Insurance salesman Harold Warren bet that he could make a film on an extremely small budget. Say what you will about this turd, it most definitely is a film. Low budget and no talent permeates all corners of it. The script, story, acting, score, and photography were all terrible. The actors didn’t seem to know how to react in dramatic scenes, or even where to look. Their community theater troupe would totally have fired them.
A classic amateur writing mistake is to have characters repeat points the writer feels are important. This happens throughout. Also, as the film was shot silent and dubbed later, some of The Master’s wives made exaggerated motions figuring dialog would be inserted later. Yea, that would have been a good idea. But probably most damning is the speed at which the film was edited. When it takes three hours to digitally edit a twenty minute youtube video, it is quite revealing that it took only “three to four hours” to edit a 70 minute, 16 mm film. Clearly Manos wasn’t as much edited as stitched together.
I was annoyed that the Dad character was easily twenty years older than his very pretty wife, but later realized he was the director, so that made sense. Also, he was a real dick, declaring he will stay at the cult compound despite the caretaker being against the idea, his wife's protests, and enough red flags to cancel the Nascar season. Then he orders poor Torgo around like he’s their servant. That man’s poor knees! Dad deserves to die, just saying.
Manos: The Hands of Fate would have faded into obscurity had it not been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. There really is no enjoyment to be had here other than to goof on it. That said, it wasn’t the worst film in the world. It’s fourth. AMRU 1.5.
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