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Manos, the Hands of Fate

Started by The Burgomaster, January 15, 2004, 05:43:05 PM

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HappyGilmore

This movie is, ugh.

I watch it now and then.  But it's terrible.
"The path to Heaven runs through miles of clouded Hell."

Don't get too close, it's dark inside.
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.

Javakoala

Okay, I think I finally earned my "red wings" by watching this.  It was off of one of the Mill Creek sets so I'm not sure if it was uncut, but then does it matter?

My girlfriend cried, "I stayed awake to watch this?" grabbed one of her Martha Stewart magazines to read and refuse to look at the screen.  She promptly fell asleep.  At least the movie caused enough pain to prevent sleep.

The only thing I can honestly say about this (and I'm sure it has been said before) is "Oh, my God, oh my God, Oh MY God, oh my GOD, OH MY GODOHMYGODHOMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!!!!!!" 

Sorry, I hyperventilated and passed out.  I would ask "Why?' but that would mean actually thinking about this thing. 

I'll give it a year and then watch it again.  Pray for me, and pray for us all.

Doc Daneeka

#77
You can do worse than Manos, I liked the atmosphere, which is more than can be said for most horror films today. IMO, slow, pointless, lingering cuts beat cuts so fast you have no Earthly clue what is happening anyday :tongueout:!

The characters and glaring continuity errors? Well, if you really overlook bad filmmaking as the culprit, you would see that Manos is one of the most unintentionally dream-like films ever: Super-long stretches of pointless information, lines repeated, glimpsing into totally irrelevant characters lives, capricious character focus changes, physical focus problems, unecessary lines, sense of uninvoked dread (Mike I'm scared! Of what?!), "The end?" you don't know that your dream is ending until you suddenly become lucid and wake up!

Okay, so what if you are a small-minded viewer and totally overlook (or just don't care about) the dreamlike spectacle? Well... It just so happens to be HILARIOUS! You don't need Joel and his robot friends, you can make new jokes for this one with each viewing!

You wanna see a really bad movie? Try one of the hordes that come on SciFi each weekend! They are overplayed to the point that you wonder whether desperation or stupidity made the executives made the decisions they did, and worse, about 4 percent are any good, heck 99 percent is so much of the same thing over and over you'll yearn for the eccentricities of Torgo and his master about 1 hour out of two in!

Well there I went again on the usual rant :tongueout: On a similar subject, how is the presentation of Manos on the Alpha disk? The same stunning picture and sound quality we had on MST3K?

https://www.youtube.com/user/silverspherechannel
For the latest on the fifth installment in Don Coscarelli's Phantasm saga.

RCMerchant

Quote from: Mr. Briggs Inc. on September 22, 2007, 12:31:46 AM
You can do worse than Manos, I liked the atmosphere, which is more than can be said for most horror films today. IMO, slow, pointless, lingering cuts beat cuts so fast you have no Earthly clue what is happening anyday :tongueout:!

The characters and glaring continuity errors? Well, if you really overlook bad filmmaking as the culprit, you would see that Manos is one of the most unintentionally dream-like films ever: Super-long stretches of pointless information, lines repeated, glimpsing into totally irrelevant characters lives, capricious character focus changes, physical focus problems, unecessary lines, sense of uninvoked dread (Mike I'm scared! Of what?!), "The end?" you don't know that your dream is ending until you suddenly become lucid and wake up!

Okay, so what if you are a small-minded viewer and totally overlook (or just don't care about) the dreamlike spectacle? Well... It just so happens to be HILARIOUS! You don't need Joel and his robot friends, you can make new jokes for this one with each viewing!

You wanna see a really bad movie? Try one of the hordes that come on SciFi each weekend! They are overplayed to the point that you wonder whether desperation or stupidity made the executives made the decisions they did, and worse, about 4 percent are any good, heck 99 percent is so much of the same thing over and over you'll yearn for the eccentricities of Torgo and his master about 1 hour out of two in!

Well there I went again on the usual rant :tongueout: On a similar subject, how is the presentation of Manos on the Alpha disk? The same stunning picture and sound quality we had on MST3K?

