Short: (1941) In the conclusion of a two-part short, our sales manager hero gets advice from his handkerchief-wearing dad.
Movie: (1966) A hapless family on a car trip in rural Texas takes refuge at an “lodge” that is secretly the home of a deadly cult.
First shown: 1/30/93
Opening: Joel programs the bots to agree with everything he says
Invention exchange: Chocolate bunny guillotine, the cartuner
Host segment 1: Gypsy’s big scene is ruined, Frank apologizes
Host segment 2: Why Torgo is a monster
Host segment 3: Joel dons a Manos cape, Dr. F. apologizes
End: The bots reenact the lady wrestling scene, Torgo’s pizza arrives
Stinger: “Why don’t you guys leave us alone?”
(168 votes, average: 4.87 out of 5)
Loading ...
“You know, there are certain flaws in this film…”
• Whatever other battle they study, every Civil War buff has an opinion about Gettysburg. Whatever else they grow, every gardener has an opinion about tomatoes. No matter which team they root for, every baseball fan has an opinion about the Yankees. And every MSTie has an opinion about “Manos: The Hands of Fate.” So much has been written about this awful, awful movie and this justly famous episode that it’s hard to make a fresh observation, but here are a few thoughts.
• Paul Chaplin once noted that many MST3K movies are “made by oily guys who elect to direct the camera largely on themselves.” He was talking about TISCWSLABMUZ, but this is another perfect example.
• At several MSTie parties I have attended where this episode was screened, people handed out napkins, which people unfolded and put on their heads at the moment ol’ Dad in the short does so. Has anybody else done this, or do I just hang out with weird people?
• The opening bit is great, and every fan of Joel has felt a little like the programmed bots at one time or another. You see this butt? Kick this butt.
• There’s a funny clank as chocolate bunny guillotine falls. I’m guessing it’s the weight that held the blade up falling to the floor somewhere off camera?
• The last issueance of The Cartooner isn’t really that strange: It sounds pretty much like something Gary Larson would have done (if he wasn’t afraid of getting sued by the Bil Keane empire). God, I miss The Far Side…
• Joel seems a little touchy when Crow suggests this might be a snuff film! Does Joel really know the limit of the sort of evil the Mads might try?
• Stuff about the movie you may already know: The movie was shot with a camera that could only shoot a small amount of film at a time, making long, continuous takes impossible. Hence the “dissolving to the same scene” Crow observes early on. Also, the long pointless driving scene was supposed to have credits supered on it, but Hal forgot.
• I had the pleasant opportunity a few years ago to exchange emails with Hal Warren’s daughter, who told me that her brother has worn the Master costume on several Halloweens and that the painting of the Master adorned a wall of her home for many years. What a wacky family!
• Joel’s looks of disgust and horror in segment two are great.
• As I was watching segment 3, my wife wandered through and said, “You should have worn THAT to the costume party at one of the conventions. I could have made that.” I had to break it to her that about 20 guys were wearing versions of the Master cape.
• Then topical: “The Tasters Choice saga.” Remember when people cared about THAT nonsense?
• That’s Mike, of course, in the first of several appearances as Torgo. Let me just get your complementary crazy bread…
• Fave riff: Yeah, here I go! Vroom!
I never show this one first to friends who have never seen MST3K before. it’s just too much to digest. But once they’re hooked, then I always bring on the Manos! Consistantly funny … and a perfect season ending episode.
This is a great MST but not for newbies as swh1939 said you have to get used to Joel and his humor, but when you are this one builds and builds. Hired is one of my favorite shorts as well. Torgo became a great running gag showing up in skits later on. “The master would not approve.”
This was the FIRST MST3K episode I watched (and I almost immediately got hooked on it).
“The Master is always here. The Master will not like it.”
Honey, when you look for someone, whaddaya do?
As others have said, never show this to someone as their first MST3K episode if you want them to get hooked on the show, it’s for experienced viewers only. I was just telling someone about this the other day. The movie is just so terrible and on first viewing of any episode, people have a tendency to watch the movie as much or more than listen to the jokes. I have heard tales of this episode turning first time viewers off to the show. If I want to get someone hooked, I use something that is goofy fun and action packed that is also full of great jokes for their first episode, like Cave Dwellers.
I was one of the people who wore a “Master” costume to the party at the first MST3K convention as it was something that was not too difficult to make. My wife used an iron-on adhesive to attach the big red hands to the simple black robe. I had great fun getting my picture taken with many of the “Torgos” wandering around at the party. My wife went as one of the alien ladies from a Gamera film. For the second convention we got more ambitious and I went as Xeno and my wife was evil queen Lara, both characters from Outlaw (of Gor).
No, I’ve never put a handkerchief on my head during this or seen anyone else do so. That might be a bit weird as suggested above.
I love the first host segment that comes up during the film where Gypsy pulls Joel and the ‘Bots over. When just the footage in the background drives them to tears, it always makes me laugh.
I don’t know about post-MST3K, but back when this episode was new, Michael Weldon’s Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film may have been the only film guide on the market that actually had a listing for this film and his book was published before MST3K. It’s truly an amazing and fun book, full of oddities no one else writing a film book could be bothered with back then.
In response to your question on point three: Yes, and yes.
Sampo-
My mom used to be a manager at AT&T. She borrowed my “Manos” tape and showed “Hired!” at one of her meetings. On the schedule, she labeled it as “Worker Motivation.” At the end of the short, she asked for feedback. One of her employees put a napkin on his head and asked her it she would go along with him on his first few calls that morning.
In the guillitine segment, I think the “clank” is the scroll that Trace is reading from hitting the floor. When he brings his hands forward to present the bunny head, he isn’t holding it anymore. Perhaps someone missed the handoff or he missed a table.
Check out my full “Manos” review here.
You know, as a person who works in the training and development world, I gotta admit: underneath the goofieness, there’s actually some pretty good leadership advice in Hired. But talk about the message being lost in the media…
And as bad as Manos is production-wise, at least the story makes a sort of sense, unlike, say, Monster a Go Go.
Until I saw a picture of a room full of MSTies with napkins on their heads, I didn’t know the phenomenon existed. But “do [you] hang out with weird people?” I’d say yes.
Definitely.
My fave riff is still Joel’s “You know, every frame of this film looks like someone’s last known photograph!” though every time I drive past a Motel 6, I hear Crow’s slogan, “We’ll leave a pyre on for you.”
I’ve always thought Kevin flubbed his line “It looks like a Frank Frazetta of Frank Zappa,” the way he awkwardly states it – but they kept going. (Again, another great line.) I would love to have that portrait of the Master. I’d put it in a room opposite this.
A couple of my own observations:
-In segment 3, Crow and Tom panic when Joel prepares to lift up his Manos cloak to show inner pockets. Like they’re afraid he’s naked under the robe. But at the beginning of the segment, when Joel raises his arms, you can clearly see, he has his jumpsuit on underneath.
-After one of the wives walks away from Hal Warren tied to the tree, Servo hums the Sandy Frank song!
-The footage of the snake that Warren shoots at is from a Disney nature film. How did Warren get his hands on that.
-Most disturbing moment EVER is in this film. Little Debbie becoming on of the Master’s wives. One of the many urban legends surrounding this film, is that after the premier, when Warren was heading back to his car, an angry mother started whacking him with her purse because of Debbie’s fate.
