'Growing Up With Manos' - By Jackey Neyman Jones and Laura Mazzuca Toops

By Steve D. Stones

We have Mystery Science Theater 3000 to thank for the growing popularity of "Manos - The Hands of Fate." Manos was featured on the TV program on January 30th, 1993. The film was thought to be lost for nearly thirty years. Manos is said to be Mystery Science Theater's most popular episode to date.

In her book "Growing Up With Manos The Hands of Fate," published by BearManor Media, Jackey Neyman Jones chronicle's her life story in revealing how she came to be cast as seven year old Debbie in the film. Jones' father, Tom Neyman, was an eccentric, artistic man who was drawn to a local playhouse in El Paso, Texas. Neyman was later cast as "the master" in Manos.

The story of Manos started out at the Festival Theatre in El Paso in the mid-1960s. Director Hal Warren was cast as Pietro Belcredi in Henry IV. Neyman was also cast in the play. Other actors cast in the play who would go on to star in Manos were William Bryan Jennings, John Reynolds and Bob Guidry. Jennings played a sheriff in Manos and Reynolds was cast in the most famous role as Torgo.

Warren's original script for Manos was titled Lodge of Sins and later changed to Fingers of Fate before it finally became Manos - The Hands of Fate. The Manos title was a result of a burned hand sculpture created by Neyman. Jones points out in the book that the Manos story was very similar to the pilot episode of Route 66. Warren had walk on roles in the TV show.

To save on costs, Warren employed many Festival Theatre cast members and help from friends and family. Not only was Neyman cast as the master of the cult of Manos, but his paintings, sculptures, and even his dog - Shanka was used in the film.

At the time Warren was working at the Festival Theatre and became interested in making Manos, he was also an insurance and fertilizer salesman. Jones remembers him as being a very enthusiastic man who believed he could achieve anything, including making a low budget film. He even made a bet with TV producer Stirling Silliphant that "anyone can make a movie." His sales pitch for selling insurance and fertilizer carried over into his motivation for making a movie. Although the results were disastrous, Warren's enthusiasm made up for a flawed film.

Jones also points out that the Torgo character was originally supposed to be a Satyr. This may explain why the legs of his trousers were stuffed with a wire sculpture and why actor John Reynolds walks with a strange waddle. Cast member suspected Reynolds of taking drugs during the filming of Manos. This explains his strange acting in the film. Sadly, Reynolds committed suicide just a few days before the premiere of the film in Texas in November of 1966.

Jones remembers the night of the premiere in sitting in the audience and being shocked at hearing a much older voice dubbed over her lines. She also remembers audience members laughing during scenes that were not meant to be funny. People sitting in the theater began to whisper back and forth to each other. It was obvious that the film was a dud

The book concludes with Jones speaking of her bitter struggles in getting involved in a sequel to the film, "Search For Valley Lodge," and the struggle for marketing control of the 2011 remastered print of Manos by young cinematographer Ben Solovey. Hal Warren's son, Joe, tried desperately to stop all merchandising and promotion of the remastered print. Things got really nasty and bitter between Joe Warren and Jones. Warren became greedy for a cut of all money flowing into the Manos cult.

As Jones states towards the ending of her book, viewers love and appreciate Manos the same way they might appreciate an Ed Wood movie, or a child's scribble drawing tacked up on the kitchen fridge door. It may not be high art, or even great art, but it's still fun to watch.

Manos is a masterpiece of bad cinema. I recommend that you see the remastered print put out on DVD and Blu-Ray by Synapse Films in 2015, then get a copy of Jones' book and read it carefully. Don't forget to view the extras of interviews with Jones, Neyman and Solovey. Happy viewing and happy reading!

Special Edition - Manos The Hands of Fate

By Steve D. Stones

What do you get when a middle-aged Texas fertilizer salesman directs a film with a wobbly legged servant named Torgo, a polygamous pagan cult of women dressed in see through night gowns, and a cult leader called the "Master?" The result is what Entertainment Weekly calls "The worst film ever made!"

Synapse Films has recently released a special edition of Manos - The Hands of Fate (1966) on DVD and Blu-Ray. This special edition contains three featurettes: Restoring the Hands of Fate, Hands: The Fate of Manos and Felt - The Puppet Hands of Fate. The featurette of Hands: The Fate of Manos interviews many cast and crew members, such as actor Tom Neyman, who played the cult leader, and the mother in the film - actress Diane Mahree, aka Diane Adelson.

If you're already a fan of Manos, you may not need the extra featurettes to give you a greater appreciation for the film. However, the featurettes, particularly Hands: The Fate of Manos, do give viewers a greater appreciation, and perhaps even convince you that Manos is not the worst film ever made.

