After years of reading that Manos: The Hands of Fate is one of the worst movies that was destined to go to the very bottom of the annals of bad cinema, I finally rented it to catch the experience myself. How else was I to know how bad movies would get without watching what is called the ultimate in cheesiness? Well, Manos sure didn't disappoint. Or should I say, boy, it disappointed. I've seen many an Ed Wood movie, and I can say that even Mr. Wood himself seems like a master film maker next to the diseases that this movie is. Don't get me wrong, I mean that in a good way, really I do. There is nothing better then popping in the Mystery Science Theater version of this movie and hearing them poke fun at this movie. I laughed hard, and it made me think, what if? What if this movie was burned and never found... we would have lost a treasure! Watching the movie is a test in patience. It also ruins your intelligence and makes you feel that rather then watching a movie, you are watching a bunch o' hippies that are high and/or drunk sort of flow through an imaginary script. They should show this movie at a stress test, perhaps give you a passing grade, or a degree or something that states you've accomplished a feat that only a few can do.
I can't even begin to tell you what scene would be the worst! Was it the loooong drive in the beginning, where nothing happens except driving set to some jazz music? The "teens" making out for days? The fact that the father is an idiot and led his family to all the craziness, amid the danger? The laughable audio that was dubbed in? The cat fights? Even the title of the movie, Manos, which means "hands" in Spanish, effectively makes this movie title "Hands: The Hands of Fate".
What I can tell you is the best part of the movie: watching the "Master" come out with his robe and show off the big red hands stitched into it. That amused for about 4 seconds. All downhill from there. Actually, the whole movie was a downhill that kept going into the ground and never stops, winding up in some inner core lava.
One gets the feeling that perhaps some of the actors, like maybe Tom Neyman or John Reynolds would have better served their art with a better script. One also gets the feeling that each and every person associated with this that saw the script, or met the director, or even smelled the manure on him should be drawn and quartered. It seems, though, that the cast DID indeed see how bad this movie was going to be by making fun of it, as they started calling it "Mangos: The Cans of Fruit".
So, should you watch this movie? Oh yes, you must! ONLY if you rent the MST3000 version (I heard that an unedited version is now available, now THAT must be eye-gouging torture). It's good to see how bad a movie can get and still laugh at it. I give the movie a rating of 1, and the MST3000 version a 9!
I was interested enough to try to find out as much information about this movie as I could when I found that a documentary called Hotel Torgo (2004) exists. There, they interview one of the last surviving members of the cast (I don't think they found any others that may still be alive) and even bring him to the location of the set, an old run down house in the middle of nowhere. It's worth a watch.
A review of another film within a review? It can only happen with Manos: The Hands of Fate!
I can't even begin to tell you what scene would be the worst! Was it the loooong drive in the beginning, where nothing happens except driving set to some jazz music? The "teens" making out for days? The fact that the father is an idiot and led his family to all the craziness, amid the danger? The laughable audio that was dubbed in? The cat fights? Even the title of the movie, Manos, which means "hands" in Spanish, effectively makes this movie title "Hands: The Hands of Fate".
What I can tell you is the best part of the movie: watching the "Master" come out with his robe and show off the big red hands stitched into it. That amused for about 4 seconds. All downhill from there. Actually, the whole movie was a downhill that kept going into the ground and never stops, winding up in some inner core lava.
One gets the feeling that perhaps some of the actors, like maybe Tom Neyman or John Reynolds would have better served their art with a better script. One also gets the feeling that each and every person associated with this that saw the script, or met the director, or even smelled the manure on him should be drawn and quartered. It seems, though, that the cast DID indeed see how bad this movie was going to be by making fun of it, as they started calling it "Mangos: The Cans of Fruit".
So, should you watch this movie? Oh yes, you must! ONLY if you rent the MST3000 version (I heard that an unedited version is now available, now THAT must be eye-gouging torture). It's good to see how bad a movie can get and still laugh at it. I give the movie a rating of 1, and the MST3000 version a 9!
I was interested enough to try to find out as much information about this movie as I could when I found that a documentary called Hotel Torgo (2004) exists. There, they interview one of the last surviving members of the cast (I don't think they found any others that may still be alive) and even bring him to the location of the set, an old run down house in the middle of nowhere. It's worth a watch.
A review of another film within a review? It can only happen with Manos: The Hands of Fate!