“I’m thinking of having that tattooed on my face, dear.”
You know, as a person who works in the training and development world, I gotta admit: underneath the goofieness, there’s actually some pretty good leadership advice in Hired. But talk about the message being lost in the media…
Absolutely true. In fact, I was hired once for a middle-management supervisory position, and I was inundated with advice much similar to the points “Dr. Giggles” lays out at the end of the film.
However, I hated that job, and I couldn’t watch “Hired! Part II” for a long time because of it. “Inspire your workers! Be a leader!” Bleagh. As funny as the handkerchief-wearing drunk old guy was, the whole message of the film sent a shiver down my spine. I was never born to be an office manager.
I agree with Bob. The first time I saw this I wasn’t real impressed just because the movie is so bad it took me down with it but as I watch it again and again, I like it more and more. It is a classic.
Oh, yeah, and as for Manos:
You know, oddly enough, the movie’s only effective moment for me was “I am Michael. I take care of the place when the Master is away.” Even though the father was an incompetent dork, there was something creepy about the idea of an average person having his soul taken away from him to eternally guard some immortal demon.
With a much better script, better acting, better production values and more sympathetic characters, the idea might have hit home a lot harder. But it’s all sabotaged:
1) I mean, why is Torgo a satyr, anyway? (For those of you who don’t know, that’s ostensibly what he’s supposed to be. His feet are supposed to be hooves, though you can barely tell.) It makes absolutely no sense at all. Did satyrs once roam the Earth and Manos trap one? Was it a real human who’d transformed into a satyr? If so, why wasn’t Michael one at the end of the film?
2) Why the heck would ANYONE suggest staying at a dismal shotgun shack in the middle of nowhere, with a creepy bearded goat-man satyr thing standing outside it? This is the single-most “what the hell” moment in the entire film.
3) When Debbie wanders off the first time, Maggie puts in “a thorough search of the first room,” as Crow puts it. What was that all about? The first time she looks through that door, she peeks in, and then seems to remember she wasn’t supposed to look there, because later (AFTER they’d found Debbie) they go through that door. But then they panic that there’s nowhere for Debbie to have gone. Yeah, except for through that door you just opened and barely peeked through. There’s no way you can watch this scene and even remotely take the film at face value. It utterly wrecks the already threadbare internal logic.
4) Maggie apparently has lost the use of her legs when Torgo starts fondling her. Did he superglue her feet to the floor or something?
I always felt the riffing wasn’t up to what they could have done with a film like this, because as they admitted, during the writing sessions, they were stunned at how godawful the thing was and couldn’t really come up with too much to add to it. This is probably true, but the fiftieth time they say “MANOS! The Hands of Fate,” it just looks desperate. They really were in over their heads at this point. Coleman Francis, Del Tenney and Rick Sloane were still in the future, and by that time they were seasoned enough to handle the real utter crapfests.
Thanks to several folks who noted that is NOT a beginner-level episode. I meant to mention that. In fact, I discovered that first-hand when I showed this episode to my sister. I was her first episode. By the end, she was saying she would NEVER watch this show again.
I agree with others that this movie is so bad, it can really depress a person the first time around. But once I learned to let that go, it has become one of my all-time faves. My fave riffs are when Crow is speaking for Torgo-”Don’t patronize me, sir.” “Left…I’m going…” Also it has possibly my favorite line from any host segment: “Ziggy had Garfield neutered! Now THAT’S FUNNY!”
Old man: “The first thing Harry drilled into me…”
Crow: “Was Harry!”
Joel: “Ohhh…”
Joel: “Every frame of this film looks like someone’s last known photograph.
One of my fondest memories of ConventioCon I was seeing “Manos” in a screening room with an SRO crowd. It was the first time I’d managed to get through the whole thing. Probably the biggest audience laugh was when Torgo and the Master just stare at each other for over a minute and Joel shouts in dispair, “DO SOMETHING!!”
At one point, someone noticed Frank walking down the hall outside and invited him in to watch. He politely refused; he had to get ready for the live show that evening.
You know, this movie is so notorious it makes me wonder why no DVD company has put out an official release. Just proclaim it the worst movie ever made and rake in the cash. Imagine this is the Criterion Collection.
And I agree with most people’s consensus: this is not a good first episode for newbies. Even though the riffs are stellar, the movie itself has nearly nothing going for it and is actually a little painful. Frank must’ve felt REALLY sadistic forcing the other writers to watch this and Monster a Go-Go almost back to back.
My favorite lines:
“We’re gonna have leadership the way my old man taught me. You, swat at imaginary elves. You, put a handkerchief on your head. You, rock on the porch all night.”
“Manos was filmed on location in a vacant lot.”
I only got into MST3K 2 years ago, and this was the 2nd episode I watched. I loved it then, I still love it now. This “not for newbies” thing is an urban legend from where I sit.
Huh.
I posted something a couple hours ago.
Must have gotten eaten.
Ah well.
Someone said that Manos is the true anti-film. I don’t agree. As bad this film is, Manos does have ‘film sincerity.’ Film sincerity to me is when someone or some people make a film because they truly wish in a deep sincere way to make a film for its own sake. Obviously, sincerity does not make up for skill and talent.
To me, the anti-film is The Starfighters. When I see Starfighters, I get deep hurting. This film was made because a group of Air Force pilots are so full of themselves that they just had to share all the flying, drinking and women with the rest of us poor slobs.
This was my first Joel episode. At this point I had only seen a handful of Sci-Fi era episodes when it briefly ran in the UK. So not only did I have to get to know Joel, Dr F and TV’s Frank, but I had to get through such a horrible movie as well. Thankfully I survived it and remains as one of my favourites, my sister can’t stomach it at all though.
Mike’s appearance as Torgo still has me in stitches especially when he starts stroking Franks face. Brilliant
If I really feel like annoying everyone in the house, I put the DVD on and let the main menu with Torgo’s theme play continuously.
Cubby–You were jammed deep in the spam folder. I have no idea why. But you’ve been released.
This was something like the 25th episode I’d ever seen, after roughly four months of watching on Comedy Central, and that after such training as “Skydivers” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats”, and I still had to stop the tape in a couple of places and pace around my apartment making loud noises of pain then lie down before I could finish watching it.
So let me talk about Hired a bit: there’s some dispute about whether Best Brains or someone else chopped it into two segments, but of more note to me is that except for the really obvious example I’m overlooking and will think of right after posting this, this was the last of the `serial shorts’. Obviously the longest `serial’ or semi-serial they ran was in the first season with Commando Cody, which probably seemed like a good idea because they had to get the rights to one enormous block of content and they had a reel whenever they needed it, but turned out to flop because it was all Cody grabbing his nipples and flying. In the second season they tried The Phantom Creeps, probably for similar reasons, and that sort of puttered out when nobody had any idea what anything was supposed to be (and the episodes were too long for half-segment fillers). Then in the third they started on Undersea Kingdom, and then finally gave up on science fiction serials and tried running episode clips from General Hospital.
Hired seems to be when they gave up trying to have a running short, either consciously or just because with the show ten minutes shorter they needed fewer shorts to fill out the movies. I wonder if the scrambling of episodes for reruns might have been a factor too; while it doesn’t seem to make much difference what order you watch Commando Cody in it probably annoyed them that average viewers couldn’t follow the story if they wanted to. I remember that episode scrambling annoyed the Brains in the continuing-stories of the Sci-Fi Channel years.
