Manos: The Hands of Fate

Year: 1966

IMDb Rating: 1.7/10

Genres: Horror

Directors: Harold P. Warren

Cast: Diane Mahree, Tom Neyman, Diane Adelson, John Reynolds, Harold P. Warren

A family is driving across the country when they stumble across a mysterious house inhabited by the satyr-man Torgo. When the family decides to stay over at the house, mother Margaret is now the object of desire for Torgo and the owner of the house, The Master: a mysterious figure who dresses in a black robe decorated with red hands.

Manos: The Hands of Fate is a 1966 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by Harold P. Warren. It stars Warren, Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, and Diane Mahree. The film follows a family getting lost during their vacation road trip through the Texas desert and becoming stranded at the lodge of a polygynous pagan cult led by the Master who decides their fate. Warren was an insurance and fertilizer salesman from El Paso, Texas, who made the film as a result of a bet with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Most of the remaining cast and crew had little or no background in filmmaking. The theatrical debut was poorly received, playing only at the Capri Theater in El Paso and some drive-ins around West Texas and New Mexico. Manos remained in obscurity until 1993, when it was featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a television series based around mocking B movies. This developed its cult reputation as one of the worst films ever made. The film has been criticized for continuous deficiencies in editing, continuity, audiovisual synchronization, pacing, acting, and several inexplicable and disconnected scenes, such as a nameless couple repeatedly shown kissing in a distant car and the Master's wives breaking into catfights. Its MST3K appearance resulted in several DVD releases of the original film and three of the MST3K episode. The original 16 mm workprint was discovered in California in 2011, from which a new, remastered version of the film was released on Blu-ray by Synapse Films on October 13, 2015. The film was followed by a prequel, Manos: The Rise of Torgo (2018), and a sequel, Manos Returns (2018).

Classic low budget horror about a family getting lost and stumbling upon a hidden, underground, devil-worshiping cult led by the fearsome Master and his servant Torgo. IMDb