There is nothing a can possibly say to explain or justify the allure of ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate’.
I do not even pass on the opportunity to view it to you as a recommendation, or an internet-borne gift. More like a misguided public service, or a piece of dubious, ill-conceived lifestyle advice that steadfast men & women should rightfully shrug off in favour of spending seventy minutes of their leisure time pursuing some healthy and fulfilling art or craft, unless….
Unless what? – well exactly. That’s why we’re all here, right? That big UNLESS.
Just don’t say I made you watch it.
What you definitely SHOULD do however is read Keith’s review of ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate’ on Teleport City. Not merely because it sets out everything you need to know about this particular night-haunted cultural artefact, but also because it is one of the wisest, funniest, most engaging pieces of writing I’ve come across in a long while, with the final section getting straight to the heart of the strange motivations that drive fans of.. this sort of thing… ever onward in such an inspiring fashion it makes me feel like pledging allegiance, so deeply do I recognise and agree with his conclusions.
And so, with those shining words thoroughly absorbed, your loins girded with the appropriate background and context, it might – might – be time to begin.
Oh, and I should probably point out for the benefit of those whose first exposure to the film comes via the rather wonderful newspaper ad reproduced above that ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate’ isn’t really about “a cult of weird, horrible people who gather beautiful women and deface them with a burning hand”. Or at least, I don’t think it is. I suppose it might be. So flimsy is any sense of narrative, motivation or explanation within ‘Manos’, it’s difficult to tell. There are certainly some weird people, who might well be horrible. There are some women, although their beauty is something of a moot-point. At one point there is indeed a burning hand. But quite what the connection between the three elements really is, as with every other aspect of this eerie mirror of our own perpetually uncertain ‘reality’, remains gloriously unknowable.
‘Manos: The Hands Of Fate’ is available on Youtube, split into seven ten minute sections, beginning here:
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