"Manos": The Hands of Fate is a low-budget 1966 horror film about a young couple, Mike and Margaret, their daughter Debbie, and her poodle Peppy. The four of them go on a nice family vacation, but can't find the way to Valley Lodge; as night begins to fall, they decide to spend the night in a strange-looking house.The caretaker of the house, Torgo, speAks wiTH odD emPHasIS, has extremely bulgy legs (he was meant to be a satyr), and continuously refers to someone called "The Master". It turns out that the Master is the evil undead leader of a cult dedicated to a dark god named Manos. The Master and his wives live in suspended animation at a chapel attached to the house. They decide to kill the intruders, but Torgo wants to keep Margaret alive so she can be his wife, while The Master wants to keep Margaret alive (so she can be his seventh wife) and the wives want to kill Margaret and Mike (but are unwilling to kill Debbie, which leads to them fighting amongst themselves). Mike tries to get help, but is stopped by The Master, whose dog eats Peppy.Manos was written, directed and headlined by El Paso fertilizer salesman Hal P. Warren, who was trying to win a bet with Stirling Silliphant (screenwriter of In the Heat of the Night and a genuinely talented fellow) that he could make a successful horror movie on a minimal budget. Without any previous movie-making experience, Warren soon found himself in over his head, but decided to proceed anyway despite having a bare-bones Bell & Howell camera, no remote sound equipment, and a cast composed mainly of non-actors and local extras. The end result was a film that was so bad that it provoked laughs instead of chills at its first screening in El Paso; after its initial failure, Warren (prophetically, it turns out) suggested that it could be redubbed into a comedy.The film languished in obscurity after its initial failure until it was discovered by the producers of a little show called Mystery Science Theater 3000, which riffed Manos in a 1993 episode. The Best Brains crew actually considered not riffing on this because they thought Manos was, at first, too strange to riff on; they eventually came to the conclusion that the world must know about this movie. The rest, as they say, is history.Believe it or not, Manos is available on DVD in its original, unriffed form. If watching Manos un-riffed is not your cup of tea, however, you can find the MST3K episode on DVD as well. For more laughs at the film's expense, check out the Agony Booth's recap) or I-Mockery's review). Thanks to its post-MST3K popularity, Manos spawned a Broadway musical (Manos: Rock Opera of Fate) and a 2004 documentary (Hotel Torgo).A sequel — Manos: The Search For Valley Lodge — will be filmed in El Paso in 2011 (with hopes of a 2013 release), according to the Torgo Lives website.In 2011, the original 16mm workprint was discovered. A Kickstarter was recently established to begin a complete restoration of the movie using this film, and it recently reached over 300% of its goal. A side-by-side comparison of the restoration was posted to illustrate how dramatic the differences are.There's a computer game adaptation. No, really.And a crossover with Splatterhouse as well.No, really.
As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Presumably, the thought process behind naming the cult's god. The Spanish word for "hands" is "manos", effectively making the god's name "Hands" and title "Hands: Hands of Fate".
The Bad Guy Wins: The Master gets the two protagonists—and their little dog too.
Battle Harem: The Master has a harem of wives that are ready to fight for him... which apparently includes fighting each other.
Bilingual Bonus: "Manos" is, of course, Spanish for "hands," meaning the movie's title literally translates to Hands: The Hands of Fate. Or, perhaps, Hands: Las Manos del Destino.
Broken Record: Torgo in particular, but really, everybody. But, Torgo in particular.
Cat Fight: An extremely long sequence of this with the wives as they try to decide on what to do about Debbie. Presumably intended as Fanservice.
Tom Servo: So, I'm guessing this is the whole reason this movie was made.
Central Theme: The Master's cult has a bizarre fixation on hands. As explained above, "Manos" means "hands" in Spanish, but beyond that, the connection is never explained.
There is 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. This combined with the Master having so many wives suggests that hands might equate to possession. The Master possesses the entire family by the end of the film. Sweet Odin's Raven! Did I just make sense of this movie?
Also of note is that the staff Torgo carries around has a hand on it.
Chest Insignia: The Master has a black robe that has a big pair of red hands on it. It's actually an interesting effect because it's not obvious they're hands until he spreads his arms out. That said, it does get old quick.
Crow: I wish those hands would just push him over.
Parodied in a host segment by Joel wearing a robe with a big pair of red feet on it.
Then there's the title itself, in that "manos" is just Spanish for "hands". And Torgo's frequently repeated line about how the Master would not approve of... like, anything at all.
One character even appears to contradict herself with this redundancy! The following quote is, more or less, one sentence thanks to the actress' delivery. (The problem seems to be that the same actress was dubbing two separate voices; see Talking to Himself below.)
Bride Of Manos: The woman is all we want. The others must die. They ALL must die. We do not even want the woman.
Hellhound: Well, he's supposed to be. He barks up quite a storm off-screen, but is very docile on-screen. See Real-Life Relative.
Joel: Hey, look, I know you're an evil hellbeast, but could you hold it down?! It's after nine, and we got kids!
Hong Kong Dub: Torgo's voice wasn't done by the actor but by another unknown actor. In fact, all the voices were done by just three actors, as the film was shot entirely without sound, and the dialogue was added in post-production. For some reason, they still used a clapboard, which is of course visible in a few shots. The little girl who played Debbie apparently cried when she heard how she sounded in the movie.
Joel: It's just one guy doing all these voices.
