Review #21: The Hand (1981)

Cast/Notable Credits:
Oliver Stone (Director): Platoon (1986), Wallstreet (1987), Born on the 4^th of July (1989), The Doors (1991) , J.F.K. (1991), Natural Born Killers (1994), Any Given Sunday (1999), Alexander (2004), World Trade Center (2006)

Michael Caine (Jonathan): Jaws 4: The Revenge (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), Mr. Destiny (1990), Austin Powers 3 (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestiage (2006), Children of Men (2006), Dark Knight (2008) and many, many other movies

Andrea Marcovicci (Anne): Spacehunter (1983), Trapper John, M.D. T.V. series

Annie McEnroe (Stella): The Howling 2

Trailer:

Plot:

A famous cartoon artist (Michael Caine) loses his drawing hand in a car accident. And the hand is never found! Instead, he receives a metal “Terminator” hand to replace it.

Unfortunately he cannot draw any more with his new hand. There goes his career! He becomes depressed and eventually moves out of his mansion to a secluded mountain town and begins teaching for a career.

Over time he falls off the deep end and becomes psychotic. Sharing his emotional bond is his lost hand. Somehow it is psychically connected to him. The hand starts to murder the people around him.

Villain:

A killer hand…sweet. I've always been fascinated with a killer hand. Deep down inside, I always thought that one of my hands would go psychotic on me. This probably stems from the Evil Dead movies or the Addam's Family. I'm not demented...am I?

Cast:

Small cast involved in this one. A total early 80’s feel to them…acting, clothing, hair do’s, etc. Michael Cane is the main character in the film and it's his hand that goes a little "nutty".

SFX/Gore:

The Hand featured five deaths in the flick and it's special effects had the “Terminator” hand. I was a little disappointed in the losing the hand scene. It was kind of disappointing.

TNA:

The movie did supply two hot chicks. One of them showed off her hooters in a teacher-student extra credit assignment. That’s how you teach! (Right Scoundrel?)

On a side note: Andrea Marcovicci (Pictured left) is now a singer and even has her own brand of women's fragrance...if you care.

T.Gun's Take:

This was one of Oliver’s early movies. No conspiracy theories about the government in this one. It was done pretty decent with a little twist ending.

Honestly I was bored through out this one. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with a movie of this pace. It was God awful to watch in the mood I was in.

The pace seemed slow and the film just didn’t really have that extra “something” to it. Continuing on the Andrea Marcovicci front, she does star in one of my favorite 3-D movies two years later (Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone). She co-stars with Molly Ringwald and Michael Ironside.

Misc. Movie Trivia:
-Film opened on April 24, 1981
-Musical score is done by James Horner (Titanic)
-Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, and Christopher Walken were all considered for the lead role