Hotel Torgo (2004) Reviews

• The Manos Curse is born

  Newski_the_Hippie2006-02-02

  I'm not going to lie about who I am and how I saw this movie. There are plenty of people here on the IMDb who just can't wait to see this film. I'm a film student who got into contact with Bernie Rosenblum, who sent me a copy of this film. Jackey Neyman-Jones, who played Debbie in Manos the Hands of Fate, asked me to burn the DVD and send it to her. I rather have that approved by the people who made this movie. Unfortunately, they think she is dead. This is, as everyone who is reading this knows, a documentary about the making of Manos the Hands of Fate. And it's one market is to fans of Manos. And I will give my guarantee that they will not be disappointed. The documentary is thoroughly enjoyable. This is mostly because of Bernie Rosenblum, who talks about his experiences with such passion and wit. Joining him in the commentary is the man who owned the ranch, Colbert Coldwell himself. Colbert is one of the old men you see rambling on the bus, and you listen to his stories and laugh, but don't want him to know you are paying attention. Then there is "Manos Historian" Richard Brandt, who wrote the two great articles on the film where most of the lore come from. I said the movie was not disappointing, but only because it is worth watching. It's a very enjoyable film. But even with Richard Brandt, Colbert Coldwell, and Bernie Rosenblum, it seems like they simply could not get all the facts right. Everyone has either died or mysteriously disappeared? No, this is an overstatement of Fact. Robin Redd, John Reynolds, and Tom Neyman are dead. The rest are people who are known as "Private Citizens." Just because you can't contact them mean it's some sort of freak occurrence. These are people who were in one movie, which by a stroke of luck still exists. Well, it's lucky the film existed in the first place. The movie does not give any new juicy bits of Trivia, nor does it cover all of Manos Lore. Even still, it's worth watching.

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• Good

  TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews2008-08-14

  This is a documentary regarding the infamous "Manos". It does a fine job of both telling the viewer what it is, in case they haven't seen it(I have the feeling it's something you don't forget once you have, though I suppose it's a little early for me to say), and examining why it was and got to be the way it was. I'm not sure I'd claim that this left me with a lot of answers, but the process wasn't bad, and it never lost my interest. It's nicely paced, moves at basically the speed it should. This consists of clips of the flick itself, it even holds a brief spoof of it(some of which relate to the subject or such, and all of them aiding in informing those in doubt of the sheer awfulness of the quality of it) and a few interviews, including one with the person that worked on the piece that they could find, and another with what appears to be a historian on it, both of whom are well worth listening to, and have good things to say. Bernie's got a mouth on him, though, which is really the only language in this, but in spite of the amount being fairly low, it gets pretty rough(apart from strong words, there are a few detailing... male anatomy). He reveals a great many things about the production as well as the crew and cast. This also has footage of the filming locations, and comparisons between how they look, now and then. I recommend this to anyone wondering how the thing got made, and those that are curious about it, in general. 7/10

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• Interesting, but a lot of misinformation.

  Sandcooler2016-03-08

  "Hotel Torgo" is sort of a making-of to "Manos: The Hands Of Fate", one of the most fascinatingly awful movies ever made. The makers meet up with Bernie Rosenblum, the last surviving member of the cast/crew. Together they go visit some of the filming locations, meanwhile Rosenblum tells various anecdotes about the filming process. We also get some background about what happened to the rest of the cast. And there you have the problem: pretty much every fact they give about the other actors is wrong. Rosenblum was NOT the last survivor, Jackey Neyman (Debbie), Diane Mahree (Margaret) and Tom Neyman (The Master) are still alive and kicking in 2016. The history of "Manos" is murky and difficult to research, but Jackey Neyman stated that she actually called up the makers while they were filming this. Apparently, other surviving cast members didn't fit their narrative, so they just ignored them. I guess this was done to add to the mystique, but you can interview every single cast member of this movie and you probably still don't know what's going on. Claiming Diane Mahree died in a car crash with no evidence whatsoever seems very unprofessional. With that said: I enjoy the bits with Bernie Rosenblum, who passed away last year. Rosenblum played a very minor part in the movie, but he's a decent storyteller and genuinely seems like a nice guy. He certainly saves this 'documentary'. Particularly the part where he goes back to the Valley Lodge and shows us what's left of it is worth your time. It's pretty much the only thing that keeps "Hotel Torgo" from being totally useless, because the research (or lack thereof) is downright horrendous.

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• Making Manos

  Michael_Elliott2015-03-17

  Hotel Torgo (2004) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Decent documentary about the making of and eventual popularity of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, which is considered by a great many to be the worst movie ever made. MANOS historian Richard Brandt is on hand here talking about the film's production and we get a first-hand account from Bernie Rosenblum who is perhaps the only crew member still living from the film. HOTEL TORGO runs just 28-minutes and for the most part it's entertaining, although there's no question something a bit more polished and detailed would be welcomed. The film does manage to at least give you some basic ideas about the production of the movie as well as what happened to some of the cast members. Rosenblum tells some nice stories about the making of the picture and the highlight of the film comes when we visit the locations where the movie was shot. With such a small running time there's not too many details shared here but for fans of the film it's worth watching.

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• Tom Neyman is NOT dead

  EdZeppelin2006-11-30

  I have known Tom and Jackey for over thirty years. Neither are dead, I assure you. Tom is retired and lives in Oregon, as does Jackey, who is a successful painter and single parent. I haven't seen this documentary yet, so I'm giving it an arbitrary vote of 5, based on the communications Jackey has shared with me (I'm the one who hooked her up with the Producers). At least, I'm hoping it's a good documentary, because it would have to be on a par with Citizen Kane to make "Manos" rise to the level of "terrible." I loved MST3K's version of "Manos," though the original version exemplified the qualities of being (to paraphrase Mark Twain); "chloroform on film."

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