Hands of a Stranger (1962) User Reviews

Lackluster version of the "hands" that had a mind of their own...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 2 September 2012]

A talky script and some overacting in key scenes doesn't help put the viewer in the right frame of mind to enjoy this oft told story of hands that are sewn onto a pianist after he loses use of his hands in an accident.

Nobody in the cast has any "name" value and I see that in many of these reviews people are confusing the leading male characters by crediting the wrong names of the actors.

For clarification, it's James Stapleton who plays the pianist with a sensitive but expressionless face. His looks are reminiscent of Hurd Hatfield's in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" who also kept a mask-like facial expression. The doctor is played with slightly more animation by Paul Lukather and has a more sympathetic role. The victimized Stapleton resents the doctor's surgery to the extent that he becomes arrogant and spiteful enough to emerge a killer.

Some of the B&W photography is in the film noir category but everyone is let down by an uninspired script and less than polished direction.

Better than expected obscurity

[phdyr51 · 5/10 · 13 November 2006]

As others have noted, an extremely talky flick, with dialog so florid you could pin it on a prom date. However, there are some nice touches to be found: the opening sequence is noirishly atmospheric and well-executed, so to speak. Paul Lukather's seething mien carries the film valiantly,although his and his sister's rage at the doctor's eminently logical and humane decision to graft good hands onto Paul's mangled stubs strains credulity. Also, watch for the ending shot, which emulates a famous religious painting nicely.

The deaths/killings are egregiously mild by today's standards, but, with the exception of a ludicrously spontaneous immolation, are effectively staged. The low-budget look is offset somewhat by inventive camera work that sustains a grim mood.

It's not made clear whether Lukather's character starts killing because he now plays piano like Whack-A-Mole, or because his new hands somehow carry with them the temperament of their previous thuggish owner.

Considering the dreck that was around in the early 60's, this is not bad stuff; with less gaseous dialog, it might have been memorable.

A Show of Hands

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 26 June 2005]

(Some Spoilers) Obvious re-make of the Peter Lorre 1935 classic "Mad Love" the movie "Hands of a Stranger" deals with the loss of world famous concert pianist Vernon Paris, James Stapleton, most precious asset his hands. Hands that by tickling the piano keys with creates the kind of music that brings the roof down every time that he preforms.

Going home after his greatest performance, that he practiced for six months,the cab driver Tony Wilder, George Sawaya,loses control and smashes into the oncoming traffic blinding himself and causing Vernon to lose both his hands in the accident. At the hospital emergency ward Vernon's agent George Britton, Michael Ray, begs the presiding surgeon Dr. Gil Harding, Paul Lukather,to save his hands. The doctor is told that Vernon would be as good as dead without them. Dr. Harding using the hands of a corpse, suffering from gunshot wounds that he just operated on and graphs it's hands onto the stumps of Vernon. Later their accepted by his body making the operation an amazing success, a success until Vernon attempted to play his beloved piano. It turned out that the hands grafted on Vernon were that of an extremely strong person who also happened to be a brutal murder.

Not as bad as you would think with the acting and script far superior then most low-budget horror movies that were made back then in the early 1960's. Vernon even though he became an uncontrolled killer showed glimpses of his previous personally as a talented and sensitive artist. You could really feel for Vernon as you saw everything that he loved and cared for like his ability to play the piano and his girlfriend Elaine, Eileen Hunter, desert him at the time of his greatest need.

Vernon was a bad guy in the movie but you could well understand why he was that way and not be that critical of him. Vernon just couldn't control both his hands and emotions that made him do the terrible things that he did in the film. "Hands of a Strager" followed the usual scenario with Vernon destroying everything, and everyone, that he came in contact with. In the end he destroyed himself as he tried to murder Dr. Harding who he held responsible for his new found lot in life.

What really struck me about the film was the conduct of it's star Dr. Gil Harding who was anything but the mad doctor that you would have expected him to be. Concerned and understanding he didn't even want to operate on Vernon's hands at first. Dr. Harding had to be talked into it by his friend George who felt that without his hands Vernon would lose his will to live. Vernon's sister Dina, Joan Harvey, who sacrificed her personal live to care for and help Vernon become a success and was by far the most sympathetic person in the movie fell in love with Dr. Harding. Dina at first greatly disliked Dr. Harding for what he did to her brother not realizing that it wasn't his idea to operate. Which also showed that he was anything but the unstable and maniacal lunatic that's always portrayed in moves like "Hands of a Stranger".

