Trivia
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Spoilers (1)
The scenes featuring two teenagers who are hassled by the cops while necking in their car were added because actress Joyce Molleur broke her leg during filming, and was unable to perform her original role.
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The entire film was shot with a hand-held camera that could only record 32 seconds of film at a time. It was also shot without sound; all the lines were dubbed later by two men and one woman. Jackey Neyman cried when she first heard her dubbed voice.
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The Master's "Lodge of Sins" was the ranch of then-El Paso County Judge Colbert Coldwell.
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People attending the premiere at The Capri Theater in El Paso paid $0.35 (Children) $1.25/$1.00 (Adults/with a discount card).
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The majority of the cast (and crew) never appeared in another movie. Property painter Stephane Goulet worked on the avant-garde short Wavelength, and first IMAX film Tiger Child.
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As filming dragged on and on, the increasingly disgruntled crew began to refer to the movie as "Mangos: The Cans of Fruit".
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Tom Neyman's daughter, Jackey Neyman played Debbie. His wife, Jacqueline Neyman, made the Master and wives' costumes. Their dog played the demon dog.
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Lighting was limited for the film, which explains the infamous scene in which two cops literally take two steps to investigate, then turn back.
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The snake Michael shoots looks a lot better than the rest of the film because it was stock footage lifted from a Disney nature documentary. It's also why the snake is on purple carpet.
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The only cast members who were paid for their performances were Jackey Neyman, who got a bicycle, and the Doberman, which got a bag of dog food. The rest of the cast was supposed to receive a cut of the movie's profits, which never materialized. Director Harold P. Warren also gave the crew shares, instead of a salary.
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Tom Neyman, who plays the master, also helped John Reynolds make Torgo's knees and he painted the portrait of the master and his dog.
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Director Harold P. Warren later approached cinematographer Robert Guidry with another script, this one called "Wild Desert Bikers". Guidry declined.
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Writer/director/producer/actor Harold P. Warren was an insurance salesman (later a fertilizer salesman) from El Paso. He made a bet with visiting location scout Stirling Silliphant (later an award-winning screenwriter) that he could make a popular horror film on an extremely minimal budget.
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The city of El Paso was so involved that director Harold P. Warren sent free tickets to the mayor, the aldermen, and the local press.
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One day, to mock Harold P. Warren's prima donna attitude to directing, Bernie Rosenblum impersonated Erich von Stroheim, wearing a safari suit and barking out orders.
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Harold P. Warren once stated that he left Torgo's fate vague on purpose. If the film was a hit, the sequel was to involve Torgo's return. The sequel was never written.
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The endless driving sequences at the beginning were supposed to have the opening credits over them.
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"Manos" is Spanish for "hands". Translated, the title is "Hands: The Hands of Fate". The Master's outfit has two red hands on it and Torgo's walking stick has a hand on top of it.
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Harold P. Warren only did two takes of each shot. If things didn't go well, he reassured the novice cast that the magic of Hollywood would fix any errors in post-production.
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The film had a gala premiere in El Paso. Many local dignitaries attended. Members of the audience began heckling the film during the premiere. Many of the film's cast and crew sneaked out of the theater before the film ended, to avoid having to admit being part of it.
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Cast and crew recall that John Reynolds was on LSD during filming, explaining his confused behavior and incessant twitching in virtually all of his scenes.
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Despite the film's negative reception, Harold P. Warren was so proud of it that he began wearing the Master's robe every Halloween. After he died in 1985, his son Joe has carried on the tradition.
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In 2011, Benjamin Solovey found the work print, made from the original 16mm reversal stock. It was in pristine condition. Solovey is restoring the material for a potential Blu-ray release in the near future.
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Despite the film's failure in quite everything, Warren managed to win his bet with Silliphant, as he was able to make an entire film on his own.
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Spoilers
After the premiere in El Paso, a middle-aged woman attacked Harold P. Warren with her purse. She was upset that Debbie, the little girl, became one of the master's wives at the end.
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