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When reading up lists of the "worst films ever made", it is almost sure this film will be on it. With a 7% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, it is indeed considered by many as one of the worst, if not *THE* worst film ever made. But sometimes, the story behind a film ends up being more interesting than the film itself and helps you put things in perspective. That is the case with this low-budget schlockfest.
The film is written, produced, directed, and acted by Harold P. Warren, an insurance salesman that was somewhat active in the theater scene in El Paso, Texas. The beauty of it is that the film was made as a result of a bet made by Warren upon meeting screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Warren assured him that it would be easy to make a horror film, so he set out to make it and win his bet. Manos follows a family of tourists (Warren and Diane Mahree) who get lost on their way to a hotel in rural Texas. Somehow they end up at a house/lodge inhabited by a polygamous cult led by The Master (Tom Neyman) who might, or might not know what to do with them.
Manos: The Hands of Fate has all the cards stacked against it. Made by an inexperienced crew with a shoestring budget, featuring inexperienced actors, the result is - well - not the best. The acting is atrocious (Mahree, in particular, is awful), the script is a jumbled mess, full of scenes that are either inconsequential to the plot or just laughably executed (a lengthy "catfight" near the end comes to mind); the pace is clunky, the film is full of abrupt cuts, choppy editing, awkward pauses, and the music is obnoxious and intrusive. The truth is that I've seen community theater plays far more polished and with better acting than this. If anything, I'll give it that the ending was bold, for lack of a better word.
But when you put things in context, I can say that I have more respect for this than I have for, say, Transformers. One has to admire the sheer will of someone like Warren who just set out to do something, and did it (he won the bet). Despite the poor reception, the critical panning, the mocking from his own crew, the paltry earnings, and its falling into obscurity, Manos resurfaced during a 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ever since, it has been featured in dozens of "worst films" lists, helping it to achieve cult status.
I'm sure that Warren (who died in 1985) never expected his film to transcend to the point that it has today. Even he called it "the worst film ever made". The thing is that, even if it is for the wrong reasons, we know about it, we talk about it. In recent years, the film has been referenced in numerous popular TV shows, a few documentaries about its making have been released, and there are even talks about a new film being made. After all, Manos is permanent!
Grade: N/A
MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE
(1966, Warren)
(1966, Warren)
"I am permanent! Manos has made me permanent!"
When reading up lists of the "worst films ever made", it is almost sure this film will be on it. With a 7% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, it is indeed considered by many as one of the worst, if not *THE* worst film ever made. But sometimes, the story behind a film ends up being more interesting than the film itself and helps you put things in perspective. That is the case with this low-budget schlockfest.
The film is written, produced, directed, and acted by Harold P. Warren, an insurance salesman that was somewhat active in the theater scene in El Paso, Texas. The beauty of it is that the film was made as a result of a bet made by Warren upon meeting screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Warren assured him that it would be easy to make a horror film, so he set out to make it and win his bet. Manos follows a family of tourists (Warren and Diane Mahree) who get lost on their way to a hotel in rural Texas. Somehow they end up at a house/lodge inhabited by a polygamous cult led by The Master (Tom Neyman) who might, or might not know what to do with them.
Manos: The Hands of Fate has all the cards stacked against it. Made by an inexperienced crew with a shoestring budget, featuring inexperienced actors, the result is - well - not the best. The acting is atrocious (Mahree, in particular, is awful), the script is a jumbled mess, full of scenes that are either inconsequential to the plot or just laughably executed (a lengthy "catfight" near the end comes to mind); the pace is clunky, the film is full of abrupt cuts, choppy editing, awkward pauses, and the music is obnoxious and intrusive. The truth is that I've seen community theater plays far more polished and with better acting than this. If anything, I'll give it that the ending was bold, for lack of a better word.
But when you put things in context, I can say that I have more respect for this than I have for, say, Transformers. One has to admire the sheer will of someone like Warren who just set out to do something, and did it (he won the bet). Despite the poor reception, the critical panning, the mocking from his own crew, the paltry earnings, and its falling into obscurity, Manos resurfaced during a 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ever since, it has been featured in dozens of "worst films" lists, helping it to achieve cult status.
I'm sure that Warren (who died in 1985) never expected his film to transcend to the point that it has today. Even he called it "the worst film ever made". The thing is that, even if it is for the wrong reasons, we know about it, we talk about it. In recent years, the film has been referenced in numerous popular TV shows, a few documentaries about its making have been released, and there are even talks about a new film being made. After all, Manos is permanent!
Grade: N/A