I started watching around ’93 and this was one of the first few episodes I saw. My friend and I were watching it and we laughed so hard I’m surprised we didn’t bust something. My fave line is still ‘That’s not how you wear your depends Torgo’.
This episode never gets old, a true classic
Ahh, Manos. What can be said? The thing that angers me the most concerning Manos is that every year new films come out that are truly horrible, yet don’t hold a candle to the magic misery of Manos. However, people will attest that this newest atrocity is “the worst movie ever made,” as can be seen by looking at IMDB’s Bottom 100. Manos deserves that top spot for eternity. And I will agree – this isn’t the episode to start people on. I think the best episodes to start newcomers on are the Russo-Finnish films, myself. Got all my friends hooked after Jack Frost.
Favorite riffs?
“…cut it out, you clown…”
“Oh, a shot it the face, thank you very much.”
“What is that, a symbol of the their love?” “Well, it’s not framed very well.”
“And now, the Manos Women’s Guild will reenact the Battle of Pearl Harbor.”
“Okay, everybody pick out someone you wanna punch.”
Oh, and Hired? My favorite bit is the quick shifts from scene to scene before the very end with Dr. Giggles. “What? You can hurt me?”
While there are some later that come close, “Manos” is, in my opinion, the worst film the Mads ever subjected us to. Hired! 2 (Electric Boogaloo) is a delight though. I love that last riff “Good night, stay pink, soft, and oily.” As for the movie, “Torgo, that’s not how you wear your Depends, dear!” is one of my all-time favs.
After watching some of the other eps like Hobgoblins, Wild World of Batwoman, Beast of Yucca Flats, etc., I had begun to think that maybe Manos wasn’t really the worst movie they’d done. I mean, it does have a plot, as someone else pointed out, and some of the music is not earsplittingly horrible.
Then I watched it again; sat down and really paid attention to it. Urk. It is transcendently awful in every possible respect. The “plot” is supermodel thin, and every single element of the actual film is atrocious.
Love the riffing. Makes it possible to get through this nightmare, at least for me.
I like Joel cracking up during the opening segment, when Crow says, “See this butt? Kick this butt!” There’s a great scene from Manos, when Margaret has collapsed in the desert, and is chewing the scenery at an alarming rate…while the bored little girl has her hands in her pockets and is kicking at a tumbleweed. And Servo’s monologue over the interminable driving scene at the end is worth the price of admission.
Fave riffs: “Oh my god, my pants are on fire.” (Crow’s deadpan delivery gets me every time.)
“Smoke on the weirdo!”
I’ve found myself using the riff about “someone’s last known photograph” in casual conversation.
My favorite riff from this episode has to be “Manos: The Hands of Fate was filmed on location in a vacant lot”. The line itself is great, but it’s Joel’s delivery of it that gets me laughing each time. I also like “Visit beautiful Ground Zero”, but that’s not as hilarious as it used to be (for obvious reasons).
Hey now, folks, this was my first episode of MST3K, and I loved it! Although I watched enough times that repeated viewings now give me an eerie sense of nostalgia or whatever… Deja vu, maybe. I dunno.
Rowsdower42 – “The magic misery of Manos”. Those are beautiful words, friend! You said more with five words that I could say in an entire post.
What really cemented this movie in Mst3k history for me was all the stuff that happened in it’s wake; namely, the actor who played Torgo committing suicide because of an addiction to pain killers he developed after suffering knee injuries from incorrectly wearing the knee prostetics he needed for Torgo’s character. (I think that’s correct.)Freaky.
Visit beautiful Ground Zero.
Faded photographs……..
Has anyone else noticed this? At one point in the movie, someone, I think it’s supposed to be Crow, although I don’t remember seeing his mouth move, says (as Torgo), “wEll I’ve gOt tO gEt gOiNg!”. Only it doesn’t sound like Trace. It actually sounds like Mike. I know that there have been more than a few times when Trace flubbed a line in the theatre and had to re-record it later, and I guess there were also times when they added jokes AFTER they shot the theatre sequences. But did Mike record that line for some reason? And if so, why? Was it literally done at the last minute and Mike was the only person available to record the line?Or what? Maybe it’s just me.
A point on the ‘never show Manos to MST newbies’ point: If that was the case, then why was Manos pulled as a standalone DVD and put with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in The Essentials DVD set? After all, putting it in an ‘Essentials’ set implies that this is one you WOULD want to show to newcomers. Perhaps this was because at one point, Tom sees Torgo laying down and says, ‘Torgo, you’re the laziest man on Mars.’ (There’s a callback you missed, Sampo.
)
My fave riff was said already; the ‘last known photograph’ line, so I’ll add another one. After the Master tells Torgo he has to die, Joel says, ‘You can’t fire me, I quit!’
My review at TV.com can be found here.
My favorite riff from this one was always
“HONK HONK Way to go Steve!”
I like this kind of drive-by riffing, especially when they’re making fun of what is essentially a non-sequitor in the movie. Honestly. It has nothing to do with my name. Really.
Like you said, not a lot I can add–
Fav Riff: “The Amazing Technicolor Poncho”
Re Rowsdower42′s comment: I checked the IMDB Bottom 100, and every movie listed there from before 1989 is an MST3K film. Even Plan 9 isn’t listed.
daltysmith – I think it’s Trace, albeit a very closely mic’d, poorly EQ’d Trace.
I also forgot to mention how Joel can barely contain laughter in the “Driving Sketch” when Gypsy starts her cop routine. Great!
“MANOS!” “The hands of fate?” “Yessss…”
What to say that hasn’t already been said? This is one of the few movies that MST did that I find truly, truly depressing and grinding. The nihilistic plot, the plodding “action”, the washed out color (is everything in this movie either black or some shade of brown??). Watching without the riffing… ugh. I can only imagine that you’d need a week’s worth of soul-scrubbing the likes of which little Johnny in “Keeping Clean and Neat” never dreamed of.
A few favorite riffs that I haven’t seen anyone mention yet.
– If I’m not mistaken, Crow not once but twice makes reference to the resemblance between the Master and John Cleese in Fawlty Towers. At one point, he has the Master calling out for Manuel and Polly, and the riff, “Oh, a shot in the face, how nice” (done in Cleese-ian, posh British accent) seems to be a reference as well.
– Crow’s riff over the closing credits, in which he helpfully provides the “Girl Making Out In Car”‘s muted dialogue gets me every time: “No, I don’t want to be in this movie!”
– Maggie (when Torgo is pledging his undying, um, greasy lust to her): “What kind of talk is that?”
Crow: “Why, it’s oily, sleazy talk!”
Incidentally, my copy of the DVD has, I think, a flaw in the opening sequence, right before (I think) Mike and his family pull up at the Motel 666. Servo starts to say something like, “Pretty soon now…”, but the audio warbles and slows down, then picks back up as he finishes with, “… we’ll find ‘Manos, the Hands of Fate’.” Is this only my copy? And if not, was this a flaw in the print of the film itself that the Brains got (and they subsequently played with by letting Servo’s dialogue go slow-mo), or a flaw when they filmed the episode?
