Manos Returns?

As if the release of Manos: The Hands of Fate from a newly restored master on blu-ray weren't enough, we just got word that original Manos cast member Jackey Raye Neyman Jones is launching a KickStarter campaign to fund a sequel, Manos Returns.

Here's the skinny from the press release:

Jackey Raye Neyman Jones, who played the little girl “Debbie” in the classic B-movie “MANOS - The Hands of Fate” is launching a Kickstarter campaign January 30th to fund filming of a sequel: MANOS Returns. To receive funding, the project must reach its goal of $20,000 by March 1st. 

MANOS Returns is a tongue-in-cheek return to Valley Lodge. It follows a group of young would-be filmmakers who learn their favorite movie, “MANOS - The Hands of Fate,” was based on a true story. They set out to visit the site of the events that inspired the original and of course they find more than they bargained for. 

Jones is producing the project, which will be directed by award-winning Seattle filmmaker Tonjia Atomic (Plain Devil, Hobo with a Trashcan). If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, MANOS Returns will be finished in time for the 50th anniversary of MANOS, November 15, 2016. The bulk of filming will take place in Oregon this summer. 

Cult classic film “MANOS - The Hands of Fate” was immortalized by Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and is considered by many to be the worst movie of all time. The Kickstarter launch date for MANOS Returns is the same date MANOS premiered on MST3K: January 30th. 

Fundraising for MANOS Returns began with a successful t-shirt campaign last October, aimed at procuring start up costs and, most importantly, funds to film scenes with Tom Neyman, The Master from the original MANOS, and Jones’ father. 

“The 50th anniversary is coming up this year and that milestone was both a spur and a warning,” said Jones. “We’re none of us getting any younger. If any of the principle players from the original production are going to get a chance to enjoy the incredible pop culture phenomenon this has turned into, and I think they deserve to, it needs to happen now.” 

The production aims to involve as many people from the original movie as possible: Jones and Neyman; Diane Mahree, who played Maggie; and Nicki Mathis, the vocalist from the MANOS soundtrack. 

“The soundtrack is many people’s favorite part of MANOS. So, I feel really lucky that we found Nicki and that she wanted to come onboard,” said Jones. “MANOS has a way of bringing the right people together.” 

Project backers pledging at the very accessible $5 level will be treated to a digital download of a brand new recording of “Forgetting You” by Mathis.  Backers also have the opportunity to simply pre-order a digital download or DVD of MANOS Returns. Or they can donate at higher levels for a variety of other perks, including a walk-on part in MANOS Returns and dinner with Jones and Atomic. 

Other core MANOS Returns staff are talented B-movie crew veterans: Tallahassee-based writer/editor Steve Foley, and DP Joe Sherlock of Oregon’s Skullface Astronaut. Cult-movie favorite George Stover (Female Trouble, Alien Factor) and puppeteer Rachel Jackson of MANOS - The Hands of Felt fame will also have small roles.

Speaking of Hands of Felt, the puppets-only retelling of Manos was released on DVD and via digital download back in 2014.

Trailer of the Week: In Search of Bigfoot (1975)

Before he made the insane faux-bigfoot horror film Blood Stalkers (1978), Robert W. Morgan had already established himself as a well-known (and a bit eccentric) bigfoot expert. This documentary follows Morgan and his team as they hunt for the Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest. Portions of the film were later re-purposed in the very similar Bigfoot: Man or Beast film released by director Lawrence Crowley which includes additional, un-related footage.

Vinegar Syndrome has released the film on a double-bill with Cry Wilderness (1986), a family-friendly bigfoot flick.

Trailer of the Week: Deafula (1975)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to turn up an actual trailer for this Oregon oddity, the only horror film (that we know of) shot entirely in American sign language. But there is still a clip online!

Trailer of the Week: Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot (1977)

A favorite Bigfoot mock documentary, filmed in the wilds of Oregon.

Ed Ragozzino, director of Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot, dies

I was sad to learn (via threads over at the AvManiacs and Classic Horror Film Board) of the passing of Ed Ragozzino, who directed one of the better regional Bigfoot docu-dramas, Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot (1976). Rather than rehash what's already been posted elsewhere about the film and Ragozzino, I've collected some links that you can peruse on your own:

You can see CryptoMundo’s announcement here, and see the official obit in The Register-Guard here.

Dave Coleman interviewed Ragozzino about the film a few years ago, and you can see that article over at Bijou Café.

Ragozzino was also a prolific voice talent on radio and TV, and you can hear some samples at his Web page.

Sasquatch was written and produced by Bigfoot researcher and Eugene, Oregon, resident Ronald D. Olson, who four-walled the film (there was even a soundtrack released). I plan to post some more info on Olson in the future, but for now I’ve pasted a short news item about the film’s premiere below, along with the original intro.

From: The Bulletin, Bend County, Oregon, Feb. 2, 1976

Bend theater schedules four-day run for Bigfoot

“Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot,” a movie which was filmed in the Todd Lake area southwest of Bend last summer, opens Wednesday evening for a four-day run at the Bend Tower theater.

The film’s plot involves a seven-man, modern-day expedition team and its search for the legendary Bigfoot in northern British Columbia. A real expedition much like the movie version is being planned this spring, according to Ron Olson, author of the screenplay and executive producer of the movie.

Sasquatch is an old Indian word for giant. The creature, also called Bigfoot, has been sighted by hundreds of person throughout the Northwest starting about 200 years ago.

Sasquatch has been described as gorilla-like. It reportedly walks upright, leaves huge footprints and is from seven to ten feet tall. It has been sighted in Central Oregon as well as in many other parts of the Northwest.

In 1942, for instance, a man and his wife who were visiting Todd Lake in late summer reported seeing a tall, upright figure running with giant strides across a meadow into the trees. The man reported the incident to the Sisters Ranger Station.

In the movie, Sasquatch will appear in the only film footage that has ever been taken of him-her. The footage, shot by Roger Patterson in Northern California in 1967, has been spliced into the film. It shows a hairy, heavy-set creature walking upright.

In addition to the Patterson footage, the film includes scenes of a human in Bigfoot makeup and costume.

North American Productions of Eugene made the movie at a cost of about $300,000 put up by 134 investors, primarily from Eugene.

The producer is John Fabian and the director is Ed Ragozzino, both of Eugene. Ragozzino is head of the theater department at Lane Community College, and “Sasquatch” is his first movie.