Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Excellent, a Must See

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Literally if you track down the short documentary "Hotel Torgo" and the sci-fi fanzine "Mimosa" which did two articles of interviews with surviving cast and crew, that stuff is more interesting than the actual film, even the new HD version of the final 16mm Ektachrome workprint (because the movie was blown up to full-screen 35mm for theatrical showings) which is sharp and good looking.In short, this film is a spiritual predecessor of all the '70s horror films where a group of teens go out to a place away from society and get killed by a monster or a cult. In "Manos" it's a family (mother, father, small daughter, her poodle) trying to find a hotel called "The Valley Lodge"; they get lost in their black '65 Ford convertable and instead find a smallish house off a dirt road with a caretaker who might be a Satyr who is named Torgo. He is the servant to an undead magician/cult leader called The Master who worships a god named Manos, and his cult are his undead brides, all dressed in goofy white robes. The Master wears a black robe with the outline of red hands and his facial hair makes him resemble Bill Buckner. The "plot" is the family finding out just how crazy the situation is, and trying to get away. Unlike most horror films of the mid-1960s, it has a downbeat ending.Why I gave the film four stars was that they shot it on 16mm home movie cameras, on their own time, and it took SIX MONTHS to make a 60-plus minute film. That's dedication. "Manos" had a shadowy run on the Southern drive-in circuit, joined the raft of B-movies sold to independent UHF TV stations in the 1970s, and would have been utterly obscure had not Frank Conniff of "Mystery Science Theater" not found it. "Manos" is the perfect example of the self-financed, independent regional film (El Paso, Tx.), and should be shown in film schools for how not to make those sorts of pictures.

This, one of the Bottom 3 films of all time, was screened last week in New York, where it likely made more money than in its original theatrical run. I spent about two-thirds of the film's run time shouting " What is this god-damned movie even about? " For its final third, I didn't care what it was about, I just wanted it to end. Seriously, I couldn't even tell you what genre this film could be classified as, nor could I tell you what the plot is about.Apparently, filmed in a matter of days, on a budget of only a few thousand dollars, and screened only a couple of times in El Paso ( where it was filmed ) , and then lost for decades, until its rediscovery by Mystery Science Theatre 3000, this is seriously one of the worst, most excruciatingly boring films ever made. It's barely even mockable, let alone reviewable. The music score consists of competing sax, and ivories being tickled in the most obtuse, out of place fashion, seemingly intended for some other movie, and it's used throughout almost every scene. Most times​ I've heard the title/ lead character's name spoken, it's MAN-os, but in the dialogue in the film, it's pronounced like MAH-nos. However his name is correctly pronounced, I kept waiting for his dog to bite him. No such luck.A middle aged nuclear family ( a grumpy old man in ridiculously over-sized trousers, his whiny, nagging wife, and their young daughter, who serves absolutely no purpose in the plot of film ) are driving in the desert ( for the first nine minutes of this movie ) and lose their way. They babble about the weather, are stopped about a broken taillight by a cop with nothing else to do, who later hassles a young couple kissing in a parked car ( and the visible guy holding the clapperboard ) on the roadside. The female half of this couple is clearly bored, as she repeatedly delivers her lines while looking directly into the camera. Was this nine minutes long scene really necessary in setting up the plot of this movie? The family comes across some type of home, inhabited by Torgo, a 25 years old man in old age make-up ( because that always works so well ) , hobbling around, who repeats almost every line of dialogue twice. After their car won't start, they're stuck in this desert overnight, where slightly weird, but mostly just interminably boring, things happen. Torgo tells them " The Master " is dead, but eventually, a hidden, sort of Satanic-looking room is found, where " The Master " is shown apparently alive after all. He's a John Astin lookalike in black robe with red hands, acting grandiose, in front of a group of women, who do little more than sit around and talk for several scenes, before a catfight erupts. The family from the first half disappears for most of this second half, while the John Astin clone and his six wives do ... stuff, ... possibly killing Torgo, because yeah, sure, of course they do. The kissing couple appear again, at night. It looks like they're parked next to a gas station, judging by the lighting equipment reflected on their car. About an hour in, it's revealed the father from the first half has a gun... ( ! ) He's been armed for this entire time? He shoots ( shoots at? ) The Master, then for some reason, a lesbian couple is introduced in the last scene, and it appears as though the entire plot is starting again, as this pair of girls get lost, with writer/ director/ producer/ star Harold Warren standing in for Torgo. A lame joke in the closing credits reads, " The end? "Yes, it is mercifully the end. " Our sincere thanks to the city & county of El Paso for their cooperation " I bet they just LOVE having their name attached to this one.I then shouted at the screen, " What? " It even has 666 in its url!

The movie is bad, but it has a discernible beginning, a middle, an end and a coherent, if poorly done plot. The characters are shallow, poorly acted and directed, but at least they make some sense as to have a reason to be there within the confines of the plot. Therefore not the worst I have seen (that distinction is reserved for "Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell").As others have said, watch the MST3K version. If this move has overarching lessons it is: (1) admit you are lost and turn back to the place you last knew, where you were and get directions again, (2) if your wife says, "honey, I'm scared and don't like the look of this place", listen to her and turn back around, and (3) if the same two local cops keep busting you for making out with your gal, in you car, do not keep going back to the same place to suck face.

Weird and annoying big-kneed servant to the evil Master. Poor acting from everyone. Vague plot. Makes you wonder why the traveling family doesn't just get out of the house despite the weird stuff and the dead dog. Looks like it was made for $50. Despicable screenplay. Useless police. Dreadful pace. Made on a bet. That should tell you everything. It sucks. Next.