History YMMV / ManosTheHandsOfFate

* SpecialEffectFailure: Torgo is supposed to have backwards goat legs, but due to the actor, John Reynolds, putting on his costume backwards he ends up just looking like he's got giant knees.

* HarsherInHindsight: A creepy cult leader and his multiple wives live on a remote West Texas compound...the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YFZ_Ranch Warren Jeffs saga]] had some interesting similarities to the movie.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Averted...only by the fact that it's not an officially licensed game.

* IAmNotShazam: The Master is ''not'' Manos, he is simply his priest or... whatever.

** Torgo's strange speech patterns make him sound like an [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet early model]] [[Series/DoctorWho Cyberman]] at times. Not to mention the fact that he's working for a guy called The Master.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs:
** Well, director Hal Warren was by all accounts perfectly lucid during the production, but Torgo's actor John Reynolds was said to have used various recreational drugs such as LSD, explaining his various twitchy behaviors and mannerisms on-screen.
** The female vocalist who sang "Love Inside This Magic Circle" and "Forgetting You" (Nicki Mathis) remembered the film's composers acting weird during the recording session, and suspected they were on drugs, which would explain the more bizarre elements of the score.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "[[http://youtu.be/RV-o9R25gNc Forgetting You]]"

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The concept for the film is actually not a bad one. You're lost in the desert, and the only person willing to take you and your family for the night is twitchy yet well-meaning, except when he randomly ''begs you to leave''. It gets worse from there. The ending in particular could have been effective and chilling in more competent hands.

%%* SoBadItWasBetter: How some fans feel about the restoration.

** Some sources have assumed that Robin Redd (who plays one of the Master's wives) is actually character actress [[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0714668/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t68 Mary-Robin Redd]] due to [[NamesTheSame their similar names]]. But Mary-Robin Redd was already an established stage and television actress by this time, whereas the film's Robin Redd (like the Master's other wives) was a model from El Paso.

* WhatAnIdiot: Yes Mike, it's a good idea for you and your family to stay with the creepy bearded guy in the creepy lodge in the middle of nowhere. That'll definitely work out for you.

* UncannyValley:
** Debbie was dubbed over by someone who ''clearly'' wasn't a little girl. Her actress, Jackey Neyman-Jones, cried when she first heard the dub, and one can hardly blame her.
** Torgo was intended to be an example of this, but due to various factors, comes off as more of a creepy CloudCuckoolander.

** Debbie was dubbed over by someone who ''clearly'' wasn't a little girl. The little girl playing her cried when she first heard the dub, and one can hardly blame her.

* NightmareRetardant: A lot of the film could qualify, but what especially sticks out is the HellHound, who [[NightmareFuel certainly looks ominous in the painting]] and barks up a storm offscreen, but then you see it onscreen, and it's pretty docile, acting less like a beast from Hell and [[FurryReminder more like a, well, dog.]] When the Master's wives are arguing, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent the hound even walks around harmlessly]], [[CreepyCute you almost expect it to lick one of the cast members affectionately]]. The fact that the dog was personally owned by Tom Neyman, who played the Master, may have had something to do with this.

* VindicatedByCable: According to the Trivia, ''Manos'' actress Jackey Neyman herself couldn't track down a copy of it anywhere before [=MST3K=] aired the famous episode in 1993. Is it fair to say that ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' is the only reason the film is known today? Yes, it certainly is.

* FridgeHorror: It's probably best to assume that Harold P. Warren didn't intend for the characters to be the same ages as their actors. Otherwise, it would mean Michael is 43 and his wife is only 22 - and they have a ''seven year old daughter''. Given that Michael is already a DesignatedHero, this would just make him seem slimier.

* NightmareRetardent: A lot of the film could qualify, but what especially sticks out is the HellHound, who [[NightmareFuel certainly looks ominous in the painting]] and barks up a storm offscreen, but then you see it onscreen, and it's pretty docile, acting less like a beast from Hell and [[FurryReminder more like a, well, dog.]] When the Master's wives are arguing, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent the hound even walks around harmlessly]], [[CreepyCute you almost expect it to lick one of the cast members affectionately.]]

** Well, director Hal Warren was by all accounts perfectly lucid during the production, but Torgo's actor John Reynolds was known to use various recreational drugs such as LSD, explaining his various twitchy behaviors and mannerisms on-screen.

* FridgeHorror: If we assume the actors' ages are the same as their character's ages, Michael is 43 and his wife is only 22 - and they have a ''seven year old daughter''. This makes Michael, already a DesignatedHero, even worse.

* VanishingVillage: There really is a Valley Lodge. Normally, there's 'nothing up that road.' Then Manos redirects travelers to the Master and ensures they never leave.

* SpecialEffectFailure: Torgo is supposed to have backwards goat legs, but he ends up just looking like he's got giant knees.

** TheMaster is an undead, immortal occultist who serves the [[GodOfEvil evil god Manos]] by happily performing {{human sacrifice}}s for his deity, keeping a harem of wives which he [[TilMurderDoUsPart disposes of as he sees fit]]. Having killed his first servant Vassago for stealing one of his wives, the Master later brainwashes a man named Torgo to act as his newest servant. When a small family is later lured into his Lodge by Torgo, the Master [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kills the family dog]], before chopping off Torgo's hand for touching his wives in their sleep. He later forces both Michael's wife Margaret and his little daughter Debbie to become his new brides. Keeping people's spirits in a perpetual limbo, the Master's spirit continues to loom over the Lodge, brainwashing more women to become Manos's brides, having forced Debbie to become his replacement as she continues to sacrifice those in the name of Manos.

* FridgeHorror: If we assume the actors' ages are the same as their character's ages, Michael is 43 and his wife is only 22 - and they have a ''seven year old daughter''. This makes Michael, already a DesignatedHero, even worse.