The Igor: Torgo. In fact, was going to be called "Igor" originally.
Informed Attribute: People who knew them insist that John Reynolds (Torgo) and Tom Neyman (The Master) were very talented actors. This isn't evident in the movie because their voices have been dubbed over by talentless people. At any rate, given that Tom Neyman is actually coming back for the sequel, it looks like we'll finally find out the truth of this for ourselves.
Large Ham: Tom Neyman tries to be this while playing the Master, but doesn't have the voice to pull it off right. That's not really his voice, so it's probably not his fault.
Leave the Camera Running: Unintentionally subverted. Even though there are many scenes that drag on to the point of distraction, no single shot is longer than 32 seconds due to the technical limitations of the camera Warren used.
Lovable Sex Maniac: Torgo again. He's the only character with any personality, really.
Make-Out Kids: Who are in the movie for absolutely no reason, other than that the actress broke her leg and couldn't play her original role as one of the Master's wives.
Padding: Hope you like long driving shots and a subplot about a passionate young couple that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere.
Parody Retcon: By the end of the experience, Hal Warren predicted that while it failed as a horror movie, if it were redubbed as a comedy it might make good money. How right he was.
Police Are Useless: Most of the local deputies' time is spent bothering a couple who can't keep their lips off of each other. Then, they show up when Mike fires the gun, get out and walk in front of their car, then turn around and leave. Apparently, this is because they didn't have enough lighting for a pan scene.
Real-Life Relative: The actors that play the Master and Debbie are father and daughter.
Also, the Master's evil dog is their dog. That's why, despite the dubbed-in barking, it's very friendly.
Red Right Hand: Torgo's knees. According to the director, he was supposed to be evocative of some sort of satyr, with goat-legs. It didn't pan out too well in execution.
Scenery Porn: 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.)
Sequel Hook: The film ends with Margaret and Debbie in suspended animation in the desert. Two young college girls arrive at the house and are greeted by the new caretaker, Mike. Torgo may be presumed dead, but his death was never shown onscreen.
Soundtrack Dissonance: The happy jazz music playing at the beginning and end, and especially the song played over the credits, which would be far more appropriate for a Glamorous Wartime Singer.
Still Wearing The Old Colors: Torgo's costume is supposed to look like a Confederate uniform to suggest this. Not that it actually does...
Talking to Himself: Everyone is dubbed by three actors, including Warren himself. When the sheriff points out Mike's burned-out taillight, it becomes an odd Dada experiment in alternate reality.
Joel: This is one guy talking! Just one guy!
Those Two Guys: "The Make-Out Couple". They have no relevance. Also, the two sheriffs. The make-out couple was used because the actress broke her leg early in production. She was intended to be one of the wives, so they worked her into her own, pointless subplot.
Manos! God of primal darkness! As thou hast decreed, so have I done. The hands of fate have doomed this man. Thy will is done!
Too Dumb to Live: Mike insists on staying at the house despite the protests of the mysterious satyr man who calls his boss "the Master." And then, after things go predictably wrong, he suggests they go back to hide from them while they're all looking.
Vocal Dissonance: Debbie, a little girl dubbed over by an adult woman trying to sound like a little girl.
What Happened to the Mouse?: It's ambiguous whether or not Torgo survives. Hal P. Warren intentionally left it ambiguous with a plan to make a sequel (which was never produced) starring Torgo.
Wife Husbandry: The child is a female! She must not be destroyed. She will grow up to be a woman!
Joel: Oh, is that how that works?
What Could Have Been: Harold P. Warren once stated that he left Torgo's fate vague on purpose. If the film had succeeded, the sequel was to involve Torgo's return.
You Have Failed Me: When the Master catches Torgo getting grabby with his brides for what is apparently like the millionth time, he has had it and prepares to sacrifice him to Manos. This doesn't pan out - Torgo survives, despite losing a hand.
Aside Glance: Torgo's quick and abrupt close-ups during his early scenes are treated like this, as if he's glancing at the audience over the couple's bickering.
Servo: Oh, these two.
Continuity Nod: During one of the host segments the 'bots break down sobbing thinking of having to watch Manos.
At one point during the riffing, Servo starts singing the theme song to Catalina Caper.
Even Evil Has Standards: Both of the Mads feel compelled to apologize to Joel and the 'bots for making them watch this.
Merging Machine: Joel's "Cartuner" invention, which "takes stodgy, ambiguous cartoons like Mark Trail and mixes them with stiflingly unfunny cartoons like Blondie, puts 'em together, and makes 'em funny!"
All: ZIGGY HAD GARFIELD NEUTERED? NOW THAT'S FUNNY!!
Off with His Head!: The Mads' invention is a "chocolate bunny guillotine".
"You have stolen painted eggs in a time of famine. Off with her head, Frank!"
Shout Out: During one of the skits, there's a subtle parody of It's a Wonderful Life when Frank, after apologizing for the awfulness of the film, encourages Joel, Tom, and Crow to keep playing.
Spit Take: "You know, it's been two hours but this pizza's still pretty warm!"
"Torgo": They always do that.
We Want Our Jerk Back: The episode begins with Joel having installed "Protocol Modules" in the bots to make them believe that everything Joel says or does is brilliant. This makes them so sycophantic that Joel removes the modules during the first break.
You Look Familiar: Future MST3K host Michael J. Nelson appears as "Torgo" in the closing segment.
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