Manos: The Hands of Fate is a 1966 American independent no-budget supernatural folk horror film written, directed, produced by Harold P. Warren. It stars Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, Diane Mahree and Harold P. Warren. The film follows a family getting lost during their vacation road trip through the Texas desert and becoming stranded at the lodge of a polygynous pagan cult led by the Master who decides their fate. Warren was an insurance and fertilizer salesman from El Paso, Texas, who made the film as a result of a bet with screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. Most of the remaining cast and crew had little or no background in filmmaking. The theatrical debut was poorly received, playing only at the Capri Theater in El Paso and some drive-ins around West Texas and New Mexico. Manos remained obscure until featured in a 1993 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a television series based around mocking B movies. This developed its cult reputation as one of the worst films ever made. The film has been criticized for continuous deficiencies in editing, continuity, audiovisual synchronization, pacing, and acting, as well as several inexplicable and disconnected scenes, such as a nameless couple repeatedly shown kissing in a distant car and the Master's wives breaking into catfights. Its MST3K appearance resulted in several DVD releases of the original film and three of the MST3K episode. The original 16 mm workprint was discovered in California in 2011, from which a new, remastered version of the film was released on Blu-ray by Synapse Films on October 13, 2015. The film was followed by a prequel, Manos: The Rise of Torgo (2018), and a sequel, Manos Returns (2018). Plot While on vacation near El Paso, Texas, Michael, Margaret, their young daughter Debbie, and their dog, Peppy, drive through the desert in search of the Valley Lodge. Margaret insists they are lost, and Michael claims they are not. They are stopped by a local deputy for a broken taillight, and released because Michael asks him for mercy on their "first vacation". After long shots of driving through farmland and the desert, intercut with scenes of two unidentified teenagers kissing in a car and being caught by the deputies, the family finally reaches a house. The bizarre, satyr-like Torgo, is caretaker "while the Master is away". Michael and Margaret apprehensively ask Torgo for directions to the Valley Lodge, which Torgo denies knowing.