ThE MasTeR SaYs YoU Can'T sTaY HeRE

February 13, 2014 5:18 PM

Manos:The Hands of Fate - The Stage Play

Warning: No MST3K style riffing - just the movie.

posted by wittgenstein (11 comments total)

You can't kill me! I quit!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:30 PM on February 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Did I tell you about my 5 year plan?
posted by vrakatar at 5:36 PM on February 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ah, good to see this again. It really is a great production. The "Torgo flirts" scene is a highlight.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:47 PM on February 13, 2014

Is there a misspelling here? Surely Mandos is the Hand of Fate?

Although he may be slightly less amusing than these guys.
posted by Jakey at 6:00 PM on February 13, 2014

Another hilarious variation was a production I saw at a Bumbershoot festival: Manos, the Hands of Felt.

I'll leave it to you to figure it out…
posted by WaylandSmith at 6:39 PM on February 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

Cambot! You forgot to turn off the bluescreen! How am I supposed to comment when you're still sho-- showing scenes fr-- from MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE! BWAAAA-waa-waaaaa!

Surely Mandos is the Hand of Fate?

Oh no. It is not a misspelling. Those of us who have been subjected to Manos do not soon forget it.

MANOS (WARNING: TREAT WITH CARE, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR HUMAN BEINGS, 1D10/1D100 SAN LOSS)
posted by JHarris at 7:38 PM on February 13, 2014 [3 favorites]

I don't think I've ever shared this story here before. I first saw Manos because my mom rented it from Blockbuster. I was probably 15 or 16, and I asked my mom to pick up an MST3K episode for me and my friends while she was there. She brought back this particular episode, and when I got the box, it read, "Manos, the Hands of Fat". Before I even popped the tape in, I kept trying to think of what Hands of Fat would look like.

I was disappointed and yet, not. Side note, my mom caught the "Your Jamaican Wings are ready" in passing and thought it was the funniest thing ever. She made my dad and brother watch the whole thing.

You know, there are certain flaws in this movie...
posted by gc at 8:02 PM on February 13, 2014

What a small world -- I was just reading through the film's Wikipedia entry and under the "Obscurity" section, it mentions Bob Guidry & Pat Ellis Taylor, the parents of a good friend who played in several bands with me during the 80's. Apparently, Taylor was responsible for the lead that led to the film's re-discovery & eventual appearance on MST3K. Taylor, her husband, a poet, & their 3 kids lived in the basement of Paperbacks Plus in Austin at 4th & Lavaca in the early 80's (now Lavaca St. Bar) & we used to practice down there. There were a lot of books in that basement. She was a pretty amazing woman and a solid writer who won a Dobie fellowship about that time. Her book Border Healing Woman is worth a read.

I had no idea she'd been involved in the re-unearthing of a print of the film. El Paso sure turns out some interesting people.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:59 PM on February 13, 2014 [1 favorite]

There was a great Portland band in the 90s called Manos.
posted by Brocktoon at 9:53 PM on February 13, 2014

And the Spinanes from Olympia put out an album called "Manos," too.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:03 AM on February 14, 2014

Oh, that's right, thanks entro, I was confused. It was the Spinanes, and the allbum was Manos.
posted by Brocktoon at 7:19 AM on February 14, 2014