IMDB Bottom 100: Number 14 - Manos the Hands of Fate

Number 14: Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

This film has picked up a fair following over the years and has a reputation for being ‘The Worst Film Ever Made’ (though there are obviously other contenders). Here is the story behind the ‘Cult of Manos’:

Back in 1988, a man named Joel Hodgson created a show called Mystery Science Theater 3000 (commonly referred to as MST3K) which aired on Public Access TV in Minnieapolis. The premise is an average Joe(l) is shot into space by a mad scientist and forced to watch bad movies. He’ll try to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends by watching the movies and making jokes over the top of them, with various little skits in between.

It was a success, eventually picked up by Comedy Central and later the Sci-Fi channel. There were cast changes over the years (most notably Joel being replaced by Mike Nelson) but the show ran for 11 seasons and there were 197 episodes plus a spin-off movie (which was basically just another episode) in total. So popular was the show, producers and directors were actually sending them their films to make fun of, reasoning it was the best way their work would be seen.

One such film they ‘riffed’ over was Manos: The Hands of Fate. It became notorious for the writers and producers of the show, as to make each episode they had to watch the films multiple times and Manos was one of the hardest ones they had to get through.

The story doesn’t end there though as Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, writers and actors on MST3K would go on to form rifftrax.com, where the premise is much the same. However, the added bonus is you can buy audio files to play over mainstream movies. For example, you can watch the Twilight movies whilst listening to their riffing (definitely the preferred option) on the film.

One film available through their website is Manos: The Hands of Fate, with all new jokes and quips. But wait, there’s more! In 2012, they done a Rifftrax: Live! Event. Simulcast in theatres all over the States, they performed a live performance of their Manos riff.

All this adds to the reputation M:THF has garnered for being one of the worst films ever. Without that exposure, probably no one would have seen it. Is the reputation deserved? Absolutely.

Written, produced, directed and ‘starring’ Harold P Warren, Manos is another low-budget horror film that gets it wrong on every level.

The acting ranges from more wooden than a tree to ridiculous overacting. Poor editing means lines of dialogue get repeated, which is doubly bad because the script is terrible to start with. Consider this line from main character, Mike (Harold Warren himself):

‘We’ll go hide in the desert. Someone is sure to find us.’

You know why it’s called a desert don’t you? The clue is in the name.

The story is a couple are driving, somewhere, with their young daughter but they get car trouble and stop off at an old house. Here they meet a man named Torgo, and after establishing they won’t be able to go anywhere that night they agree to stay the night in the house.

Now Torgo is a creepy looking guy with inflated knees (hunchbacks are so cliché) with a staff that has a hand at the top and has spasms that making it look like he’s masturbating. He is constantly referring to ‘The Master’ and how ‘he won’t like you staying here.’ Would you stay in a place like that with a weird guy like Torgo? At least he has his own slightly comical theme music.

‘The Master’ as it turns out is, well I don’t know what he is really. He sleeps through the day like a vampire but he never drinks any blood. He has a robe with handprints on it but it looks more like he’s wearing two beach towels. He has six wives who stand still all the day, which is the best acting you will see here. The Master wakes them up and instantly regrets as they all start chatting amongst themselves while he can’t get a word in him.

Turns out they are all worshippers of Manos, some evil God thing, and are debating whether they should kill the family. Then a Royal Rumble breaks out amongst the women, which is what I imagine happens whenever any group of 3 or more women get together. Well it does in films. This goes on for ages and resolves absolutely nothing.

The rest of the film revolves around the family’s attempt to escape the cult. There is an entirely pointless scene with two cops who hear two gun shots. They move five feet from their car, wave their flashlight (which looks more like a miniature dildo) and that’s enough for them. They get in their car and drive away. Thanks. For. That.

The ending is obvious to anyone but it takes so long to get there with awful jazz music in the background. A chore does not begin to describe it.

The Manos story doesn’t end there though. Thanks to a kickstarter campaign from actress Jackey Neyman (who plays Debbie in Manos), a sequel is scheduled to be released in November 2016, just in time for the 50^th anniversary.