I actually DID show this episode to two friends of mine who had never seen MST3K before. one sat there with a ‘WTF?’ expression, while his girlfriend began laughing immediately. what made it even funnier for her was that she was working at a Lancome counter at the time, and so the Lancome/exfoliating/’can’t just buy the cleanser, you have to get the whole package’ comments made her double over in pain from laughing. as I recall, I had to pause the tape a few times so she could recover. perhaps Manos is a ‘litmus test’ episode?
I had not before put a handkerchief on my head during ‘Hired!’, but I shall do so now, everafter.
fave riffs: ‘DOES-THIS-BUG-YOU DOES-THIS-BUG YOU? I’M NOT-TOUCH-ING YOU’
‘I left a piece of chewed gum on your pil-low’
‘I’ve never seen her so happy, dearest’
['man- that poor kid!'] indeed!
Tom’s desperate narration at the end while the two women drive in silence seems to get funnier every time somehow. watching Joel and Crow exchange puzzled glances in the dark during Tom’s frantic attempt to provide some meaning to this sequence just unleashes torrents of giggles anew. the scene makes me want to give Tom a big hug.
“Ok. Wetnaps, flashlight, revolver. Good.”
To Mike: Actually, that’s just Tom making fun of the sudden slow-mo in the movie itself. It’s like with Devil Fish. “Sloooww daay, huuuh?”
My favorite part of Manos is actually one of the Poopie outtakes, when it takes Mike 20 seconds to deliver the pizza, then he laughs the second he tries to talk.
Favorite riff: “Well done, my wives!” “Now get the potatoes!”
This is not an episode I’d show someone as their first episode. The one I would show is “Angel’s Revenge”. Good riffing, a 1970s/”Charlie’s Angels” feel-like thing going on, very accessible, in my opinion.
“Manos: The Hands of Fate”, otherwise known as “Hands: The Hands of Fate”.
I wish my life mirrored this movie, or the short, or both, or probably they both did but I wasn’t aware.
This is truly an inspiring film, and after about 5 or 6 years, I think I am finally ready to watch the movie without the warm comfort of Mike and the Bots. What the hell is that noise? I’ll be back. It went away when I went into the kitchen. I like the music. There is too much in this movie to comment on, so many great moments. HE WANTS YOU BUT HE CAN’T HAVE YOU. She shoulda got with Torgo. God, Torgo must be a cultural zeitgeist. How could he not be.
So… so I told Gary that I was GOING on this weekend vacation, and he said, “Well then I’m going hunting with Jeff next weekend”, and that’s when we were at knife, Bo Derek sang Fernando, and Gary, oh he sings so good, you should meet Jeff sometime. This is a pretty country isn’t it? Do you like Barry Manilow songs? I know the farmers need rain, but when it’s damp like this, my hair explodes! Just Ex-P-LODES! Oh…. I’m feeling kinda gassy. McNuggets you know they make me all gassy, all that grease and all. It really helps if you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day, did you know that? Sometimes I drink 5, sometimes I drink 9 to make up for the other 3 I didn’t drink. Coffee and diet drinks don’t count either. This is a pretty country. You know I think it’s a blessing in disguise I didn’t get into college. You know I’m gonna have to revise my 20-year plan. Have I told you about my 20-year plan? We’ll listen here, in year 1, this is the year I plan to take off those extra 7 pounds, you kn ow that’s equal to 7 pounds of butter. So it’s like I’m WEARING 7 pounds of butter! Uh… where was I? Oh yeah, so my aunt and uncle want me to sing “Sunrise, Sunset”, he wanted ME to sing that, and I haven’t sung that since Cyndi’s wedding, and, well, she never thanked me for that… cause, well she’s probably really busy and all.
Still kissing, six straight days.
Torgo makes this movie in the same way that the Hanky Dad makes the short…..
Maybe i’m just a sick and twisted person but this usually the FIRST epsiode of MST3K that i show to people. Granted, i foreworn them completely beforehand about what they’re getting into but i feel that people HAVE to see this film. True, the movie itself plays a close second for my choice of worst film ever (that honor goes to The Creeping Terror. It’s impossible for me to watch both riffed and un-riffed) but with few obscure references and consistantly funny riffing, i feel that it makes for a good starter episode for the strong willed. But hey, that’s just me. I also like to show my friends Mad Foxes (don’t know it? Look it up.)
I remember at least two Frank Zappa jokes in this episode and it made me think, who was the resident FZ fan at Best Brains? I have a feeling it was Kevin, seeing how most riffs and bursts of song came from Servo but i could be wrong.
“Silence!” “Is golden!”
MST3K, turning absolutely nothing into something. Since 1988.
5-stars.
I love this episode but there is one thing I’ve never understood. At the very end of the episode, the Mads take a bite of pizza and Frank comments that it’s been two hours but it’s still very warm. The Mads then realize something and spit it out. Torgo then says, “They always do that.” Is there something I’m missing?
WHAT ABOUT THE VALLEY LODGE?!?!?!
This movie fully realizes the importance of giant knees in the doing of evil bidding. The fact that Torgo has his own theme music to compliment his bodacious knees only fortifies his evilishness.
This kind of almost stream of consciousness filmmaking is an art unto itself, and deserves its servile place in the annals of movidom. It takes true vision, and the artistic heart of an El Paso fertilizer salesman, to fully realize the grandure of humongous patellas.
The fact that the apparently really, really evil Manos is a terrifically uninteresting main character didn’t stop Hal Warren from pursuing his dream of creating an entire movie around him. Why? Because he lay comfortable in the knowledge that he had already deployed gigantic knees into the story (and until this movie, big knees were an under realized cinematic safety net) thereby diverting any undue attention to be paid to other aspects of the film, such as the across-the-board absence of basic storytelling and filmaking competence.
“Doggy go walkies?”
Ah, Manos. We meet again. Yes, even watching this I could tell that it was something special: the high water mark against which all future movies would be judged. Simply awful, you needed a shower afterwards.
But Castle of Fu Manchu is the worst movie they ever did.
I’m pretty sure the intent was that the viewer was to think that Torgo kept the pizza warm between his knees or armpits … or somewhere .. during the two hours it took to deliver.
I believe Kevin Murphy was the resident Frank Zappa fan.
Brian Lafferty:
Pizzas tend to get cold over the course of two hours, and yet the pizza the Mads are eating is still warm. What method do you suppose Torgo used to keep it warm? And would you still want to eat it after imagining what method he might use?
my last post was in reference to post #52
surprised no one mentioned the added humor of the Mads apologizing for Manos
Well, here we are at Manos.
I’ve seen this episode fewer times than any other, because the movie is so disturbing that I just can’t bear to watch it very often, even with the riffing.
Hired!, however, I watch a lot more often. The handkerchief moment is the funniest thing that happens within any of the movies, I think. Especially when they pan back over to Grandpa later.
As for Manos, though, it isn’t even the most technically inept movie they did. That would probably be Starfighters, or one of the Coleman Francis films. It’s just the most disturbing.
Brian: I’ve always assumed the inference is that Torgo kept it warm by keeping it in contact with his body in some way.
Wow. There were all those comments while I was reading the thread and responding. I didn’t intentionally repeat Sampo’s explanation.
