By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The MST3K/RiffTrax favorite will be celebrated on the anniversary of its premiere.
Dumb Industries has announced that it has designated next Wednesday, November 15 as the first-ever “MANOS Day,” in honor of the 57th anniversary of the 1966 premiere of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE at El Paso, TX’s now-defunct Capri Theater. After its less-than-sparkling reception, the movie faded into obscurity, only to find a new audience decades later thanks to its appearance on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, and later in a RiffTrax live event. Written, produced and directed by Harold P. Warren and telling of a vacationing family threatened by a cult leader called “The Master” and his weird caretaker Torgo in the wilds of Texas, became “appreciated” for its many technical deficiencies and surreally incoherent qualities. Now it will receive a 24-hour livestream tribute on Dumb Industries’ Twitch channel (see details below), along with merch offerings and more.
Jackey Neyman Jones, who co-starred alongside her father Tom Neyman in MANOS and has helped keep the fan flames burning for the movie over the years, is collaborating with Dumb Industries on MANOS Day. “MANOS created a global, diverse, loving and deeply creative fan base who continues to uphold its claim to fame, as any self-respecting cult following would,” Jones says. “The public domain status of the film makes possible the variety of MANOS-related projects developed independently by the fans over the years, creating a series of rabbit holes that is now known as ‘The Manosverse.’ ”
“MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE is one of those rare gems of a B-movie that only gets more fascinating with time,” says Dumb Industries owner Chris Gersbeck. “A huge part of that is owed to Jackey Neyman Jones’ dedication to keeping Manos fandom alive. Dumb Industries has been so honored to collaborate with Jackey on her regular on-line art classes, her paintings, an entire clothing line of MANOS-related apparel, and the upcoming audiobook version of [her memoir] GROWING UP WITH ‘MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE’.”
For more information on MANOS Day, click here.