You know what? I TOTALLY AGREE!  :thumbup:

I never liked MST3K...I thought it ruined the movies. I always enjoyed MANOS...and  feel alot of 'Bad' movies are not as bad as some of the drek Hollywood puts out today! Give me BLOODY PIT of HORROR over SAW anyday!!! Karma!
Supernatural?...perhaps. Baloney?...Perhaps not!" Bela Lugosi-the BLACK CAT (1934)
Interviewer-"Does Dracula ever end for you?
Lugosi-"No. Dracula-never ends."
Slobber, Drool, Drip!
https://www.tumblr.com/ronmerchant

Just Plain Horse

I've assumed a lot of the cuts had to do the equipment Hal P Warren used to make the movie... I heard somewhere he filmed most of it with some old movie camera that did like 60 seconds of film per reel or something like that- I don't remember the specs- but the jist I got was a lot of his shots had to be short- plus everything was shot closeup back then- that was originally done for television, due to the smaller screens- and Warren probably just unconsciously did the same.

To be fair, it was low budget filmmaking, which was harder back then. The guy had a vision, tried to make it, and Manos is the result. I sometimes ponder what if I tried to make my creative visions into a thing- be it a book, film or art peice- would it become a Manos? Poorly done, badly criticized, most remembered for being mocked... A little unnerving, to be honest. Yes, you truly can do worse than Manos...

HappyGilmore

Torgo rocks.  And the Master looks like either Frank Zappa or Bill Buckner. 

Quote from: RCMerchant on September 22, 2007, 08:05:23 AM


You know what? I TOTALLY AGREE!  :thumbup:

I never liked MST3K...I thought it ruined the movies. I always enjoyed MANOS...and  feel alot of 'Bad' movies are not as bad as some of the drek Hollywood puts out today! Give me BLOODY PIT of HORROR over SAW anyday!!! Karma!

To each their own for MST3K.  Honestly, I liked it.  If anything, that show opened up the floodgates for my interest in the 'bad' movies.  Not just MST, but other shows as well, like USA Up All Night and MonsterVision.  I can see your point though. 
"The path to Heaven runs through miles of clouded Hell."

Don't get too close, it's dark inside.
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.

Javakoala

I'm sorry.  I must have given the impression that I hated Manos.  Sorry for the misconception.

I liked it.  I almost wet myself during the near-grope scene with Torgo and the wife.  I had to back up that slap about three times just to believe what I saw.  The little girl has a long future ahead of her as a store mannequin.  And the catfight scene reminded me of those "re-enactments" done by the small town women's league in all those Monty Python skits.

There are movies that are cheese, and there are those that are just bad (Adam Sandler, anyone?), but Manos is one of those that really defines the "bad" movie genre, or, as I call them "crap" movies.  Grand discussions of the film's "artistic" qualities aside, this film keeps you spellbound by the constant variety of "What the hell was that?" and "What the hell were they thinking (trying to do, getting at, etc.)?" comments your rational mind throws out.

So, for what it is worth, I don't hate this movie.  I like it, but, man, it sure gave me a mental beating that I'll remember for years.  Plan 9 never gave me so much to keep up with.

And am I wrong, or did I lose karma over this?  Heaven help me if I should ever suggest Quentin Tarentino be flayed for crimes against humanity.

ulthar

Quote from: Javakoala on September 22, 2007, 10:13:07 PM

I like it, but, man, it sure gave me a mental beating that I'll remember for years. 


Check out A TOUCH OF SATAN if you want to increase your beating.  Oh mercy me, I watched it this week and wondered if I could be justified calling it worse than MANOS.  No, not quite.  But not so far behind either.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor Hathaway:  I noticed you stopped stuttering.
Bodie:      I've been giving myself shock treatments.
Professor Hathaway: Up the voltage.

--Real Genius

RCMerchant

Quote from: Javakoala on September 22, 2007, 10:13:07 PM
I'm sorry.  I must have given the impression that I hated Manos.  Sorry for the misconception.

I liked it.  I almost wet myself during the near-grope scene with Torgo and the wife.  I had to back up that slap about three times just to believe what I saw.  The little girl has a long future ahead of her as a store mannequin.  And the catfight scene reminded me of those "re-enactments" done by the small town women's league in all those Monty Python skits.

There are movies that are cheese, and there are those that are just bad (Adam Sandler, anyone?), but Manos is one of those that really defines the "bad" movie genre, or, as I call them "crap" movies.  Grand discussions of the film's "artistic" qualities aside, this film keeps you spellbound by the constant variety of "What the hell was that?" and "What the hell were they thinking (trying to do, getting at, etc.)?" comments your rational mind throws out.

So, for what it is worth, I don't hate this movie.  I like it, but, man, it sure gave me a mental beating that I'll remember for years.  Plan 9 never gave me so much to keep up with.