And Ralph C. stole my comment about the ideal first episode for a newbie, which would be Angels’ Revenge. But then, it’s not the first time he’s done that.
I loved Joel’s amazement of the “Just one guy” scene in the beginning of the film. In fact, all the segments of the family in the car is pretty classic.
“Let’s listen to Pearl Jam”
“His core temperature’s dropping”
And of course the kissin’ couple. “Eww, tastes like Cherry Robitussin.”
“Torgo is rounding the Master, heading for the straightaway and there he goes!”
For a starter ep, I’d go with either Prince of Space, Jack Frost, or The Final Sacrifice.
The “last known photograph” comment by Joel is just terrific.
The final host segment with Mike Nelson as Torgo is so great, it makes the whole painful movie experience worthwhile. When Mike/Torgo says, “They always do that” in that quavering Torgo voice, it cracks me up every time. Great punch-line to a great show.
“Torgo, you’re the laziest man on Mars.”
I corresponded with the guy who played bass on the soundtrack a number of years ago. If I recall correctly, most of the music was done in one take with little or no prior knowledge of what the movie would be like.
(I have a peculiar soft-spot for the soundtrack. Inept music has a way of charming me sometimes.)
Also, everyone in the “band” went on to [apparently] lucrative work as studio musicians. Who knew?
Also, incidentally, this is one of my (and apparently Quentin Tarantino’s! He’s got 35mm a print of the movie!) favorite movies of all time, along with Lucio Fulci’s Conquest. I’d kill for a print…
“I’m Tom Bodett, and we’ll leave a pyre on for you.”
Okay, it’s 2007 or so. I read about Manos on Imockery. I figured I had to see this movie, so I search youtube for “Manos” and what do I see? MST3K! My friend was an avid watcher of the show, and I decided to watch it. I fell in love with the robots, and have been a fan ever since. I think I had to watch a few more eps to really get into it though. I didn’t even get half the references when I first watched it, but I still laughed my arse off when they pretended to be the characters.
I like to think of myself as open minded, so when I first watched the show, not knowing anything about it, I just decided not to question things and go with the flow. then after seeing Mike eps, I did some research and realized what was going on.
My mum and I have watched the ep, she was amazed at how bad it was, but Torgo will live on in our hearts. Mums boyfriend doesn’t mind watching the occasional short with me, and always laughs. He was the first person I know who actually knows who Joe Don Baker is!
Fast forward to now, I own the original Zombie Nightmare and Space Mutiny on VHS, I have an original “Mitchell” poster along with a VHS tape of the episode, I have a Tom Servo plush toy someone on deviantART made. Some could say I’m In love.
You know “Manos”
-cs™
I love how no matter how strange things get, Michael keep insisting that it’s all in his wife’s head and everything is just dandy. Didn’t he notice Torgo’s big knees/cloven hoof feet? This guy deserves to have his soul taken by the master for being such a dope!
Re : “Visit beautiful Ground Zero”.. not as hilarious as it used to be (for obvious reasons).
In a way this is a reversal… a PRE-TOPICAL reference. I always find it moving (?) to contrast how innocent this phrase was then, and how queasy it could well make many people now ( but I still think it is hilarious… it’s the voice and delivery ).
You know, for all the flack The Starfighters gets, IMO it’s only sin is being really, REALLY dull. It’s decently photographed, the acting isn’t terrible (not great, but), and the story itself could have been interesting. Manos fails nearly everything except Torgo and the music–sometimes.
Manos is definitely not Bunny Slope MST3K. It’s too poor in physical quality ( hard to hear, hard to watch ), too hard to follow, and with the groping, chick-fights and little-girl-as-satan-bride, just too off-putting.
Others are simply too bad period ( Monster A Go Go, Creeping Terror, Incredible-Zombies ). For a beginner the movie itself has to be good enough to draw them in.
Also the latter day movies ( late seventies on ) are a little less straight-forward as movies, too faux-arty, you want pretty basic stories for the white belt Misty. Skip where the fish lives and JD Baker.
For my starter kit I would probably pick a moderate quality B&W film… K. Shrews, either of the Leeches ( Giant or Woman ), Either of the She-Brains ( Atomic, Wouldn’t Die ), the Insect Movies etc.
Anyway, back to Manos.. NIPPLES: Many shapes, many sizes, some on my back.
I think this is the first time I’ve heard someone say Conquest was their favorite Fulci film. Normally people would say Zombie or City of the Living Dead…kinda refreshing to hear.
Manos is available “straight” and “unMSTed” from Alpha Video for about $8 on Amazon dot com.
I have to disagree that the acting in Starfighters is not terrible. It’s quite terrible AND the movie is dismally dull. There is also virtually no story whatsoever. I love aviation and usually love movies about aviation so seeing one that has nothing going for it at all was a new experience for me. Corn detassler? Detassle this!
However, Manos suffers from all of these same bad qualities I’ve listed for Starfighters plus poor sound quality, but at least the fantasy elements make it a bit more amusing on its own. Torgo’s voice and walk alone make it slightly more amusing by itself than Starfighters. However, The Atomic Brain may actually be harder to watch. Uggh, what an ugly movie with no entertainment or redeeming qualities whatsoever.
The premise of Manos, what little there is, is quite a stretch from the start. Would you insist that you, your lovely young wife and small child stay at a house where someone as creepy as Torgo insisists for 15 minutes that you can’t stay there? You wouldn’t have to tell me twice! LOL.
No, no, NO! You’re all wrong. Manos rewarded Torgo for his many years of faithful service with a pizza warmer that plugs in to a cigarette lighter. THAT’S how he kept the pizza warm.
Sebastian – I listened to the audio only of the song that pays over the ending credits. I agree that it’s actually a pretty cool jazz piece. Jazz music for a fight scene, no. But let’s not forget the Torgo theme, which I believe is responsible for propelling the Manos Band to fame and fortune.
I agree that the last song wasn’t bad, but was wildly out of place in this movie. Of course, all of the music really out of place.
Most every one I know who watched this episode had strange dreams the next night. Me too.
It’s really too bad the Cartuner doesn’t really exist, as the comics have only gotten worse since this episode first aired.
Another memory of mine regarding Manos concerns the viewing room for it at the MST3K conventions. The room for this episode always filled up till it was standing room only. It was quite an experience watching this with other people, many of whom I’m sure were seeing it for the first time. Manos has literally gone from total obscurity to become a legend thanks to MST3K.
The thing that makes ‘Manos’ such a beautiful MST3K episode is that it isn’t just awful, it’s deranged. Not every bad movie it a good MST3K movie; some are just muddy, uninteresting plodders (and yet, I still like ‘Starfighters’. Go fig.) The truly great MST3Ks have those moments that rivet your attention to the badness just as surely as a great movie rivets your attention to its genius, moments where you just stare in amazement asking, “What were they THINKING?” Moments like that always seem to bring out the best riffing.
‘Manos’ has those moments in spades. Torgo’s knees, the nightgown wrestling sequence…it’s just a movie that is dazzlingly inept, and there’s so much rich material for them to riff of of. Really, a true work of alchemy that transforms “awful” into “brilliant”.
(Bonus riff: “No, no, you got it all wrong. Love should be musty and hurtful.”)