Not As Good As Earlier Versions

[Michael_Elliott · 3 September 2012]

Hands of a Stranger (1962)

** (out of 4)

Low-budget remake of THE HANDS OF ORLAC from the one and only Allied Artists. As in the numerous earlier versions, a concert pianist (James Stapleton) loses his hands in a car wreck so a doctor (Paul Lukather) gives him the hands of someone else. Soon the pianist begins to lose his mind and goes around killing several people. Is it the new hands or is something else going on? HANDS OF A STRANGER really doesn't improve on any of the earlier versions of this story and in the end the film is just way too talky and doesn't feature enough energy or excitement. For a horror film from 1962 I was a little surprised to see how much it was lacking in regards to the horror elements. The death scenes are all rather tame and there were a few times where you couldn't even tell that he killed the people until later in the film when it was mentioned that they were dead. The biggest problem, however, is the fact that there's just way too much talking going on and it just makes the film drag along to a point where you just grow tired of everything going on. The performances are also all over the place but I thought Lukather and Stapleton were good in their parts. The one thing I did like is how the film never really made it clear if the hands were doing the killing or if it was the actual person just mentally unstable from not being a concert pianist anymore. Still, with such better films out there it's hard to recommend this to anyone other than those who want to see every version.

Too much talk, not enough schlock

[Red-Barracuda · 3/10 · 17 October 2011]

A world famous pianist loses his hands as the result of a car crash, and is then given the hands of a killer in an audacious medical transplant. This event has a dark psychological effect on him.

Hands of a Stranger is a little too talky for its own good. The story itself might be a well-worn one but there's no excuse for the serious lack of action here. An 'evil hands' film really needs to cut back on the chat and deliver more schlock. There are occasional memorable moments such as the scene where the pianist visits the home of the taxi driver responsible for the crash that maimed him but in the main such sequences are in short supply. The lead character Vernon is also a somewhat hard character to get behind. His ingratitude for the surgery that prevented him from being without hands marks him out as a somewhat arrogant and unsympathetic individual.

One reasonably interesting aspect of the film is that its quite ambiguous for a movie of this type, in that it is never really made certain that the hands are inherently evil or not. It seems to me that the surgery merely effects the natural dexterity that Vernon had, and as a result makes him unable to play piano, leading to psychological breakdown. In this sense Hands of a Stranger is quite interesting. But its poor pacing and lack of action mean that it is not enough to save it from being a bit of a clunker.

Too bad they weren't the hands of a Chiropractor!

[michaeldukey2000 · 6/10 · 24 July 2007]

I remember seeing this late at night in the mid sixties on Chiller theater and it really creeped me out so I was anxious to check it out again when it showed up at the public domain bargain bin section. It doesn't really hold up that well but I can see a why it stuck in my mind in a few well shot and staged scenes.

Of the four filmed versions of The Hands Of Orlac (Four and a half if you count sections of Oliver Stones flop The Hand) this one comes in at dead last. It's not awful but it doesn't hold a candle to in inventiveness and weirdness of the Peter Lorre Version Mad Love and it doesn't have the silliness and fast pace of the Mel Ferrer ,Christopher Lee Version The Hands Of Orlac. As noted by others this doesn't credit orlac at all . Although there are marked difference between all of the versions it doesn't take a genius to figure where the story came from even though it ends differently.

I liked the opening and the scenes at the carnival and of course nurse Irish McCalla (Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle)isn't hard to look at. Juvenile actor Barry Gordon is sympathetic without being annoying like many child actors and Paul Lukather (who still works) has enough bravado to carry him through the long winded and stilted episodes of prose.

If you're a horror completist and don't expect much or if you're into B-movie noir you might give this a glance otherwise stick to the Karl Freund version Mad Love. You can't beat Peter Lorre on a tirade anyway.

Subtle it ain't!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 18 September 2011]

If this film seems familiar, it might be because you've seen "Mad Love" (1935) or either version of "The Hands of Orlac" (1924/1960). "Hands of a Stranger" is essentially a reworking of this story. In all four films, a concert pianist loses his hands in an accident and receives transplanted hands--and the hands are, apparently, evil and have a mind of their own! What makes this film a bit difference is that the surgeon is not evil--just an over-actor! And the same can clearly be said about the pianist's sister--who seems to be trying her best to upstage the doctor's occasionally overwrought performance! Ditto for the pianist. Once he has his bandages removed, so is all restraint--and he begins battling for the best over-acting award! My vote is for the sister...but her crazy brother sure gives her a run for the money! Regardless, this movie lacks subtlety and is filled with many scenes that are simply overdone. And I loved how practically every time the pianist touched someone they died!! It was actually pretty funny--though sadly the film was not intended as a comedy.

The bottom line is that I've seen the 1935 and 1924 films and they are excellent--highly enjoyable and clever. "Hands of a Stranger", in contrast, is heavy-handed and a bit dumb...no...a lot dumb. Really, really dumb. But, because it is so bad, it actually is worth seeing just for a few laughs.

