Legendarily horrible film "MANOS" gets its own iOS game
There are few movies that are as bad as the 1966 horror film MANOS: The Hands of Fate, which sits very near the bottom of IMDB's ratings list. I can think of a few almost as bad, like Robot Monster (guy in gorilla suit wearing a space helmet), Hercules Against the Moon Men (science-fiction and Greek myth combining the worst elements of both), and maybe Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Martians kidnap Santa so Mars kids can have Christmas).
Certainly, though, MANOS is a stunner. Without going too deeply into the plot, it's about a vacationing family who happen upon a cult in the Texas desert. The film was shot in less than 3 months for $19,000 and directed by an insurance salesman. The handheld camera being used could only shoot in 32 second spurts, so the editing is, shall we say, a bit choppy. Chunks of plot are unconnected, the night shots are plagued with moths, and one character (Torgo) may be a satyr.
MANOS would have probably remained unknown and unmourned except for the thorough mocking it received as the source film for an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. After Joel and the bots suffered through the screening, both Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank admitted that this experiment was too horrible even for their evil scheming ways. After that, MANOS reemerged as a cult "classic" despite its near-unwatchability.
If you can't get enough MANOS, then you're in luck; there's a shiny new iPhone game based on the film. Mashable notes today that the game is coming to your iOS device from FreakZone games in the UK. It's built in the style of an old NES 8-bit side scroller, and it will be unleashed July 26.
Apparently the game is not completely pure MANOS; there are bits and monsters thrown in from other bad movies, and the soundtrack is made of themes from MANOS. If the game does well, you guessed it, more bad movies will be used for sequels.
If you're a MANOS: Hands of Fate cultie, or even if you're not, the game should be worth a few plays. If you haven't seen the actual movie, frankly, I advise caution. If you really need to see this bomb and have some fun, MANOS will be screening nationwide via satellite in August as a special one-night event with live commentary from the RiffTrax (ex-MST3K cast) guys.
The game trailer is below. Beware the Master!