@ John Seavey
Brilliant post that hits the nail on the head for sure. Yeah, I love movies like that too and Manos is definitely full of moments like you describe. It’s like the moment in Monster A-Go Go when the narrator calls special attention to the space capsule that is one of the worst looking, most under-sized movie props of its kind ever, making the moment especially funny even before Joel and the ‘Bots start busting on it.
Frank as the executioner…beautiful! Maybe with the taught muffiny Fabio chest?
After the Far Side/Family Circus comic…”Its a hoot!!” and “ahhh, my rib.”
The “Hired” short reminds me of my Army Recruiting days, talking about prospects (recruits). What a horrible job that was…and I was equally horrible at it. I couldn’t sell a heater to an Eskimo.
“Its a bug hunt man, a bug hunt!” “Game over man, game over!”
“Are you part of the movie we’re in?”
“Maggie, the damn car won’t start. Yeah that’s a real bitch dad!”
If I didnt know any better Id say 501 – 503 were shot right after Manos, just observing Joels hair…
WORK, BOOZE, WORK…
Another great line from this episode… It may be a bit more obscure for those who don’t follow auto racing:
(scene where they’re showing the two young adults necking in the car)
Crow: “We’re ready for your scene, Mr. Unser. Mr. Unser?”
That guy really does look like he could be a member of the famous Unser racing clan..
Other than that, what else can be said about this episode that hasn’t been said already?
I’m not a medium, I’m a petite says:
… the latter day movies are … too faux-arty …
Great term. Faux-arty. [insert scatological joke here]
Ya know, if anything, The Starfighters had the most bad-arse soundtrack featured in a MST3K ep.
Re: Sampo and GizmonicTemp (#7)
If I’m not grossly mistaken the strange clank at the guillotine falling is from Doctor Forrester dropping the scrolls on which the bunny’s sentence is pronounced. From the timing I imagine that it was deliberate and probably so that there’d be a satisfyingly loud noise when the rabbit’s head fell. It’d otherwise be a pretty soft and anticlimactic thing.
If it was an accident — someone missing the handoff from Trace Beaulieu — then I’d wonder if that hints at this being the best take of the day and their living with it despite the noise. I would imagine, without knowing anything particular, that the chocolate bunny guillotine would be a balky prop — it’s hard making stuff that slides easily and quickly and gets fast enough to chop the head off — and if they didn’t mean it then a very good take with a clean head chop would probably outweigh any individual noise. But I still lean toward the deliberate sound idea just because it does all work so wonderfully well as it is.
I like Starfighters! Buhhh buh duh dummmmmmmm, buhhh buh duh duuuMMMMMM!
I mentioned that the Russo-Finnish films are the best introductory episodes; I will supplement that with any of the episodes based on Made-For-TV movies. They’re all so hilariously cheezy.
so Torgo is supposed to be a satyr! the explanation for his staccato dialogue delivery then is an attempt to have him sound goat-like, possibly.
good thing then that there is no smell-o-vision…
I guess we’ve got yet another idea for a weekend discussion thread…Best Introductory Experiment. The episode you’d use to indoctrinate a n00b (as teh kidz are fond0rz of saying). I’d vote for The Giant Gila Monster, simply because it was the first experiment I watched from top to bottom, and it did the trick.
“Manos” premiered about half a year after I became a MSTie, and the timing was impeccable. At that point, I was cozily familiar with the show’s premise and had seen my fair share of dumb and goofy episodes (Attack of the The Eye Creatures, Lost Continent, etc). Witnessing “Manos” was akin to advancing a belt color in karate (or a hat size in Ecky Thump, if I have any fellow Goodies fans on board). So that’s my advice…a few Corman/Gordon/Lippert yukfests to teethe on, then your child should be fit for a date with the Master.
Regarding Debbie’s fate: somehow I’m able to disconnect and not let the ending disturb me, and honestly, I think Joel and the bots’ resounding “Boo” acts as a pacifier. So far, the only episode that’s angered me to the point where I can never watch it again is Teenage Crime Wave. I hate movies that make me feel bullied.
TO: king of grief
Yes, I remember “The Goodies”. I hadn’t seen them in years until I recently found a couple of episodes on YouTube (Ecky Thump and Kitten Kong, to be exact).
Got to see the Live “Manos” play from Last Rites Productions. It was brilliant and well within the spirit of MST3K. (they did The Brain That Wouldn’t Die as well)
http://www.lastritesproductions.org/dvd.html
Praise be to granpa and his napkin
Blessings too upon his doughy son the office manager-
Horror at Party Beach- I think that is the title-now that is a delightful introduction
to the MST3K Experience-
Did this episode get most comments so far?
I gotta agree about that favorite line. I’ve been using it with my parents for years, much to their chagrin.
“Go take out the trash!”
“Yeah, here I go! Vroom!”
Well, I made another error. Joel’s line was, ‘You cant kill me, I quit!’
I love the episode. Hired 2 wasnt as funny as Hired 1, but you cant have everything.
I love the music of Manos. So much so that I bought a copy of it un-misted just to hear the music more clearly.
I also love many of the lines from the movie, which are funny by themselves without the riffing.
Manos could have been riffed better, I believe.
I’m not saying it was riffed poorly though.
Here are some my favorite riffs:
in a big place?–”The Northwest Territories”
“I swear I know that guy”
“Dear Everready, I was tied to a post all night and the flashlight was left on and the batteries…”
I’ll protect you–”cause there’s some weird people around here…”
(Torgo rolls eyes)– “These two”
“Oh! My Hernia!”
“You know, I bet the Master and I could really get along…”
A couple more favorite riffs that came to me after posting:
“I’m putting you on speaker phone.”
(The master with his arms raised)-”CAN you believe it?”
“He’s not a morning person.”
“Doggie go walkies? Yes, he’s a good hell beast!”
Ohhh, what DOES the master approve of?
Call back: While Maggie is looking at herself in the mirror, Tom softly sings “Never Steal Anything Wet” from Catalina Caper.
Many of you guys have repeated all the things that I’ve felt about “Manos”, so I won’t be redundant and repeat them. However, I’d like to mention about the topic of whether or not to use “Manos” as an introductory episode to a newbie. I agree with most, you should wait until at least as a third episode; give the newcomer some exposure before throwing this unbeatable classic at them to absorb. I started with a pair of ’50′s movies, “The Beatniks” and “The Killer Shrews”. (The latter moreso because my friends were all Dukes of Hazzard fans, so I knew they’d like seeing Rosco before he was Rosco!) “Manos”, however, was always the clincher, and it made my friends keep asking for more episodes to watch.
I remember afew years ago, the mag Entertainment Weekly actually had a story about “Manos”, complete with a striking visual of the characters in the movie on one picture, along with a background story of the making of the movie. I remember laughing hysterically when it was revealed that the only one paid was the dog, with two 40-pound bags of food. I hadn’t heard about the legend of Debbie’s actual mom beating on Hal Warren, but it sounds totally possible.
“Hired! 2: Electric Bugaloo” is as good as any short they’ve done. Granted, the advice in it is good, the presentation however is just way too corny.
“And Fourth…live at home until you’re forty!”
The line that always cracks me up is “Arise my wives…and iron my work shirt.”
Mano’s is an all time classic, one of the worst piece of crap movies ever but a great movie to riff. All the Torgo riffs are superb. “What kind of talk is that? Filthy, oily talk Ma’am”. I always watch it a few times a year.
