Recently, a film collector made an amazing find – the original 16mm workprint of Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Complete with never-used alternate title!
Hal Warren shot Manos on 16mm reversal stock and edited the film using that same stock. Then he made a 35mm blow-up internegative, and made copies of that for the distribution copies. So already the film was going to look murky in theaters. This print is the original 16mm print.
To compare the current best copy (a vhs dub of the distribution print) to the workprint:
Just amazing, that’s what this is. We get glimpses of things such as a few outtakes, seeing beyond the cropping, and even the original opening shot. The owner of the print is preparing the footage to make a limited BluRay release, as well as keeping this print in good enough shape to make theatrical prints from.
