Hotel Torgo [2004] [Documentary] 

+Pie Factory Yes, I even got a note from Jackie about something I'd written up on YT about this - (it wasn't anything bad that I wrote). Anyway, she mentioned her dad was Tom Neyman ("the guy who played 'the master'") and so on. I can see how it has become a "cult movie"- I guess because Mystery Theater featured it on their show and lampooned it, so they audience of MST3K got to also see it through Joel & the robots eyes and laugh w/them as the goofed on the movie. In fact, the character, Torgo (the role played by the sad, unfortunate John Reynolds), turned out to be so popular on MST3K, that Mike Nelson, head writer & Joel's replacement as the host, up on the "Satellite of Love", would also appear as various other guest characters on the show & after they showed Manos (even on the ep.they showed it on, Mike took on the role of dressing up like and doing a damn good impression of "Torgo"-he had the cadence of his speech and Torgo's voice down well, and he had the funny walk down pat too! Lots of gags were done using Mike as Torgo doing various things -like, playing, as Torgo, a pizza delivery guy! Anyway, MST3K was my 1st exposure to Manos and, well, I don't know about "worst movie EVER" - I mean, that's a subjective statement. An opinion at best. There's no empirical way to say, as a fact, that any movie is the "worst movie ever"...well, so, it's turned into now, that I like watching Manos on MST3K a lot - I'll watch it now and then -don't want to see it too much and get tired of it, but like to see it every so often.. Other ones I dig in that way include Monster a-Go-Go, which is so cheesy it's funny! And, The Creeping Terror, which is really SO bad, - I mean -come on! You think Manos was the worst film ever made- watch The Creeping Terror -about this "alien" who somehow comes back aboard a capsule the US had sent into space -an alien that's like a big shag rug, standing up straight and sort of inching along & when it eats people, the people being eaten look like they actually helping out by climbing into its "mouth"!! What a riot! These are all out-of-sight bad flicks that get a good goofin' on, by the MST3K guys.

Well, much more is known about it because of MST3K.

she creates/sells a lot of really great merch and memorabilia to fund the preservation of manos. i bought a replica of the robe, one of her paintings, and a copy of her memoir and got a nice handwritten note essentially thanking me for being a fan to boot.

@@bg5469 Wow, nice!

I like the music! It’s the best thing about this infamous movie.

definitely. wish it was more so available. hard to track down

The music--especially the female vocalist--is phenomenal, given what they had to work with. Like so much of this movie, the creative impulse and talent behind the stiffness and cliches so transcend the medium that this grotesque filmic effort draws a grudging respect from the viewer.

I love the music too, and it's available on Spotify if you search for it. It has dialogue in it, and seems mostly to have been ripped from the movie, though.

They likely didn't make it themselves. Likely just bought it somewhere

Translated, Hands the Hands of Fate

Like everything else on this movie the soundtrack was done on the cheap with one guy doing it all. It's in one doc but I'm too lazy to look it up. 🤓😎✌🏻

"The master wouldn't approve"...."Well, the master won't mind"....

it will be dark soon

“What is this, Final Jeopardy?”

That is a darn shame. :( I saw a RU-vidr visit the remains of the house, along with the "tomb," which was still intact. If I was there, I would have been tempted to take some of the bricks that were still laying around.

@@Bullitt3401 Me too, now the whole area is developed now, the last remains of the lodge are now gone and Old Heuco Tanks Road is now paved and has street lights. It hadn't been touched in 50 years since Manos the Hands of Fate debuted in 1966, the road had always been a dirt road, the area started being developed in 2018 and in late January of 2019 the last remains of the lodge were no more.

How the hell did that happen?! The lodge was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere and completely abandoned in 2004 as we can see, was it partiers or hobos being reckless? It looked half abandoned in 1966, I'm surprised it lasted up to 2005 but now it's completely gone.

