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{"id":403,"date":"2015-03-11T15:24:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T21:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?p=403"},"modified":"2015-03-11T15:24:29","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T21:24:29","slug":"manos-something-really-awful-this-way-comes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/03\/manos-something-really-awful-this-way-comes\/","title":{"rendered":"Manos: Something Really Awful This Way Comes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"manos\"$ <\/a>I\u2019m in the business of watching movies. And if there\u2019s anything I like more than a good movie, it\u2019s a bad movie.<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not talking about bad as in \u201csalacious and problematic\u201d bad. I\u2019m just talking bad<\/em>. As a kid, my best friend and I would rent schlocky horror movies and make fun of them all the way through. And when that proved to be too much work, my sister introduced me to Mystery Science Theater 3000<\/em>, cementing a certain affinity for cringe-worthy cinema. If I was to spend the rest of my life on a desert island with just one movie to watch (using, presumably, the desert island\u2019s rudimentary entertainment system), I\u2019d be far more likely to take Plan 9 From Outer Space<\/em> than, say, Birdman<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So I was pretty excited when I learned that fellow Colorado blogger Philip J. Reed was partnering with a Denver-area theater to bring Manos: The Hands of Fate<\/em> to the big screen again. It\u2019ll play at AMC Highlands Ranch 24 on April 2, assuming enough folks show interest.<\/p>\n

A quick primer: Manos<\/em> was released in 1966 and watched, I\u2019m assuming, by about four people during its theatrical run (mercifully sequestered to one theater in El Paso, Texas, and a handful of Southwest drive-ins). The entire movie (according to the never-wrong archives at Wikipedia) was the result of a bet its producer\/director\/writer\/star Harold P. Warren made with a stranger in an El Paso coffee shop one day, and he started scrawling out a script right on a coffee shop napkin. The movie was made for $19,000, and in watching it, you wonder how it cost that much: He promised his unpaid actors a share of the profits and had to race through scenes in order to get his rental equipment back on time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never watched Manos<\/em>, but from what I gather it involves a cult leader and his many cultish wives. And a satyr. And a couple making out in a car for no apparent reason. And while admittedly I\u2019ve never watched the movie, I don\u2019t know if anyone who has could give a better recap.<\/p>\n

It premiered in El Paso Nov. 15, 1966, and a local paper mercifully described it as a \u201cbrave experiment.\u201d It quickly left self-respecting theaters and would likely have been forgotten altogether \u2026 had not the geniuses MST3K<\/em> brought the thing back from the dead (as it were) in 1993. It has since gained a measure of immortality as one of the worst films ever, rivaling even Plan 9.<\/em><\/p>\n

And now, thanks to Reed, Coloradans will have a chance to relish in its legendary badness\u2014remastered, apparently, for our enjoyment.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can learn a lot from a great artist, but when you find something like Manos, which is so completely inept on every level, it\u2019s fascinating,\u201d Reed says. \u201cIt\u2019s a corpse you don\u2019t even need to dissect, because its innards are just spilling out everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"The$ <\/a>Why inflict this film on the good people of Colorado? Reed says it\u2019s all for a great cause. Proceeds will benefit The Trevor Project, which helps prevent suicides amongst gay, lesbian and questioning youth. And while it might seem odd for a guy employed by Focus on the Family to express support for an LGBTQ-centric charity, I don\u2019t see it that way: Whatever we think about homosexuality or gay rights or any related issue, I\u2019d like to think that we can all<\/em> agree\u2014every one of us\u2014that no one should be considering killing themselves over it. (And since I was bullied under the suspicion of being gay when I was a kid, maybe I can relate a little.)<\/p>\n

Given what Reed\u2019s trying to do here, there\u2019s an undercurrent of redemption at work. It\u2019s taking something horrifically flawed and turning it to a better use\u2014just like what God would like to do with each of us. And that\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n

So if you want to catch a really bad movie and happen to be in the Denver area April 2, click here<\/a> and buy a ticket or two to Manos: The Hands of Fate<\/em> (since tickets won\u2019t be available at the door). Then, stop by AMC Highlands Ranch 24 (103 West Centennial Blvd. in Highlands Ranch) at 8:30 p.m. and find yourself a seat. I can\u2019t say you\u2019re in for a treat, exactly\u2014not with Manos<\/em> as the main attraction\u2014but you\u2019ll certainly be in for a memorable experience.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"