shot is longer than thirty-two seconds, due to the technical limitations of the camera Warren used. Only a few shots could last longer due to technical adjustments. However, some scenes come off as this -- in one show, the camera holds on the dog, waiting for it to bark.

* LovableSexManiac: Torgo again. He's the only character with any personality, really.
* MakeOutKids: A couple who falls under this trope is in the film for absolutely no reason (the actress broke her leg and couldn't play her original role as one of the Master's wives, and the go-nowhere subplot was an excuse to keep her employed).
-->'''Kevin Murphy:''' Oh hey, a Texas casting couch.

* MayDecemberRomance: Mike is a little over 20 years older than Margaret, assuming the characters are the same age as their actors were.
-->'''Bill Corbett:''' ‘First vacation’? You’re like fifty years old. What were ya, a slave in the diamond mines?
* MindScrew: In one of the many scenes of the cops harassing the MakeOutKids, the girl complains that they "aren't doing anything", and the cop replies with "Whatever it is you're 'not doing', go don't do it somewhere else". Umm, [[FlatWhat what?]]
* MissingChild: While Mike is trying to comfort his wife following Torgo's advances on her, Debbie slips out of the house. The voice acting manages to actually ''work'' on the following line: "She's my baby, she'll understand... ''Where is she?!?"''

** Partially a JustifiedTrope as El Paso had a somewhat higher White population in the 1960's (though it always had a strong Latino community) and it's implied that Michael, Margaret, and their daughter are from out of town.
* MookFaceTurn: Torgo, though he really shouldn't have informed the Master of his intentions.
* NeutralFemale: Margaret, mostly, but she does take action when she slaps Torgo after being harassed by him.

* NothingIsScarier: Attempted by the film and failed spectacularly.
-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Servo]]:''' ''(as Margaret)'' Ambiguity is scary!

* OneSizeFitsAll: Averted. Torgo's welding jumpsuit ''really'' does not fit... because, like most things in the movie, it was provided by Tom Neyman, a much bigger, taller man than Torgo's actor, John Reynolds.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: At least, we think they're vampires, or at least something like them, considering the bad guy is called "The Master", has a [[TheRenfield twitchy, terrified servant of dubious sanity]], falls into a death-like sleep for long stretches of time ("not dead the way you know it"), states he and his wives must finish their tasks before sunrise, and has a number of "wives" -- all common tropes in vampire stories.

* PoliceAreUseless: Most of the local deputies' time is spent bothering a couple who can't keep their lips off each other. They show up again after Mike fires the gun, get out and walk in front of their car, then turn around and leave, thinking the gunshots came from Mexico. (Warren and his crew didn't have enough lighting for a pan scene.)
-->'''Mike Nelson:''' Sir, I noticed your daughter’s wearing one of them seatbelts. Don’t you know those things are dangerous?
* PornStache: The Master has one of these.
* {{UsefulNotes/Rebels With Repeaters}}: Torgo is supposed to a veteran of the Confederate Army given his costume (the straw hat and cheap gray flannel blazer was meant to look like a Confederate soldier's uniform) though it's unclear if he was transformed into a satyr or some sort of a deformed freak wounded in the war. The shoddy costuming makes it difficult to tell what the hell sort of creature he's supposed to be.
* RedRightHand: Torgo was supposed to be evocative of a satyr by having goat-legs and a bleating voice. It didn't pan out too well in execution.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: The Master's robes.
* RedheadInGreen: Margaret in the first half of the film, before remaining permanently in her slip.
* SceneryPorn: This is attempted with the opening sequence, but bits of footage are repeated and, unfortunately, the El Paso countryside -- while not unpleasant -- isn't exactly a ''paragon'' of unparalleled natural beauty. (The muddy 16mm-to-35mm film transfer didn't help, either.)
-->'''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Joel]]:''' Visit beautiful Ground Zero.

-->'''[[Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} Kevin Murphy]]:''' Well, [[ActorAllusion this looks familiar.]] Ah I remember, [[BaitAndSwitch it’s footage from my vacation in]] [[TakeThat Hell]].

* {{Sexophone}}: The film's incidental music is a sexy sax lick played over and over, the sort of tune you expect in a porno, not a horror film.

* StillWearingTheOldColors: Torgo's costume is supposed to look like a [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate]] uniform to suggest this trope, but it doesn't work (even in the restored version), since it's just a grey hat and blazer over a grey welders' jumpsuit.

* SycophanticServant: Torgo
* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: The Master's "demon dog" is clearly just a very friendly Doberman
* ThoseTwoGuys: "The Make-Out Couple" and the two sheriffs have no relevance to the rest of the film. The couple was used because the actress broke her leg early in production; she was intended to be one of the wives, so they worked the couple into [[MrExposition Mr. and Miss Exposition]] to establish there's supposed to be nothing where the Valley Lodge is.

* TheUnintelligible: Debbie, unintentionally.

* VampiresHarem: While not referred to as [[NotUsingTheZWord "vampires"]], the Master and his wives seem to follow this pattern. [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, the hero's wife and ''daughter'' become his newest additions.]]

* VocalDissonance: Debbie was a little girl dubbed over by an adult woman trying to sound like a little girl. Jackey Neyman said she cried when she heard how awful her dubbed voiced sounded.

* WifeHusbandry: "The child is a female! She must not be destroyed. She will grow up to be a woman!"

* GodOfEvil: The Master claims Manos is the "[[DarkIsEvil god of primal darkness]]", who punishes those who betray him with "eternal, burning light". In addition, the Master and wives justify their actions (including murder) by claiming Manos would approve.

* MonochromeCasting: The cast is all white despite being filmed (and presumably set) in El Paso, a majority-Hispanic community.

''"Manos" The Hands of Fate'' is a 1966 American NoBudget horror film [[CopiouslyCreditedCreator written, directed, produced by and starring]] Harold P. Warren. It is widely recognized to be [[WorstWhateverEver one of the hillariously bad films ever made]].

Mike and Margaret, along with their daughter Debbie and the family dog Peppy, find themselves lost on the way to Valley Lodge during their family vacation. As night begins to fall, they decide to spend the night in a [[HauntedCastle strange-looking house]] on the side of the road. Torgo, the house's caretaker, greets them upon their arrival. Torgo [[AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle sPeAkS wItH aN oDd EmPhAsIs]], has extremely bulgy legs (a failed attempt by the filmmaker at making Torgo a satyr), and continuously refers to "The Master"--the undead leader of a cult dedicated to a dark god known only as Manos. The Master, Torgo and The Master's conclave of wives want to kill the intruders, but can't come to an agreement as to who to kill: The Master wants to keep Margaret alive as his (seventh) wife, Torgo wants to keep Margaret as a wife for himself, and the wives want to kill both Margaret and Mike [[EvenEvilHasStandards but refuse to kill Debbie]], which leads to them fighting amongst themselves. As the night continues, Mike and his family find themselves in great danger -- and they eventually come face-to-face with The Master himself...

''"Manos" The Hands of Fate'' is a 1966 American NoBudget horror film [[CopiouslyCreditedCreator written, directed, produced by and starring]] Harold P. Warren. It is widely recognized to be [[WorstWhateverEver one of the worst films ever made]].

* DoesNotLikeShoes:
** The Master's wives are all barefoot.
** Although it's rarely visible, Torgo has cloven hooves instead of feet, so he wears no shoes.