@@maxbrandt6 I'm thinking the same thing and the fire took the roof and the heat from the fire had weakened the stone and clay and it just crumbled.

​@maxbrandt6 Developers probably had designs on the area, even before the fire. I suspect it was arson. And as someone else said, the house already looked like it was in bad condition even back in 1966. It's amazing it lasted as long as it did.

To each my own.

+Donald Thompson Tom Neyman passed away on November 12, 2016. One month short of his eighty first birthday.

Jeffrey Coogan Yes his daughter told us the sad news of Tom Neyman's passing just days before the 50th anniversary of the movie's debut.

I mean, Manos did make The Master permanent... Neyman will outlive us all in one way or another.

they called Jerry Lewis a genius for his acting...Reynolds is COSMIC for Torgo.

He is with us always. Not in the way that you think. He is with us always.

I agree! I'm thankful Bernie did this interview before he passed away. He remembered events associated with Hal Warren and the production that Jackey Neyman would have been too young to fully recall. Plus, just listening to him talk, Bernie sounds like he'd have been a fun person to know.

Scenic Drive in El Paso is the opening scene where they pull over and argue about getting lost. It still looks the same today, with the exception of the signs being replaced, three telescopes on the viewing platform instead of two and both of them being replaced and different litter bins. It’s almost very much the same, while the Coldwell Ranch was sadly burnt down in a fire a year or two after this documentary was shot.

Actually it was because the (single!) camera they used was a total antique. It had to be wound by hand, could only shoot 30 seconds of film at a time, and could not record audio at all. That's not even cheap, that's just pure insanity.

It looked okay and it's not the only movie where all the audio was dubbed in later. So, I see how they could think they would sell it. In those days, if you had a great poster, you would sell tickets. All that 60s & 70s surfing videos that are from the perspective of the surfboard, like a go pro. Those were all recorded on film cameras originally used on WW2 fighter aircraft as gun cameras. So, old ain't necessarily bad.

Agreed that old cameras weren't necessarily bad at all. The most common "mute" cameras used on the largest features right up to the end of the 20th century were Arriflexes, originally designed in the 1930s and used by the Germans throughout WW2. The most common studio camera used on major features well into the 1970s was a silent era design, the Mitchell. Even the subsequent Panavision cameras were essentially a Mitchell in a grey box. Wartime clockwork cameras were still often used professionally for such things as shooting in confined spaces, shots where the camera might be destroyed, or in explosive situations where to use electrics would be dangerous. Newer cameras that might be more ergonomic, with more features etc came along but, given the latest film stock and a decent lens, most would be hard pressed to tell the difference on screen between a film camera from the 1930s and one from the end of the century.

@@525Lines Sergio Leone shot most of his movies as silent, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which was totally dubbed in later.

@@jurrasic Getting in on this 4 years later... I don't buy the claim that the 16mm camera used could only shoot for 30 seconds. There are several scenes that go on longer than that, without an edit. The scene where Torgo, after knocking out Mike, drags him around on the ground and ties him up, lasts over a minute and a half, with no edits, shot continuously. Also, when the Master goes in the house to confront Torgo and tells him he will die, there's over a minute continuous without an edit.

Diane was a knockout, that's for sure. She went on to have a modeling career not long after filming Manos. As of early 2024, from what I understand, she's living comfortably in Colorado and working as an antiques dealer.

Quentin Tarantino is a punk bitch.

And a culture vulture.

Actually, I think that‘s a myth debunked by the guy who restored the film.

What was the writing on that altar? I couldn't make it out.

525Lines It read; 'For a good time call Jenny'.

Not even just a few years after the movie. He killed himself a month after filming.

That soon after, eh? Damn. I wonder if he ever saw the final version and how he came out looking in it. Poor bastard.

Sadly, he didn't. Jackey Neyman Jones (Debbie) has talk about John in interviews, even recounting the day that she was told that he died. There's also an interview with Diane Mahree, the woman who played Margaret, that's really worth watching.