In charge of the restoration and clean up of Manos was Benjamin Solovey, a cinematographer. In 2012, the restored film was scheduled to play at the Plaza Classic Film Festival in El Paso, Texas. The non-profit that ran the festival was contacted by a lawyer representing Torgo Lives, LLC - a company who held the copyright to Manos. The festival was asked to pull the film if certain demands were not made.

Actor Tom Neyman wore multiple hats during the production of the film. Not only was he the Master, but he also served as production designer. Many of his sculptures of hands were also featured in the film. The hand sculptures helped to influence the title of the film. Neyman's painting of the Master and his evil dog was also featured.

Actor John Reynolds, who played wobbly legged Torgo, committed suicide just a few months before the film premiered. The crew suspected him of taking drugs during the production. Torgo's clothes were borrowed from actor Tom Neyman. Six year old Jackey Raye Newman-Jones, who played Debbie, had her lines dubbed into the film after it was completed.

Manos is a masterpiece of bad cinema. It's cult status was reinforced by an appearance on Mystery Science Theatre 3000 in the 1990s. For further information about this special edition of Manos, refer to Screem Magazine issue #31 for an article written by Benjamin Solovey.

Happy viewing!

All about Manos: The Hands of Fate

By Steve D. Stones

Anyone who proclaims Plan 9 From Outer Space or The Creeping Terror to be one the "worst movies of all time" obviously has never seen this film. In fact, it’s a film that is rarely even discussed in many film encyclopedias, including the Medved brothers’ "The Golden Turkey Awards." That may be because the film is just now surfacing as a cult item in recent years due to it being spoofed on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television show in the early 1990s. The show has given Manos a whole new generation of cult fans.

An El Paso fertilizer salesman named Harold Warren directed Manos: The Hands of Fate. Warren also served as producer and screenwriter of the film, and cast himself in the role of the husband and father named Mike. Not surprisingly, Warren never went on to make or act in another full-length feature film. His role in Manos seems a bit out of place because the woman who plays his wife in the film, Diane Mahree, looks old enough to be his daughter.

The film opens with Warren and family sitting in a convertible on the side of the road contemplating where to go. They are on a family vacation and lost somewhere in the Texas countryside. To alleviate the stress of being lost, they begin to sing: "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream . . ." This reminds me of the times I’ve been to Disneyland with my family and they force me to ride the "It’s a small world" ride. By the time I get off the ride, I want to pull out all my hair from being knocked over the head so many times with the "It’s a small world" song heard in several different languages. A root canal procedure from my dentist would be less painful.

If you haven’t lost interest in the film by now, you may very soon as the opening sequence continues with long and boring panning shots of the family driving in the countryside in all directions. The camera never shows the moving car itself, just shots of the moving countryside. The cinematographer should have been shot for these sequences. After driving all over the place, the family decides to stop at an old worn down shack to ask for directions to the nearest motel. They are greeted by Torgo, played by John Reynolds, who walks funny, carries a charred stick, and looks as if pillows are stuffed in the knees of his pants. Torgo insists, "The Master wouldn’t approve" of the family staying overnight in the shack. He repeats this line over and over again.

We soon discover whom "The Master" is that Torgo keeps referring to as the couple becomes intrigued with a sinister looking painting hanging on the wall near the fireplace. The painting depicts The Master in a black and red robe and an evil looking dog beside him. The family becomes frightened as they hear the sound of howling wolves and barking dogs outside. They soon notice their family poodle is missing. Mike, the father, steps outside to find the poodle, where he finds him lying dead on the ground. Mike picks him up, and the dog is already as rigid as a piece of plywood. Although it may have been unintentional, I found this scene to be very funny. Why an animal would be stiff with rigor mortis so quickly seems very odd to me.

The most effective sequences in the film show The Master and his voluptuous maidens in a Pagan cult ritual. The maidens are said to be the wives of The Master, and they are dressed in see through white gowns that reveal their sexy, curvaceous bodies. Apparently the maidens shop at Victoria’s Secret for their undergarments.

The Master, who looks like singer Freddie Mercury of the British rock group Queen, commands the maidens to sacrifice Debbie, the young child of the family. The maidens cannot agree on this, so they wrestle and fight each other on the desert sand, while slapping and pulling each other’s hair.

When Torgo is placed on the altar of sacrifice to be killed for his disobedience, the camera shows an interesting close up of the maiden’s hands reaching in towards him. The Master forces Torgo’s hand into the ritualistic fire where it severs from his arm as a burning effigy.

Like so many cult films, Manos: The Hands of Fate actually does improve with each viewing, believe it or not. As with other cult films, you may find yourself wanting to take Manos home with you like an ugly lost puppy and nurse it back to health, even if your friends tell you to kick it out into the street and let it die a slow death.

The cult of Manos has been a long time coming, but fans are now beginning to open up to the film and appreciate it for what it is. This sick puppy may take lots of nursing to get it back to health, but if you keep an open mind to it, you may actually find yourself enjoying the film after several viewings, if you first don’t pull out all your hair!!!