Filming has wrapped on a sequel to Manos: The Hands of Fate

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Probably best known for the skewering it received on Mystery Science Theater 3000, the low budget 1966 horror film MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE has developed a strong cult following over the years by fans who warmly embrace it as one of the worst movies ever made.

Made by fertilizer salesman Harold P. Warren as the result of a bet, the film told the story of a vacationing family's encounter with a strange cult in the Texas desert. As the film's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Jackey Neyman Jones – who played young daughter Debbie in the original film – has teamed up with director Tonjia Atomic and cinematographer Joe Sherlock to produce a sequel called MANOS RETURNS.

Said to have a much lighter tone than THE HANDS OF FATES, MANOS RETURNS 

is a tongue-in-cheek return to Valley Lodge. It follows a a group of young would-be filmmakers who learn their favorite movie, Manos: The Hands of Fate, was based on a true story. They set out to visit the site of the events that inspired the original and of course they find more than they bargained for. 

Many of the characters from the original film are back in RETURNS, with Neyman Jones reprising the role of Debbie and her father Tom Neyman returning as the evil Master.

Shot in just ten days on a "less than micro budget", MANOS RETURNS wrapped on August 1st and now the filmmakers are working hard to get a cut of the film ready to be screened in time for the fiftieth anniversary celebration of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE in November.

MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE is not very good at all, but it's kind of heartwarming and charming to see it getting so much love all these years after it was made. I look forward to seeing how MANOS RETURNS turns out.