Manos: The Hands of Fate/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Awesome Music: Forgetting you
  • Non Sequitur Scene: The very first scene with the black-and-white people and cars.
    • The entire subplot of the couple who keep getting harassed by the cops as they make out, which never comes close to having a point. It was put it purely to appease the actress, who was going to play one of the Master's wives until she broke her leg.
  • Crazy Awesome - It's hard not to like Torgo.
  • Cult Classic
  • Designated Hero - Mike, who makes the disabled man carry their luggage in by himself after forcing him to let them stay the night at his house, and then has the nerve to complain about the state of living. Later, he orders Torgo to put the luggage back in car, "quickly" this time. There's also his stubborn indifference toward his wife's pleas to leave Hotel Manos, even after danger is made unarguably apparent.
  • Ear Worm - The only truly disturbing thing about this movie except maybe the ending is how thoroughly the haunting '"Torgo's Theme'" gets stuck in your head.
    • The ending theme "Forgetting You" (sung by the actress who played Margaret) is surprisingly catchy.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse - Torgo
  • Harsher in Hindsight: According to some sources, John Reynolds (Torgo) permanently damaged his legs with the satyr prosthetics, and became addicted to painkillers until his suicide.

Joel: He went on to become Torgo at Disney World.

  • Hilarious in Hindsight: One reviewer suggests that the film be repackaged or dubbed into becoming a "foreign art film". Warren himself is said to have remarked that it would make a great comedy if dubbed.
  • Memetic Mutation - evErYtHinG ToRgo saYS
  • Narm - Everything. As such, it works better as a comedy than a horror film; in fact, Quentin Tarantino has said that this is one of his favorite comedies of all time.
  • Nausea Fuel: Debbie shown as one of the Master's wives.
  • Nightmare Fuel - The "haunting" Torgo theme really is extremely sinister sounding...
  • Padding: Anyone who loves long driving shots and a subplot about a passionate young couple that comes from nowhere and goes nowhere will love this film.
  • Snark Bait: Its popularity is a clear case of this. (it usually ranks high among the worst movies featured in the show)
  • Special Effect Failure - Torgo's knees, caused by the actor wearing them backwards. He was nebulously intended to be a satyr.
  • Squick, specificially pedophilia and Torgo's creepy attempts to hit on Margaret.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot - Manos could have been really disturbing, if you look at the core plot or the idea behind them. You're lost in the desert, and the only person willing to take you and your family for the night is twitchy yet well-meaning, except when he randomly begs you to leave. It gets worse from there...
  • Unfortunate Implications: Debbie became one of The Master's wives?
  • The Woobie - Due to his speech problems, hobbling gait, and the way Michael and The Master treat him like crap, Torgo manages to fall into this.
    • Also his actor John Reynolds, whose mental health was seriously compromised by the time he made the film due to an abusive father and getting hooked on a bunch of drugs (the real reason for his infamously twitchy performance). Plus, those huge knees are actually due to him incorrectly wearing the rig that would make his knees look like they bent backwards, which caused terrible pain. He killed himself shortly after the film was finished, but certainly not due to his shame over it as is often joked about.

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