Why So Blu?

Manos: The Hands Of Fate – Special Edition (Blu-ray Review)

MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, the sole directorial effort of Texas fertilizer salesman Harold P. Warren, perplexed even the most jaded Drive-In audiences and was deemed by many “the worst movie ever made”. Nearly lost, the original 16mm Ektachrome film elements have been finally unearthed and lovingly restored by Ben Solovey to create the definitive version of this accidental masterpiece. There’s no other movie like MANOS… now in HD with picture and sound unseen since 1966.  Synapse Films is proud to present Ben Solovey’s Kickstarter 2K restoration of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, now presented for the first time ever on home video in high-definition and loaded with extras!  The film was touted as “The Worst Film Ever Made” by Entertainment Weekly and made infamous by one of the most popular episodes of the legendary show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Film 

Midnight Movie Enjoyment Factor 

Mike and Maggie, on a road trip with their daughter and family dog, take a wrong turn in Texas and become trapped at a weird lodge inhabited by a polygamous pagan cult. They soon find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between caretaker Torgo, cult leader The Master, and two warring factions of the Master’s wives. As the family tries to escape, the worshipers of “Manos” decide their fate…

Like most people, I was first introduced to Manos: The Hands of Fate by being a fan of the classic television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.  It was a legendary episode, at one time being the most popular episode and considered the series’ best.  I don’t know if it still holds that title, but its gotta still be up there.  In that episode, Joel, Tom Servo and Crow were so taken aback by the movie that it not only produced some of the best and all time jokes (Forever quoted and even used in pop culture), but they allllllmost alllllmost gave into Dr. Forrester’s evil scheme and gave up on the movie.  This was probably all for show, but it shows the impact of Manos.  This episode of television was the firs time Manos had resurfaced since its short and local theatrical showings upon release.  If it weren’t for the show, we wouldn’t be here talking about Manos.  Mystery Science Theater 3000 helped elevate the film to cult status, now living in infamy, never to be forgotten again (Hopefully).

This was actually the first time I had seen Manos without the assistance of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast.  I was worried as to how it would fair; that it might be a snoozer of boredom.  I was quite surprised at how well this one works on its own right with its bizarre craziness and room for yourself to add your own individual snark.  My wife was in the room while I watched, and she had never seen the film before, so it was quite the treat to see the faces she made and reactions she had to the many whacky moments in the film.  She’s not quite into the enjoyment of cinematic failures and dumpster fires as I am, but her seeing this was entertaining for me and I’m pretty sure she “got it” once it was all said and done.  For myself, I was happy enough with it this time that I really don’t think the film needs the help of Joel and company any more.  Though, it’d been cool to have the audio from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode as a bonus feature.  But, I also understand that’s a big rights issue that Synapse Films doesn’t have access too (Though if they did, I’m willing to bet they’d add it if they could).

When it comes to the greats of bad movies, the general populace nowadays is probably going to point right to The Room.  Others will make no hesitation proclaiming Troll 2 as the “best worst movie”.  The cool kids will talk about the friendship of Miami Connection.  However, Manos: The Hands of Fate should be in that conversation and holds up with those and excels in some areas they don’t.  Sure, its much older than those three, but I don’t think that should be a factor for any age group in watching it.  As a matter of fact, if you polled “best worst movie” in the 90s, Manos would have probably come up with the same frequency as The Room would now.  This thing is a legendary eff up in cinema history, but that’s the beauty of it.

Video 

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Clarity/Detail:  There are going to be some that don’t “get” it , but this is a hell of a job from Synapse Films on this Blu-ray transfer.  The film will look rough and without incredible to detail to some, but its actually a MASSIVE leap from what it used to look like and very impressive.  The goal was not to make this some clean polished thing, but to get it to the original theatrical film stock presentation from its debut (Which should be the restoration goal of most movies).  There is a lot of film blemishes and damage left in place.  Its also a 16mm shot film, so the higher the resolution (Shouldn’t go further than 2K), the rougher it could look.  The bonus features have provided a “Grindhouse Version” of the film, which people should check out.  Its what it looked like before the restoration.  Flip between that and the main transfer, and you’ll see what a phenomenal job that the restoration kings that are Synapse Films have done.

Depth:  As being a 16mm shot film, its flat.  Background detial is sparse but more present that ever before.  Movement is smooth and cinematic.  There are many out of focus shots in the film as well.

Black Levels:   Blacks get pretty deep and consume some of the detail due to poor lighting in night scenes in the film.  More than ever, follicles of hair, clothing texture and surface texture of black colored items does come through, but still can be lost.

Color Reproduction:  COLOR!  Manos actually has COLOR!  The film actually pops with color now.  Its a real 180 from what the presentation used to be.  Reds, Blues, Greens all pop and look pretty gorgeous.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones appear a little cool and are pretty much that throughout.  In close ups, some facial detail can be made out, but its not very strong in that department.  Its a giant leap forward though.  You can now see wrinkles, light stubble and some blemishes.

Noise/Artifacts: The print of this film features heavy grain, dirt, specs, streaks and some damage to it.  This is fully by intention as the restoration goal was to get the film to its original theatrical presentation.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English 2.0 Mono DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Dynamics:  This is the best Manos has ever sounded.  Its actually very impressive, but you have to know the source or have seen crummy versions of the film to really get to that appreciation.  The score probably makes out the best here as most of the audio in the movie is dubbed.  Effects and vocals both sound very much like their analog source, but its a very good presentation for what they have.

Low Frequency Extension: N/A

Surround Sound Presentation: N/A

Dialogue Reproduction: The audio is all terribly dubbed, that’s in the source.  It retains (as intended) an  little bit of an analog sound to it.  However, its incredibly loud, clear and clean as it ever has been.

Extras 

Audio Commentary

• With Jackey Raye Neyman-Jones and Tom Neyman

Grindhouse Version (HD, 1:09:43) – The unrestored version of the film, so you can see just how trashed this thing looked before the restoration.

Hands: The Fate of “Manos” (HD, 30:46) – An INCREDIBLE look back at the film.  Features some of the surviving cast, crew and some of their relatives that tell the story with personal anecdotes and a lot of groovy detail of making the film.  This is an outstanding little mini retrospective documentary that not only adds to the film, but makes this release a must have for collectors.

Restoring The Hands of Fate (HD, 6:36) – An incredibly detailed and wonderfully educational interview about the process of the scanning and restoring of the film.  The goal was to improve the film to its original editing bench standards, not today’s, leaving source damages in place.

Felt: The Puppet Hands of Fate (HD, 3:58) – An interview with the creator of the puppet show adaptation of the film.  She talks her inspiration, thoughts on the film and the process and difficulty of producing her show.

Summary 

Manos: The Hands of Fate is truly one of the worst films ever made.  It exceedingly lives up to that title.  As much of a disaster this film is, it becomes a fascinating experience to watch this incredibly weird and bizarre film.  Even taking the matter further is learning the story of how this shit storm came to be.  And here, in one Blu-ray you get the full package and experience of that.  This is one of the best Blu-ray, DVD (whatever physical media form) releases of a schlocky cult classic of the “bad movie” form to grace us ever.  The very impressive restoration combined with the perfect set of caring and relevant extras make this a must have for any collector, not just those of the cult collecting variety.