I love this episode but there is one thing I’ve never understood. At the very end of the episode, the Mads take a bite of pizza and Frank comments that it’s been two hours but it’s still very warm. The Mads then realize something and spit it out. Torgo then says, “They always do that.” Is there something I’m missing?
I think they’re referring to the previous episode (“Bride of the Monster”), where Tor Johnson apparently kept the girl’s fuzzy hat in his pants. Note how Torgo mentions that he forgot the Crazy Bread, then reaches for his waistband until the Mads stop him. So I’m pretty sure the joke is that Torgo kept the pizza warm by having it down his pants, too.
My favorite line demonstrates the guys’ ability to add hilarious subplots where none exist. It’s the scene where they first get out of the car and Torgo is there, and Crow just says “Okay, we brought the kid. Now give us the negatives!” Second favorite: “You think we should try some o’that kissin’, Burt?”
You know a film is exceptionally bad when continuity errors are the least of its problems, like the wife’s disappearing babushka. When she goes outside poof! it’s gone! Back inside poof! it’s back!
The highpoint of the movie is the haunting Torgo’s theme. It’s like a pant load of complimentary warm crazy bread for the soul.
Randy
I’m going to say it, and I’m not ashamed to say it; Manos would be an excellent candidate for a remake, with a bit of script rewriting and a little thing called production values. If you look at the barebones plot, it’s actually not all that bad. It has the potential to be far superior to the vast majority of other horror films.
It could be great with a budget and a director with a bit of skill.
Yeah I could see George Clooney and Julia Roberts as the leads, Tom Cruise as Torgo and I’m thinking maybe Daniel Day-Lewis as the Master. Then you get Spielberg to direct and you got yourself a hit.
lessee, 2nd-tier Playboy Bunnies for the harem…..now who we gonna get to be the little girl?
Dakota Fanning, maybe? Also, kind of off-topic, but Sampo, when are we going to see season four’s comments on the episode guide?
>> “A point on the ‘never show Manos to MST newbies’ point: If that was the case, then why was Manos pulled as a standalone DVD and put with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in The Essentials DVD set? After all, putting it in an ‘Essentials’ set implies that this is one you WOULD want to show to newcomers.”
No it doesn’t, it implies that every MSTie would find it essential to own it. Someone who’s never seen the show before won’t find any particular episode essential and if you show them something that painful to watch to start with, as stated by many people here, it turns them off to the show.
i was JUST talking about a manos remake last night!
my casting would be hugh jackman as mike, halle berry as the wife, steve buscemi as torgo and daniel day lewis as the master. not sure about the kid.
i’d have the cops played by robert deniro and joe pesci (in beefed up roles of course). the make out couple as brandon routh and jessica alba.
I call this the one that hurts. But that hurt is in a good way. The fact that it is what it is makes it easy to slam it and make fun of the characters. Torgo is my hero (and by that I mean that he is the best worst character in a motion picture) and I loved that fact that they brought him back. I’ll give it to hal warren that he is an ego filled oily guy. Still I would like to think that if I made an independant film it would be better than that. Still my favorite quote would be crows “crew they did not have a crew” to which joel replies “alright everyone pick someone you want to punch”
fireballil – Yes, definitely Dakota Fanning, mainly because her mere presense on the screen makes be want to slam my hand in a car door and I wouldn’t mind at all if she ended up in a Satanic (or Manos-ic) cult.
I think Torgo the White should have his own HBO mini-series. It would cost around $200 miliion dollars, most of that going to knee and beard maintenance.
Jack Nicholson as Torgo, and Vin Diesel and Ian McKellan as the voices of Torgo’s knees, in an “Odd Couple” pairing, as they constantly bicker and insult each other. Maybe a guest appearance by Flavor Flav as the voice of an as-yet-unheard-of third knee.
The ep I would show to a newbie would be “Tormented”. That was one of the first I had seen, and I was cracking up. Or, maybe a Gamera episode.
Closed?
Sorry, just checking.
I didn’t see this one until Rhino’s second 3-pack, when the ACEG had already built the legend up in my mind so what can I really say?
This movie always makes me nostalgic for that trip my family took out to Yellowstone when I was 9, so I like to watch it every summer.
When I showed Manos to a group of college friends, the 2 female members developed a strong aversion to Torgo, and would demand anyone around them who was doing an impression of him immediately stop, even someone chatting in Torgoish text. So maybe this is only a good newbie ep for guys? I think men recognize the inner strength of Torgo, symbolizing a part of human nature that is ever resilient, even if we’d all just as soon see it crushed. I mean, we’ve all acted like that on occasion, right?
One fav riff I think went unmentioned was when the cop pulls them over: “Alright buddy, yer’ not filmin’ Manos: The Hands of Fate in THIS town…” Actually gets funnier with repeat viewings, and extensive knowledge of the film.
The aforementioned “EverReady/Flashlight” riff is also one of my favorite one-riff-tangents, if that’s actually a concept.
I’ve also always though that the actress who played Debbie would have been the ultimate guest to have scored for one of the conventions. Can’t you just picture her panel, with all those repressed memories coming back into focus? “I remember holding the dog a lot, and, um…there was a man who had something wrong with his pants…”
Oh, and to the guy who mentioned “Conquest”: Only my 4th fav Fulci Film after “City of the Living Dead”, “The Beyond”, and “New York Ripper” (That last one is unbelievably theraputic if you’re having a week that’s making you hate all humanity).
CT should seriously try to get their hands on Conquest. Of all the movies I’ve tried riffing with friends, only Al Adamson’s “Dracula vs. Frankenstein” evoked a better performance, so I’m sure Joel etc. could have enough fun with it. You have to respect Okron’s dog-soldiers as the most competent evil minions in the history of fantasy film.
Sorry ’bout the triple post.
The remake of Manos is in the works, no joke.
According to IMDb, all the female characters’ lines were dubbed by one woman. If that is true, I humbly advance the opinion that that woman is actually a pretty talented voice actor. I think she does a good job of differentiating the various characters.
As for favorite riffs, I’ve narrowed it down to two:
“Wow, I’m really torn: Torgo? .. my wife? … Hmmm…”
and “Ambiguity is scary!”
So much has already been said about this ep, what can I add? Let’s see…
It is my #1 favorite. Saw it on video after returning from living abroad (I missed almost the entire show’s run) and had no idea of its popularity the first time I watched it. True greatness from “Hired” to the eyebrow raising stinger.
Maybe there is a reason I love this one so much beyond the laugh factor and, yes, this time it may just have something to do with the movie.
Anyone like me who is old enough to have grown up watching the late late creature feature midnight picture show will probably remember a time when they came across something like Manos. I mean, waited up all night expectantly for a Universal classic and instead got something so off-kilter, so bad, so dismal in its prodution values, logic, and intelligence that it fairly freaked you out. Bad horror films struck me as nightmarishly surreal as a kid. So surreal that when I look at the actual surrealists (Hello Dali, Man Wray, that kind of thing) they don’t even compare. The Larry Buchanans and fertilizer salesman of the world are the true surrealists.
I wish I could have seen Manos as a kid. That’s how weird I am. I would have loved it.
