Manos: The Hands of Fate
Director: Harold P. Warren
Cast: Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, Diane Adelson
October 13, 2015
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Yes, it’s that movie. The one made infamous by Mystery Science Theater 3000. And yes, someone was crazy enough to release it on its own, on Blu-ray, as a special edition. No, this isn’t a joke. Really. The crazy company in question is Synapse, and if you know anything at all about the world of Blu-rays, then you know Synapse puts out some of the best looking movies. Period. The head guru over at Synapse, Don May Jr., is one of the most exacting videophiles in the biz, and if a movie doesn’t live up to his exacting standards, then Synapse won’t release it. So yeah, the movie looks better here than it has ever before, and the disc has a nice selection of extras and special features. But it is still Manos: The Hands of Fate, so really. Why bother? Well grab your cool cultist robes, and maybe a stick to whack Torgo with, and let’s find out.
Manos: The Hands of Fate is a dreadfully made, acted, shot, and everything else piece of cinematic waste made as a bet. No really, this movie was made as a bet, and it shows. In it, a man, woman, child and poodle travel (for far, far too long) through some empty landscapes before coming to a rundown house that I guess they were looking to stay in. The questions why and how are left vague. There they meet the caretaker: the wonderfully weird and over the top Torgo, who steals the show every second he’s on screen. He tells the travelers that the Master isn’t going to be happy about this, but sure they can stay there. Then the poodle gets eaten by a devil dog, just before the daughter adopts said hell hound. Torgo tries hitting on the wife in his own hilariously awkward way, and dad’s in denial about everything. By the time the Master shows up as some undead wizard type with his bevy of undying brides, you are far beyond caring in this dreadfully dull and inept flick. That is, unless you are one of the few that have built up a cult around this very weird movie. If you are, then this release is for you. Lord knows it’s not for anyone else.
To further whet the appetites of the Manos faithful, Synapse has put a lot of work into this edition to make it look the best it ever has. Now it’s still not up to snuff with how modern movies look in HD, but there is only so much magic that could be done here. Add that to the new extras done for this disc, and you got a pretty solid Blu-ray, even if the movie isn’t.
Speaking of those extras in this new Synapse Blu-ray release, let’s get to them. First there is an audio commentary with two of the actors from the film: Jackey Raye Neyman-Jones who played the little girl, and her real life father Tom Neyman, who played the one and only Master. There is the “grindhouse” version of the film which shows what it would look and sound like without any of the efforts Synapse put in to restoring it. There is a 30 minute long featurette about the movie, and another six minute one about all the efforts behind restoring this movie. There is a short 4 minute doc about someone making a short movie called “Manos: the Hands of Felt” which is a puppet version of the infamous movie. Sadly, that short isn’t on this disc. Still, for a movie as “good” as this one, that’s a lot of goodies to go along with this release.
Watching Manos: The Hands of Fate without the MST3K crew to help is an acquired taste, to be sure. If you are one of the few that love this movie, then by all means, get this very well done Blu-ray. If you want to test your limits with the so-bad-it’s-good genre, then you might want to give this one a try. For everyone else, give it a pass. So this is a very slight, and highly conditional recommendation, at best.
