# Manos, The Hands of Fate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 10, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595 "2001-11-10T06:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/1 "2001-11-10T06:35:06Z")
Oooooooo, _Horror Incorporated_ on Channel 45 in Minneapolis is playing the original MST3K-free version of _Manos_ on November 17. Should I watch it in its original form? I _have_ been feeling masochistic lately. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/2 "2001-11-10T06:47:36Z")
As of a few months ago Bob, the cameraman, was working in the public relations office at Fort Bliss. He’s a delightful old fellow with a long, beautiful story to tell about that movie. It doesn’t make the film any better. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/3 "2001-11-10T14:05:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bossk \* > \*\*Oooooooo, _Horror Incorporated_ on Channel 45 in Minneapolis is playing the original MST3K-free version of _Manos_ on November 17. > > Should I watch it in its original form? I _have_ been feeling masochistic lately. \*\* What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. Go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/4 "2001-11-10T14:43:31Z")
If you’re interested in the story behind the making of _Manos_, read [this article](http://jophan.org/mimosa/m18/18_p35.html); it’s quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/5 "2001-11-10T15:37:48Z")
I actually bought Manos a few years ago and have seen it several times. There are a few crucial scenes that were cut in the MST3K version that makes the movie much more understandable and gives it more depth and you can see what the director was trying to say. Not really, but since I suffered through it I want everyone else to suffer…DingDangitt. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/6 "2001-11-10T15:38:46Z")
Ah, Manos the Knees of Fate. I think he was supposed to have digitigrade legs or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Maximino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mighty\_Maximino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Maximino)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/7 "2001-11-10T18:48:58Z")
You should tape it, and that way you’ll be able to fast-forward directly to the part with the wrestling negligee women. Oh, and anything with Torgo’s Theme. ---
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/8 "2001-11-10T20:05:01Z")
Anyone know the real story behind the three suicides from the cast? ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/9 "2001-11-10T20:10:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > \*\*If you’re interested in the story behind the making of _Manos_, read [this article](http://jophan.org/mimosa/m18/18_p35.html); it’s quite interesting. \*\* **I post to the thread while the Master is away.** Great link. So Torgo was a satyr? THAT explains the knees. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/10 "2001-11-10T20:46:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bossk \* > \*\*Anyone know the real story behind the three suicides from the cast? \*\* Three? I know of only one, which is referenced in the article I linked to earlier: > [@](#): > > “I heard a rumor on the `net,” I said, “that John [Reynolds, the actor who played Torgo] had committed suicide.” > > “That’s no rumor,” said Bob. “He killed himself about six months after the movie was finished. John was a troubled kid; he didn’t really get along with his dad, who was an Air Force colonel, and he got into experimenting with LSD. It’s a shame, because he was really a talented young actor.” ---
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/11 "2001-11-10T23:27:27Z")
I saw this in another Message Board: > [@](#): > > Hello All, > I was checking out Manos THOF on the IMDB > and was shocked to see that 3 of the cast > members are dead from suicide… > 1.John reynolds (Torgo) > 2.Diane Mahree (Margaret) > 3.Joyce Molleur (girl kissing in car) > This movie really was bad. I can remember looking at IMDB and verifying it a few months back, but now IMDB seems to have taken the second two mentions of suicide down. Only John Reynolds is still listed as a suicide. Maybe the other two were urban legends? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/12 "2001-11-10T23:46:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hardygrrl \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Max Torque \* > > \*\*If you’re interested in the story behind the making of _Manos_, read [this article](http://jophan.org/mimosa/m18/18_p35.html); it’s quite interesting. \*\* > > **I post to the thread while the Master is away.** > > Great link. So Torgo was a satyr? THAT explains the knees. \*\* I KNEW IT! I knew it, I knew it, _I knew it!_ I said that the first time I saw the movie (actually, more like the third… I own the MSTie version) I said, I’ll bet he’s got goat legs under there! I _knew_ it! ---
**Author:** ![saudade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@saudade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saudade)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manos-the-hands-of-fate/92595/13 "2001-11-11T00:39:01Z")
I live in El Paso, Texas…where this classic film was made! Plenty of scenic local landmarks are featured in “Manos”. To give you some background, 1966 was a big year here, we won the NCAA Men’s Basketball championship - triggering a minor riot complete with random bus stop vandalism and public urination…“Manos” was lensed…and “Rainy Day Women” was banned from the radio for “incomprehensible lyrics”. Ahh the memories this brings back (never mind I was born in 1976)! For a long time IMDB gave this movie the lowest rating ever…now some Danish piece of crap bumped into #1. I say we all vote to bring “Manos” back to its former glory! [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0060666](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0060666)