The art design rocks. It's genuinely iconic. Plus the gritty 16mm photography adds so much to the atmosphere. As MST3K pointed out, "every shot looks like someone's last known photograph." John Reynolds' performance is legendary and uncanny; Freud would've written an essay about it. People who call Manos the worst film ever made have clearly never seen Monster a Go-Go.

Yeah, Manos reminds me a lot of Coleman Francis' efforts. You could make the case that all these movies represent a weird kind of inverse genius. The wretchedness is so perfectly balanced and comprehensive -- between depressed-looking actors, random bits of dialogue, aimless narratives, and squalid settings -- that it all becomes hypnotic. The normal rules of cinematic storytelling go out the window, and it becomes an experience more akin to watching a lava lamp.

There are subtle shades of Manos in the 1977 film Three Women, with Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek. It's just an eerie, atmospheric story set in an out-of-the-way motel in the California desert.

+Al Mullen Yeah sad he's passed now

You’re a pathetic loser. 🤡

The Master ordered him to do so!!

where was the exact location of it? Im from El Paso so you can be specific

@@nickdavis965 Near the entrance to the road that leads to the College

😂😂😂😂😂 are you serious?

Yes you uneducated swine.@@AR-mi9cv

+Auz Payeur Oh yeah! And that would really help out with the authenticity of the story.

I just want to see the remake starring Tommy Wiseau and Tim & Eric. Directed by Neil Breen.

I think Leo DiCaprio would make a good John Reynolds.

Yes, the Master would definitely approve of that cast.

Yeah, expect a visit from the Master tonight.

And yet, despite all the criticisms and nitpicking about why it's allegedly a bad film, it's a film that has gained international cult status despite the shoestring budget and numerous problems that plagued it during shooting. Whatever Hal Warren may have personally envisioned, the film has gone on to be something more, and to give all of the actors (who had no idea it would ever develop a following) a certain measure of immortality.

I want one in my hometown (and I live in Italy). In case you're wondering: yes, an Italian version of this movie actually exist. And it's subtitled, not dubbed, thanks God: I want to listen to the original cast's voices. The Master approve.

Yeah, that soundtrack is great. It tickles me!

@@magicemperor2420 *Tickle tickle tickle*

@@gabrielesolletico6542Teeheehee~! Stop! 🤣

@@magicemperor2420 Lol At last you answered! :D No!! *Tickle tickle tickle*

The blu-ray's been out for years. It's probably about as good looking as can be. A 4K restoration would probably be unnecessarily excessive.

Permafrost I’ve been looking around on the Internet the last couple of months and there’s all kinds of information that I’m just now seeing about this.... even the woman who played the daughter has a channel talking about this movie and Interviews with ‘the master’ tom Neyman. They made it sound like he disappeared and lived off grid and couldn’t be found

@@nateman79 Yeah, this doc is known for being massively sensationalized.

I actually found Bernie's voice endearing, but I grew up with those kind of warm smokers.

He’s all they had!

At least Manos has an end (with a nice theme song to boot).

I thought the same thing, Manos is only rivalled by The Creeping Terror for jaw dropping badness.

***** Wow I missed those ... thanks, I'm putting them on my list.

+Penelope Snopes both of those were riffed by Rifftrax, which, of course, is made up of MST alumni, so once again they are giving awful films new lives and audiences.

Agree - Creeping Terror is FAR worse

No.

They did a remake in 2018, with some of the surviving original cast. I didn't care for it. Jackie Neyman wrote the script with several other women, and being in the Pacific Northwest, they had to include woke crap. More ironic, they actually thought they were making a _good_ film.

I think this guy stole it - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pNOy_GEnJ1M.html

Where are the pillars and altar located?

@@mikeweber3685 outside el paso

@@cjsligojones5101 I figured that much. 😀 I was looking for something more specific. Does the site have a name?