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The Devil's Hand More at IMDbPro »

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32 reviews in total

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21 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
a would be chiller...., 14 May 2006

Author: grubstaker58 from United States

I saw this by chance as one of those DVD package deals(reasonably priced with cinema nuggets). This particular film grabbed from the outset with it's "graveyard twangy" credits theme. The story is part"I Walked with a Zombie", "Eraser Head",and a dab of "Rosemary's Baby". A sporty dressed Robert Alda goes through the film as if on tranquilizers adding to the black&white "dreamlike' quality of the movie.The actors should be credited for doing their best to sell this very kooky story with equally kooky dialog. There's a sexy " Siren Witch" and a sinister Warlock, who looks like a bank president.Considering the apparent woeful budget of this endeavor , I say kudos for trying and take a look- you've seen worse.

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16 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
definitely a cult type of movie, 23 July 2006

Author: spockoda from United States

I discovered this movie on a cheap horror movie box set and this is one of those movies that surprised me. It is definitely a cult type of movie and could become a "gulity pleasure". It is obviously dated and perhaps a little "goofy" in parts,being over 40 years old,but it is better than it has a right to be. The movie is aided immeasurably by the performance of Neil Hamilton as the leader of a cult of devil worshipers. He would later go on to be Commissioner Gordon on the Batman television series. It also has one of the catchiest instrumental theme songs I have heard from a movie of this type and era. If you are a fan of older movies and this genre,it is worth seeking out in my opinion. It can certainly be had cheaply enough.

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21 out of 29 people found the following review useful:
Sensational Occult Sleeper, 2 March 2002
Author: Son of Cathode from New England

This highly effective, virtually forgotten supernatural thriller, filmed in evocative black and white, really packs a punch, and was way ahead of its time in depicting how the worship of ancient evil magick has infiltrated modern civilization (a topic which would become front-page news when Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan a few short years later). Robert Alda plays a man who is strangely passive over the dire turns his fate takes during the course of the film. He gives up his love, his life, his very soul as if they were nothing, as if he were in a trance the whole time. As his long-suffering fiance, it's especially nice to see beloved Mexican "scream queen" Adriadne Welter in her only US film, speaking with a virtually flawless English accent. Neil Hamilton (the ironic police commissioner in the BATMAN TV show) is highly amusing here as Mr. Lamont, a bloodthirsty devil figure extraordinaire. He runs a creepy doll shop during the day, but holds satanic blood rituals in the back room at night! Linda Hamilton is the mystery girl, an evil seductress who appears to our hero, dancing in a white robe, in haunting dreams, and lures him to the very gates of hell. The influence of THE TWILIGHT ZONE is apparent, with reliance on such genre bugaboos as predestiny, premonition and mental telepathy. The cult members worship "Gamba," known as "the devil god of evil." The notion of modern, urban devil worshippers using hypnosis, astral projection, and voodoo dolls to seduce and corrupt victims is an interesting one, and fairly fresh at the time. Devil worship seems a strictly middle-class leisure diversion as illustrated here. The ceremony room is a fairly well-scrubbed affair, with lush curtains and oriental rugs and tacky deity statuettes. A native boy plays jungle drums as a native girl dances, and lost businessmen sway in drunken reverie. It's almost like an early incarnation of a 60's kitsch cocktail lounge! Yet the rituals themselves, with their emphasis on random human sacrifice, are decidedly dark, and give this flick an exotic kick. Bruno VeSota (stalwart of Roger Corman and Jerry Warren films) is fine in a brief supporting role. This obscure bit of occult cine-folklore (with a boffo opening theme) is definitely worth checking out.

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8 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Repeated watching adds a creepy ambiance to this little known genre flick., 24 July 2007

Author: Denver Warner (warnerdenver@hotmail.com) from United States

I was introduced to this film when I stumbled across a VHS copy at a well known video retail store. At the time I was buying up and devouring as many B-movies as I could find. I think that in the same trip I purchased The Wasp Women, and Catwomen of the Moon in 3D.

The first couple of times I watched this movie, I didn't feel it was that spectacular, but I did particularly like the opening sequence theme music, a definite nod to Dave Allen and the Arrows. I was however, not able to quite pin down the plot at first because, admittedly, I fell asleep the first few times I saw it.

After several more viewings though, the film began to take on a strange, almost psychedelic feel and I realized that all of the confusion really lends itself to the themes of hypnotism and mind control in cults, which is I think the heart of the film. Whether or not this effect was obtained on purpose by the director, I can't say. It doesn't really matter. I still enjoy watching this one years later.