And am I wrong, or did I lose karma over this?  Heaven help me if I should ever suggest Quentin Tarentino be flayed for crimes against humanity.

I would never ,ever, give bad karma to someone who disliked a movie, or who's opinion is different than mine. That would be just make the whole purpose of a forum useless. Different opinions and points of view are what makes the world go round!  :smile:
My kids think my taste in movies is insanely  off track...too put it mildly. They'll watch some of my movies...but if I plug in something like...ohhh..ADVENGING DISCO GODFATHER or TEENAGERS from OUTER SPACE...I get practically booed out of the living room! Of course-it's my TV,so I watch it anyway (heheheh!)  :teddyr:
Supernatural?...perhaps. Baloney?...Perhaps not!" Bela Lugosi-the BLACK CAT (1934)
Interviewer-"Does Dracula ever end for you?
Lugosi-"No. Dracula-never ends."
Slobber, Drool, Drip!
https://www.tumblr.com/ronmerchant

DistantJ

O god, this is such an awful film. I dunno how I'd handle the full film without the MST3K commentary, and yet for some reason I want to try it.

Jim H

I haven't actually seen this film, but I heard a MIDI film of Torgo's theme on a website a while back.  I actually thought it was a fairly decent piece of music, which I was kind of amazed about considering the film's rep.  Not great and ultra-repetitive, but still in the range of competent, and something that could be used effectively.  I dunno, maybe if I heard it in context I'd disagree.

http://www.torgo.org/media/sounds/torgo.wav

Ometiklan

Quote from: Jim H on September 23, 2007, 11:54:33 AM
I haven't actually seen this film, but I heard a MIDI film of Torgo's theme on a website a while back.  I actually thought it was a fairly decent piece of music, which I was kind of amazed about considering the film's rep.  Not great and ultra-repetitive, but still in the range of competent, and something that could be used effectively.  I dunno, maybe if I heard it in context I'd disagree.

http://www.torgo.org/media/sounds/torgo.wav

Do Youself A favor don't see it!!
Unless You watch the MST3K verison!
And when he shall die
Take him and cut him into little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.

DistantJ

You've yet to see Torgo's theme the way it's used in the movie :P

Torgo

Manos Riffs
*"Why don't we sing a song to pass the time." - "Lets sing something from Pearl Jam."- Mom/Servo as Lil' Girl
*"Been hittin' the Thighmaster, Torgo?"
*"NO! Now their going back the other way!" - "Let's just pretend we're watching 'Trip to Bountiful" - Crow/Joel
*"Could you hold that one card up? What's it say? Oh, yeah -- 'Arf!'" - Crow as the dog
*"cUt it OuT yoU feM!" - Crow as Torgo, as the Master waves a stick in his face.
*"Every frame of this movie looks like someone's last known photograph." - Joel
*"Manos was filmed on location in a vacant lot." - Joel
*"He's got Earl Campbell thighs!" - Crow on Torgo
*"Ambiguity is scary." - Joel as the wife
*"It's like having Joe Cocker as your bellhop." - Servo
*"See, your feeling better already." - "Rolling in filth will do that for you." - Mike/Joel
*"Wants me? What kind of talk is that" - "Why, it's oily, sleazy talk." - Wife/Crow
*"When Carney's flrt." - Servo
*"I LeFt a piEce of cHeWed uP GuM on yoUr pilLoW" - Crow as Torgo
*"Uh, the dog is sharp again mommy... see" - Crow as Lil' Girl
*"His only crime was being born delicious!" - Crow
*"Kids worship the darndest things!" - Joel
*"Tonight: Manos gets caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse..." - Servo
*"Great, Torgo's giving him a snuggy" - Joel
*"You know, this is the alternate ending to "Beaches" - Joel as women wrestle
*"If you persist in this foolishness..." - "I'll take your credit cards!" - The Master/Servo
*"Torgo, you're missing the fight! Put your dress on and get in there" - Servo
"There is no way out of here. It'll be dark soon. There is no way out of here."

HappyGilmore

I liked in the MST version when Mom and Dad are looking at the picture of the Master.  I think Joel's like, "So, the Master is Frank Zappa?  At least they got something right." 

Something to that effect.  I laughed hysterically for a minute.
"The path to Heaven runs through miles of clouded Hell."

Don't get too close, it's dark inside.
It's where my demons hide, it's where my demons hide.