There are far worse movies in the world than “Manos”: The Hands of Fate, the only film in the history of cinema made by an El Paso, TX fertilizer kingpin on a budget of $19,000 with a hand-cranked camera and a cast of hippie freaks and suicidal acid heads. But “Manos” remains the popular choice among fans of both Skid Row filmmaking and Mystery Science Theater 3000, the show that brought Hal Warren‘s obscure abortion of a horror flick back into the public eye. You can read my review of the recent DVD release of the MST3K version here.

For years the film has only been available via extremely grainy public domain VHS tapes and DVDs as it was believed that were no actual prints of the film in existence. But recently cameraman Ben Solovey has begun an ambitious restoration of “Manos” for a prospective Blu-ray release using a pristine workprint of the film he found in the offices of its distributor, Emerson Films, which is now out of business.

He has launched a Kickstarter page to fund the project and has already surpassed his $10,000 goal. You can still donate to the “Manos” restoration and depending on the amount you pledge you can receive a pin, a “Manos Restoration Team” T-shirt, your name placed in the restored print’s credits, a silk-screened poster, an invitation for two to the print’s first public screening, a photo book containing 2k scans from the film, a special 16mm print of another film from Solovey’s personal collection, a copy of the Blu-ray, and a piece of the original film’s set.

You can follow the restoration’s progress at Solovey’s website ‘Manos’ in HD.

[Source via Tor | io9]