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Neato little low budget cultist movie, 23 November 2008

Author: t-birkhead from United Kingdom

I wouldn't say The Devil's Hand is any kind of a classic, but for addicts of old fashioned small budgeted oddities it is most certainly worth a look. It tells a story of a young man who is seduced by a beautiful woman into a devil worshipping cult and the events that follow from this, with themes of voodoo, some mild horror and a heap of Sixties atmosphere. One thing that I found interesting was the cult itself. Apart form the leader, none of them seemed to be especially malevolent or even that active, a comment perhaps along the lines that cultists are in fact relatively innocent people mislead by evil gurus. Also, aside from the potentially deadly tests of faith, the cult do not seem to do much other than chant and dance to exotic sounding flute and drum beats. Couple this with the presence of various exotic, tribal looking artifacts in the seductresses apartment as well as the, as far as I recall multicultural make up of the cult itself and it seems that the film may well have been designed less as a devil worshipping cult frightener and more of a conservative reaction against beatniks and the emerging hippy lifestyle. Certainly the seductress figure appears to represent some sort of ideal of free love as she inducts the hero into the cult for seemingly no particular reason. She says she wants him, but he isn't exactly a prime male specimen so its difficult to see that there was any particular reason for doing so other than plucking him out of his staid conservative existence. Something that amused me was the cults object of worship. The follow an entity called Gamba and if my hearing did not deceive me, Gamba referred to as the devil god of evil. Now I always assumed that a devil god would be by definition evil, but I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe there's a devil god of cute furry puppies? Or a devil god of warm fuzzy mittens? Like any good film should do, this film makes you ask questions. As far as thing like acting, direction and writing go this film does pretty well. The writing is a bit disjointed but the film moves at a good speed and the direction is constantly atmospheric. The main character is pretty weak and bland, a malleable fellow played fairly well by Robert Alda. He isn't particularly interesting or heroic, more of an everyman caught up in things and a little confused. In short he seems to muddle along in an easily relatable way, giving the film a good core. As the villainies Bianca Milan, Linda Christian is very good, giving a poised seductive performance that is hard to resist. Ariadna Welter is pretty good as the heroes fiancée, whilst Neil Hamilton has ample sinister gravitas as the cult leader. The music is a sweet mixture of a jaunty sixties theme and hypnotic cult music and at one point one theme merges into the other with nice effect. All in all this is fun stuff, with a great period feel, some tension, interesting themes and good performances. The script could be better but the film pretty much zips along and provides a solid quirky good time. Worth a look for oldie horror enthusiasts.

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10 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
The Satanic Cult of Hypnotizing Dolls and Blond Spinsters!, 4 August 2006

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

"The Devil's Hand" is a truly bizarre little horror movie. It's very short and to the point… But what a point! Supernatural themes, romantic love triangles and voodoo! That's all pretty courageous and ambitious for a low-budget horror effort from that time. Too bad it eventually didn't turn out to be a very good movie… Rick Turner is an ordinary man, with loads of appeal to the ladies, whose dreams are disturbed by the reoccurring image of a beautiful blond girl. The odd thing is that his soon-to-be wife supports him without the slightest bit of jealousy. I wonder how my girlfriend would react when telling her I repeatedly dream of a hot blond calling out to me from the skies? Rick's uncomfortable situation grows even weirder when he's led to a toy store where they sell a doll with a face identical to the woman of his dreams. It all turns out to be a conspiracy of a satanic cult, ruled by the shop owner, and the blond uses voodoo and hypnosis to conquer Rick's heart. How's that for seduction techniques? Despite the silly and utterly implausible storyline, "The Devil's Hand" is occasionally atmospheric and several sequences are quite suspenseful, notably the ones set in the cult's headquarters where the members' loyalty to Gamba (the evil God) is tested. Still, there's way too much talking and confusion going on and only the climax contains horrific action. William Hole's directing is very neutral and the only real good performance is given by Neil "Commissioner Gordon" Hamilton. Linda Christian is a beauty, but her acting skills are rather forgettable. Worth a look if you run out of other options.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Competent horror flick - poss Spoilers, 2 September 2007