By the way, looks for a young Barry Gordon as a piano-playing kid. He's pretty cute and has a memorable encounter with the crazed pianist. Also, get a load of the Doctor and his bedside manner. He sure loves slapping patients! I wonder which medical school taught him that!

Daft but entertaining

[chaypher · 7/10 · 21 March 2014]

All too familiar old story : guy's hands have made him a successful pianist, guy is in a car-crash, guy wakes up to discover he has lost his hands, guy loses his selfish girlfriend, op doc transplants someone else's hands (a stranger's perhaps?), guy's sister falls for the op doc, guy discovers they were the hands of a murderer, guy loses the ability to play piano, guy resents op doc, guy's sister also resents op doc, guy's sister breaks up with op doc, guy goes a bit mad, guy kills a few folk himself, guy tries to kill op doc in revenge, guy taken out in a meaningless and futile ending, we all feel sorry for guy's sister.

Even though this movie is slow and very dialogue heavy, I find it pretty entertaining. Rather than terrible performances or "over-acting" as someone put it, I find the animated acting styles suit the mood and tone of the movie. There are few action sequences so I feel the cast compensate for this to some degree. The camera work, directing and lighting deserve honourable plaudits here; any sound problems I'm fairly forgiving with.

The premise and plot of the movie may be pretty daft but it is delivered with enough earnestness to make this halfway convincing. Overall - pretty watchable time killer.

An overabundance of hammy acting, overpowering music and dizzying photography.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 13 October 2018]

Granted, this extremely low budget Z grade horror film provided me with many smiles and eye opening moments. Does that make it a good film? Certainly not! It's the type of film that would never be cobsconsid mainstream, the type of experimental movie that the writers, directors and technical team hoped would be groundbreaking but ends up a sometimes underground piece of trash. "The Hands of Orlac" had been done before in classic ways (as recent as the year before this), and the question is asked about this version: why?

There are several reasons why from my viewing of it, and the lack of budget gives a certain viewpoint to the story that makes it a must for fans of new wave cinema. The story focuses on a brilliant younh pianist (James Noah) who loses his hands after a horrible car accident and has the hands of a killer sewn on. This gives him an unintentional urge to kill, with the killer's hands obviously having a brain stronger than his own. The murders are shocking and brutal, one involving a teenaged boy truly disturbing. Another seemingly accidental death has the victim burning alive right in front of his eyes.

The less said about the acting, the better. A good majority of the acting is amateurish and noisy, with the women in particular braying their lines. One of the young actresses ironically is a young Sally Kellerman. Technically, this has some terrific moments, but then some ridiculously melodramatic moment comes along and destroys the mood. I guess if you go in looking for the unintentional laughs, you might find yourself enjoying it more.

Hands of a Stranger

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 19 March 2009]

A talented pianist, Vernon Paris(James Stapleton)has played the greatest concert of his life with a future as bright as could possibly be..until his hands are mangled and broken after his taxi driver, whose attention was diverted, crashes. A dedicated and intensely driven surgeon, Dr. Gil Harding(Paul Lukather), who pushes himself too hard in saving every life under his care regardless of the circumstances, is able to successfully transplant a mysterious murdered man's hands onto Vernon whose own were damaged beyond repair. Awakening to the horror that he no longer possessed the delicate, skilled hands that so wonderfully played such soaring melodies, Vernon rejects the new ones grafted to him. Psychologically traumatized, Vernon begins to violently react towards those he condemns for the new hands that aren't able to adjust to the piano keys that once brought beauty to the world. This includes those who contributed to the surgery and his tragic fate..Gil's doctors and the son of the taxi driver who caused the crash(..also Vernon's glamorous society gal who left him for another after discovering his accident).

Overly dramatic, talky, with loud, pounding score attempting to increase the level of weight regarding the characters and story can sometimes make the presentation a bit difficult, but I appreciated the ambitious nature behind the filmmakers in telling a compelling tale about how tragedy effects the lives of many when talent is taken from someone who has prepared his whole life for success. Director Newt Arnold, who also wrote the intelligent and thought-provoking screenplay, uses his camera to emphasize the importance of the hands, their movements and abilities, even focusing on the psychological impact of losing your own and being stuck with those alien to you. I like how Arnold differentiates the changes in the hands, once gentle, bringing only beauty, then strong and powerful creating only death. Arnold establishes that anything(..anyone)Vernon touches, he destroys. The performances are pretty intense and melodramatic, but the situation within the story warrants such heated emotions and debates. Still, one major problem that this film suffers from, I felt, is that Vernon is hard to sympathize with because he seems quite egotistical, arrogant, and the type yearning for the spotlight and fame..he has worked hard for this glory, but it's hard to really embrace him because he's obsessed with beauty to the point that it's the only thing of importance. When this is taken away from him, Vernon immediately sours, pointing fingers at the very ones who, at the very least, gave him new hands. I thought Lukather was very good as the determined surgeon, with a commanding presence, providing his character with an authority. Laurence Haddon is Lt. Syms, who hounds Gil for answers regarding the missing hands from the dead, unidentified man, patient, but steadily getting restless and assertive when the victims start adding up. Harvey, as Vernon's concerned sister, Dina(..and Gil's love interest), can be a bit overwhelming in her histrionics(..her overheated exchange with Gil over Vernon's unfortunate problem is almost cringe-worthy), but when settled/toned down, she isn't too bad. Some impressive photography with Arnold capturing faces/images quite well for extra impact(..the funhouse mirror gag is quite a powerful moment truly displaying the torment Vernon is facing in a visual way).

