"Mystery Science Theater 3000" 'Manos' the Hands of Fate (1993)

User Rating:

9.4/10   

Director:

Joel Hodgson

Writers:

Joel Hodgson (creator)
Michael J. Nelson (head writer) (1989-1999) ...

TV Series:

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988)

Original Air Date:

30 January 1993 (Season 5, Episode 24)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Madman | Directed By Star | Torgo | Robot | Mad Scientist

Cast

Joel Hodgson	...	Joel Robinson
Trace Beaulieu	...	Crow T. Robot / Dr. Clayton Forrester
Kevin Murphy	...	Tom Servo
Jim Mallon	...	Gypsy
Frank Conniff	...	TV's Frank
Michael J. Nelson	...	Torgo
Mary Jo Pehl	...	Magic Voice

Filming Locations:

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA

Trivia:

The character of Torgo would become a recurring character on the series, always accompanied by the weird Torgo theme music. Head writer and later host of MST3K Michael J. Nelson played Torgo on the show.

Quotes:

The Master: If you persist in this foolishness...
Tom Servo: I'll take your credit cards

Movie Connections:

References Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

These hands will touch you in ways you cannot imagine (evil laugh)

This was the first MST3K episode I ever got the chance of seeing and I got hooked right away. Joel and the 'bots' laid-back sense of humour instantly struck a chord with me and having seen numerous (although certainly not the majority ) of the wicked show's episodes, I have to say that 'Manos' reigns above them all. This is unparalleled brilliance. Not only is this the funniest episode they ever put on air, it is absolutely essential viewing for any bad-movie-buff out there because of the subject of the team's ridicule: 'Manos' the Hands of Fate. The only movie ever made by a fertilizer salesman in the sixties. Well, the only one to have survived, anyway; god knows how many movies circulate out there of the "lost-family-runs-into-a-bunch-of-freaks-led-by-a-pedophilic- Frank-Zappa-look-a-like-and-a-guy-who-could-have-been- your-creepy-high-school-carpentry-teacher-shot- on-no-budget-with-a-filthy-camcorder-that-could- only-record-up-to-30-seconds- of-film-at-a-time" subgenre. I shudder at the thought.

Joel, Tom and Crow really seem to be enjoying themselves with this one (ok, maybe "enjoying" is the wrong word, more like "torturing") and the cast members (Hodgson, Beaulieu, Murphy, Mallon) are charming and hilarious. You really feel their pain being subjected to this film by Dr. Forrester, the goofy but incredibly evil scientist and his hapless sidekick, TV's Frank. The fact that the film is the worst ever made and the worst that could ever have been made is painfully obvious throughout, but the inclusion of a guy in a red jumpsuit and his two robot puppets making snide comments ("You know, this is the slowest carchase I've ever seen") somehow not only makes 'Manos' endurable, but watchable even on repeated viewings! (yes, I admit it, I'm a masochist. There, now you happy?!)

It's genius. It's masochistic. It's torturous. And it's hilarious.

It's the best episode that Mystery Science Theater 3000 ever did.

"Frankly, Joel, you blush in the most adorable way." Just see it!