First of all yep, I'm still alive and apologize for the lack of updates and being flaky with email (long, mostly uninteresting story about a downed PC, lack of internet access, legal threats and other personal dramas). But something just came to my attention that I feel the need to pass along...
Generally cited as one of the very worst movies of all time, the 1966 trashterpiece "Manos: The Hands of Fate" quickly fell into obscurity but was resurrected and has since gained notoriety through airings on MST3K. It's notable for kicking off the celluloid satanist motif before "Rosemary's Baby" and the myriad of subsequent '70s drive-in devil-worshiper flicks ("The Devil's Rain," "Brotherhood of Satan," "Warlock Moon," etc.) but it has all the charm and production values of an Ed Wood film.
I'd seen the movie before and too thought it was horrible but, after watching the "Mistress-Piece Theatre" episode of the short-lived "Elvira's Movie Macabre" revival earlier this year, I came to the realization that it's a very interesting, weird, surreal piece of '60s indie, no-budget filmmaking in which practically everything was done wrong -- though the few things they did right were really right, which makes it kind of memorable and special. Plus it has a bizarre soundtrack/score that has a way of getting under your skin. And to boot, countless behind the scenes legends are now fact, thanks to interviews and lengthy exposition on Wikipedia and imdb. Easy to see why it's become a cult movie, and it's doubtlessly one that benefits from the right sort of audience and abundant intoxicants. So thank you, Elvira, for changing my opinion. And thank you for not suing me over my share of your "Attack of the Killer B-Movies" TV-special (please?).
Public domain DVD screen-capUnfortunately, the only circulating prints of "Manos" are what one would expect of a public domain film: The colors are so muted that they're murky. The picture's dirty and scratched up. Shot on 16mm, edited on 16mm, blown up to 35mm, transferred to VHS, and finally to DVD (then digitized again on The Internet Archive), details are difficult to discern through this multi-generation visual bastardization (the only visible feature on the black poodle are the whites of its eyes and its wagging tongue!). The picture has been oddly cropped, cutting out many production details and nuances (such as people's heads and feet!). The original opening has been lopped off from every version available. All in all, this is a movie that has not been treated well, and known existing 35mm copies have reddened with age and deteriorated even more than the widely available versions.
Workprint negative scan with cropping comparisonRecently cameraman Ben Solovey decided to resume his hobby of collecting 16mm films and found an eBay auction that had no bidders. Next thing he knew, he discovered he had inexplicably bought the original 16mm workprint of "Manos." The picture is sharp, the colors are bright and vivid, and it's seen in its proper framing for the very first time.
Now Solovey's spearheading an ambitious attempt to both restore the film and preserve it for future generations and he's looking for donations, which will be collected in February. Although he's already exceeded the bare minimal goal of $10,000 for the restoration, all additional money is being sunk into the project for other things, including the creation of documentaries, audio commentaries by surviving cast members and a 2K to 35mm film-out preservation negative, which will enable the striking of new 35mm prints. The tentative release of this new version is August 2012.
I'm the first to admit "Manos" is a bad movie, but it's one that's so spectacularly bad that it's downright endearing. And for whatever it's worth, Quintin Tarrantino has cited it as his favorite "comedy." While it might not reach the importance of something like, say Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," it's still important to see that it's restored and preserved while it's still possible in order to retain the highest quality. And the fact that the film has fallen into the hands of a private collector who's trying to make that happen makes it especially unique and noteworthy.
A lot people who visit this blog are here cuz I cover culty films, so you should know that movies like "Manos" have a tendency to only be available in low quality, having been neglected and/or lost for decades by uncaring studios. The reason more movies don't undergo a proper restorations is because it's ridiculously expensive to have it done right. Whether you like the film or not, here's a chance to help ensure one less movie is forever only seen in a substandard format.