A+
The Bolem,
“I’ve also always though that the actress who played Debbie would have been the ultimate guest to have scored for one of the conventions. Can’t you just picture her panel, with all those repressed memories coming back into focus? “I remember holding the dog a lot, and, um…there was a man who had something wrong with his pants…””
There’s no need to imagine it:
http://jophan.org/mimosa/m30/brandt.htm
Ok, I know this topic is dead but I have had my two cents rolling around since this post first came up and didn’t have the guts to express them until now:
This was my first Joel/host and Trace/Crow episode, and after all the hype I had heard about Manos I really was not impressed.
It was hard to get used to Joel’s dry, stoner-esque humor versus Mike’s more casual, observational approach to hosting/riffing.
I personally have never had an inclination to bite the head off of a chocolate bunny, and so I thought that the Mads’ invention felt a little forced. I thought it was a bit awkward how J&TB didn’t express any real animosity toward the movie until the first host segment after the movie began, where all of a sudden the bots are crying and quoting Bill Paxton from “Aliens”. Maybe that would of come off better had they moped more during the movie itself.
Also, like a few others have said here, this movie just isn’t all that bad. It does have a (horribly slow, but followable) plot. Also, I don’t see the stride offense in making Debbie one of Manos’ brides. That opens up another problem I have with the Joel era- every time a man strikes a woman, the three boo the movie. Was this a remnant of the arch-politically-correct climate of the late 80′s and early 90′s? That’s how it feels to me.
A final point- Let me reiterate that this movie just isn’t that bad compared to the other tripe (can you say, “Mighty Jack”?) they’ve withstood. Seriously, if Salvador Dali had made this exact movie in the 1930′s (which he basically did), it would be required viewing for freshmen film students, and the pretentious coffee house crowd would endlessly discuss its finer nuances.
I have since fallen in love with the Joel era (it’s only fair since he came up with this fantastic show) but stand by my contention that this is by no means the worst movie they had seen up to this point.
There. I said it. I’d say it again if I had to…
I have to say this…while the riffing is good I don’t really consider this my all time favorite Mystery Science theater 3000 episode. In fact I officially dub this THE worst movie they ever did; it’s worse than ‘Monster A Go-Go’ and ‘Creeping Terror’.
It’s only famous cause of it’s sheer awfullness.
I actualy watched this movie on youtube’
It was a car accident.I couldnt look away.This is the episode everyoe hates to love.We may gripe and complain,but we all love this episode.The ending,with little girl as a wife,while icky,doesnt bother me.I never take any thing in any movie mst3k riffs seriously.I remember just being speechless after watching this,and very very tired.It was just so…
And am i the only one who is freaked out by the master?
I like mike as torgo,if they make a remake mike should definitely be torgo
Fav riff-I love when tom is doing the ongoing monlogue at the end,all the jokes about the little dog”The torgo townswomen guild presents the battle of pearl harbor”and whever they get creeped out by togo.The ohotograph riff is good too
Im not to keen on the short.i dont know why,im just not.and ive enver been to an mstie party so you might be weird hehe.
This is not a movie i’d show a newbie.Maybe the second movie,and maybe the first,but id probably show them a sword and sandal movie first.
Manos i think took five years off my life lol
John 3:16
Hahaha I love how the short has one of the dirtiest riffs in all of MST history. I think there’s a couple dirtier, but not many!
“… one of the first things Harry drilled into me…” Crow: “Was ‘Harry’!”
Also during the short, the greasy manager says he wants the guy to come back year after year, and that he hopes he buys his “next ten cars” from them. Did people back then really buy cars like that? What’d they do, just throw them in the trash when they got some dirt on them?
Favorite riffs? I enjoy the “Laziest man on mars” remark, and the way Crow yells “Freddy Mercury!” when the window opens to show the Master peering in just gets me every time.
There also another Fawlty Towers reference, as the Master yells ‘Kill! Kill!’ Tom says: “Yes dear, I’m doing it dear!”
Oh and something to note – the clank during the guillotine scene was indeed the scroll hitting the ground. First, it’s made of wood dowels. Second, you can actually just barely see it (or the shadow of it) bouncing off the ground and rolling just barely off camera.
And about the film: I was a little surprised nobody said anything about the infamous ‘clapboard’ part (seen just before Tom remarks “good thing they have a roll bar” about the make-out couple).
Kevin Murphy once said they’d see worse movies than “Manos”. If so I’m glad they never riffed those, because anything worse than Manos is truly, truly awful.
This one’s one of my all-time favorites and I enjoy watching it now, but the first time I saw this (a taped copy from a friend) it took me an entire afternoon to watch it. I had to stop after 20 minutes and just take a break for a few minutes. My wife found she had to do the same thing when I convinced her that to be a full-fledged MSTie she had to watch “Manos”.
This is a tough one the first time around. Joel and the bots get some great mileage out of this, especially with Torgo, and it is genuinely funny after watching it again a second and third time, but man oh man it’s a tough slog the first time around. When even the Mads end up apologizing for this movie you know it’s rough!
I don’t ever show this one first to someone I want to become a fan of the show. I usually wait until they’ve seen several episodes and even then I forewarn them.
This is hands-down the worst movie they ever did. The fact it’s a classic is a tribute to the Brains comic efforts. A helluva finish to one of the best seasons of the show.
Okay, I’m really late on this, I know.
This was my first MST3k episode. I’ve shown it to a lot of people as their first, and those people have been showing it to other people as their first, and not once have I seen a reaction other than “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen”.
It works a lot better if you know about the show in advance, and if you’re showing it to other people who’ve never heard of MST3k, you have to explain the premise of the show, else they’ll focus more on the movie itself.
I don’t think it’s the worst movie they ever did. It’s definitely down there, but it’s not the worst. I’d say Hobgoblins is the worst. I’ve watched it a few times and I still can’t get through it in one sitting.
And, to follow a trend: Favorite riffs.
From Hired:
“We’re gonna have leadership the way my old man told me! You, put a handkerchief on your head! You, swat at imaginary elves! You, rock on the porch all night!”
“And never forget…” “I love you!”
From Manos:
The POV driving:
“You are the driver. What would you do if this happened to you?”
“Gotta keep an eye on my widow’s peak in the mirror, there.”
The scenes with the cops:
“Cover me, Ron!”
“Think we should try some of that kissin’, Bert?”
I would dub this the Rocky Horror Picture Show of MST3K. It’s so universally recognized as the quintessential episode, you could stage parties around it complete with props. A kit bag should include a napkin for a hankie (the dad in the short), the same prop for the disappearing babushka scenes, and some dog poop to throw at your friends who will appreciate the break from watching MANOS: the Hands of Fate! (trailing sobs).
Randy
Love Tom’s reference to “Smoke On The Water.” Still one of my favorite songs.
As for you, Warren, I just have three words to say to you, “YOU SICK PIG!!!”
Sorry, I didn’t mean to lash out. Now on with the rest of my fellow Misties comments.
Good bad movie…Mangoes the cans of fruit.
I like manos in small doses…
A more vile movie is the John Cassavetes movie from the mid 1980′s called “The Incubus” where he is a doctor/detective. Creepy vile.
Favorite scene in The Incubus : John Cassavetes visits the dying girl who has been brutally raped by the incubus and says “Hang in there tough guy”. This may be cut from some prints … was there in the theatrical release.
I lost it….