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.

All Manos, All the Time

Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be any more Manos-related developments, another bombshell. First there was the puppet musical, then the 2-disc special edition from Shout! Factory, then rumors of a sequel. And now -- some half-mad film archivist has stumbled across the original Manos: The Hands of Fate workprint, and is in the process of restoring the film to strike a new theatrical print and potentially produce a Manos Blu-Ray.

A fellow using the handle "Ben Solo" (actually, Ben Solovey) over on the Something Awful forums picked up a pile of film at auction that had originally belonged to Manos distributor Emerson Film Enterprises. Among the reels was the original Manos workprint (bearing the title Fingers of Fate). You can read the whole story (along with a lot of technical details) here.

Solovey now plans to restore the film, and has set up a website so we can all follow his progress.

The site includes some stunning frame scans that show just how much image (and color) has been lost in the dupey copies-of-copies of Manos that most of us are familiar with. I've pasted a few below.



You can year an interview with Solovey over at Film School Rejects. Let's all hope he can stay on schedule and deliver on the high-def DVD -- and that some forward-thinking distributor (Criterion, are you reading this?) can pitch in and give a restored Manos the type of release it deserves.

Manos -- The Hands of Fate, er, Felt

In a world where Santa Claus Conquers the Martians has been mounted as a play by middle school students, should we be surprised that the folks at Seattle's Odd Duck Studio have turned one of our favorite regional films into a puppet show? Those of you in the Pacific Northwest have the opportunity to see Harold P. Warren's hypnotically dreary El Paso film Manos: The Hands of Fate re-imagined as Manos: The Hands of Felt from April 1-16 at 10:30 pm.




The show is presented by Puppet This, a Seattle-based puppet production company, and Eclectic Theater Company.

You can check out the event's Facebook page here. You can find even more info at the Puppet This site. You can also read our previous Manos musings here.

Stand By Your Manos

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
El Paso, Texas

There's already been much written about Mr. Harold P. Warren's singular foray into surrealist low-budget cinema, the inscrutable Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), so I won't bore you with a recap -- the movie itself is boring enough. If you haven't experienced Manos, you should do so at least once. You will never be the same.