The Hand (1981, Michael Caine, Andrea Marcovicci, Viveca Lindfors, Rosemary Murphy) – Classic Movie Review 5547

This silly and really quite dreadful horror thriller flick from writer-director Oliver Stone is good for a laugh but wastes Michael Caine as cartoonist Jon Lansdale, a comic book artist who loses his drawing hand in a car crash.

The severed hand was missing at the scene of the accident. But then the disembodied hand soon returns, follows Jon around and goes on a murder spree against those who anger him. Well, it had probably seen The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), as well as the Disembodied Hand segment in Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), and so, probably too, had Stone.

The main minuses are the ridiculous story, the hysterical direction by Stone, who also adapted the script from Marc Brandel’s novel The Lizard’s Tale, and an ineptly animated hand that looks like a soggy rubber glove. The special makeup effects artist is Stan Winston and special effects are by Carlo Rambaldi, both having an off day. To be fair, Caine walks through it all coolly, smoothly and effortlessly.

The phrase ‘drive-in dust-offs’ is just right for this movie. But please don’t give this one a hand! Instead, it might be best to give it a miss, though it is watchable as a near so-bad-it’s good movie and, as such, it has acquired some cult film status, especially as a curiosity from admired director Stone in his first movie for a major Hollywood studio.

Along with The Island, The Swarm and Jaws: The Revenge, this is the worst of Teflon actor Michael Caine.

Also in the cast are Andrea Marcovicci, Viveca Lindfors, Rosemary Murphy, Bruce McGill, Mara Hobel, Annie McEnroe, Pat Corley, Richard Altman, Tracey Walter and Charles Fleischer.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5547

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