Author: ksf-2 from southwest US

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

** May contain Spoilers ** Robert Alda (Alan Alda's dad) stars as Rick, with Linda Christian (Bianca,the interloper) and Ariadna Welter (Donna, Rick's fiancée) in this short but competent horror flick from the 1960s. I couldn't find any obvious flaws or continuity problems, which were so prevalent in most of them from the 50s and 60s. Some observations: 1. when rick & bianca meet, they drink champagne out of martini glasses; hadnt champagne glasses been invented?? 2. Good to see Commissioner Gordon doing something with his spare time. 3. This appears to be the only flick Linda Christian & Ariadna Welter (real life sisters) made together. 4. Writer Jo Heim also wrote "Double Trouble" for Elvis... quite a different film! 5. This film, which really wasn't bad, was made only a couple years after Bell, Book, Candle; has some similarities to that film.... and yes I agree with another reviewer - the ending does leave things open to a sequel. Director William Hole didn't so a whole lot of movies as director; also made Cara del Terror in Spain the same year. Appears that Hole worked his way up in the business - held various positions in the film industry.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A nifty little devil cult horror flick, 3 May 2007

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Succussful businessman Rick Turner (a solid performance by Robert Alda) experiences seductive visions of wicked and alluring witch Bianca Milan (a deliciously sultry portrayal by breathtaking blonde beauty Linda Christian). Frank gets drawn to a toy doll shop run by the suave Francis Lamont (smoothly played by Neil Hamilton; Commissioner Gordon on "Batman") and becomes involved with a sinister satanic cult that worships the evil devil god Gamba. Meanwhile, Frank's sweet fiancé Donna Trent (attractive brunette Ariadna Welter, who appeared in such Mexican horror flicks as "The Brainiac" and "100 Cries of Terror") winds up in the hospital suffering from severe paralysis. Director William J. Hole, Jr. keeps the pace clicking along at a reasonably quick tempo and effectively creates a suitably spooky otherworldly atmosphere. Familiar trash picture regular Bruno VeSota has a nice bit as a cult member. Meredith Nicholson's crisp, handsome black and white cinematography, the moody score by Allyn Ferguson and Michael Terr (the groovy swinging reverb guitar instrumental theme is fantastic), the tight 71 minute running time, the rousing fiery conclusion and the ambiguously dark ending further enhance the overall sound quality of this nifty little fright feature.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
The Rise and Fall of the Cult of Gamba, 6 July 2008

Author: VIOlencEandpAIN from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

THE DEVIL'S HAND, a very cheap movie from the early sixties, represents an early phase of trash cinema, part of a series of "Satansploitation" or "Cultsploitation" movies. I managed to watch this movie as part of a Mill Creek 50 movie boxed set ("Chilling Classics"), so I can only assume that it is probably available online for free. Anyone wanting to just check this out should google it.

In this rendition of devil-worship themed movies, we meet Rick Turner (Robert Alda) and his steady sweetie, Donna Trent (Ariadna Welter). Things are going well for the couple in their almost sexless relationship until Rick starts having visions of a blonde woman who dances around and beckons him. Soon after, Rick discovers a doll that looks exactly like the blonde woman sitting in the front window of a doll shop. It turns out that the doll shop is actually a front for the evil cult of the devil-god Gamba, and in back, there's a ceremony room complete with a mechanical chandelier loaded with both fake and real knives. The blonde woman is Bianca Milan (Linda Christian), a bona-fide witch who can project herself into dreams and hypnotize people from a distance.

The Gamba Cult is adept at voodoo doll use and hypnotism, both of which they are reasonably good at using to control others. Unfortunately, they have a major weakness in the security area, because a news reporter and his chum, both of whom don't even bother dressing like proper Satanists, are able to attend regular ceremonies. Only the clumsiness of the news reporter, a man who takes many notes and drops them accidentally, keeps the cult from total media exposure.

Anyway, the plot is pretty predictable, Rick gets to have some fun with bad girl Bianca, and eventually the cult is punished via incineration (ooo...the irony...) and Rick escapes with Donna. It's a drive-in movie with a feel-good ending, and that's all there is to it.

THE DEVIL'S HAND isn't too bad a movie if you're into this sort of thing, but the casual movie-goer probably won't get much out of it. At least it can be seen very, very cheaply.

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4 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Notably uninterested in parts, 17 March 2006

Author: Polaris_DiB from United States

A man can't sleep because this woman keeps appearing in his dreams... one day he sees a doll that looks like her in a shop window, and from there is able to search the actual woman out. It turns out she's a witch and she gets him to randomly join a Satanic cult, despite the fact that he has a fiancé to take care of and he has no real reason to be intrigued by her except that she's young and blond.

Basically sounds like typical B-fare to me, though I warn you the tone is much like what I use above... willing to tell the story yet notably uninterested in parts.

It's an okay flick if you are the type to dig the genre, but it's definitely not for the easily bored or the too serious. More of that campy "laugh at it with drunken friends" fare.

--PolarisDiB

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