Unremarkable and unmemorable but an okay time killer

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 10 November 2009]

Hands of Orlac brought up to date, well at least as far as 1962. The story is of a pianist who loses his hands in a car accident and has those of a killer sewn on to his arms. Of course it all goes wrong as the pianist begins to think that the hands have a mind of their own.

You know the drill. Odds are you've been here before. The idea of an alien body part taking over the body of the receiver is a well worn story that runs rampant through horror and science fiction pulp tales. It would be fool hardy to try and compare this to the countless variations so I won't, I'll just deal with the Orlac variations. Here the story is done reasonably well. certainly this isn't the best version of the tale, that prize would probably go to Mad Love starring Peter Lorre. Certainly Mad Love has something memorable to it while Hands of a Strangers has very little to remember. I've seen the film several times now, the last time last night, and in all honesty other than the basic premise I remember almost nothing. It is an okay time killer, I had it on while going to bed, but its not really something I'd ever search out (I had it in the collection and popped it in because I hadn't seen it in a while). If you run across it its worth a shot, but beyond that I can't say much.

Difficult psychological thriller running off the rails into unmanageable tragedy...

[clanciai · 8/10 · 15 July 2017]

This is not as bad as it looks, although it definitely is not a very uplifting film. As so often in American films, everything is lost by the lack of self control. The pianist loses his hands in a car accident, but an ingenious pioneer surgeon succeeds by a bold transplant operation in giving him a new pair of hands, which seem to work, but they work too well. They are too strong for him, and he can't manage them, and things go awry to the extreme. We never get to know whose hands they were, but they are too strong for his own good, and by his psychological liability in the deep personal crisis of having lost all his active life and everything he lived for, he can't control them as his impulses drive him over the edge. Dirk Bogarde or Farley Granger would have made a better performance of this complex character, like Hitchcock would have done much more of the thriller, much could have been made better of this very interesting psychological study into the emergence of psychopathology; as it is the realization of the drama is too superficial, as if some important scenes were missing, but it's a fascinating study in the nature of hands and what they mean to us. Whatever would you do if you lost your hands? That's the issue of this film, which indeed makes you think about it, especially if your life and work is totally dependent on the control and reliability on your hands...

The fatal mistake of Dr. Gil Harding (Paul Lukather) is not to realize that the pianist could impossibly take up piano playing again with a pair of hands not his own, which in all probability never had touched a keyboard, but the surgeon seems to imagine this to be possible in the over-optimism of his medical success. It's not a flaw of the extremely interesting case story, but important to observe this psychological mistake, and the doctor seems to realize it in the end. At least he tried all his best.

Solid psychological drama

[bt698nhj · 6/10 · 8 June 2016]

This 1962 movie felt like a cross between a soap opera a made-for-TV movie or Perry Mason episode in its production values and musical score, but that's true of many movies of this era. Despite the apparent low budget, the movie provides intriguing if not compelling drama as we watch the world-class pianist in a classic man vs. himself struggle after the replacement of his hands following an accident.

What happened to James Noah? He has features of Elvis and Jack Lord and I thought he did a fine job in this role. His acting career, such as it was, went on hold for 20+ years after 1966. Odd.

I thought the pacing was unnecessarily slow in some places, but again, that's somewhat characteristic of the era. This film was close to a 7 for me but didn't quite have the it factor to get it there. Still, a solid film.

B-horror

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 July 2021]

A man is murdered on the streets. Dr. Gil Harding tries to save him but he dies on the operating table. The doctor does notice the dead man's exquisite hands. Police Lt. Syms has questions for the doctor. Vernon Paris is a brilliant concert pianist and his sister Dina Paris is his biggest supporter. Vernon's hands are terribly mangled in a car accident. Dr. Harding tries an experimental hand transplant surgery.

This is a horror story staple. The body horror idea has deep roots despite its surgical unreality at the time. This is closer to an old style slasher B-movie. It's not the most compelling after an intriguing start. It's old and melodramatic. I doesn't take advantage of the body horror angle. It's all rather flat.

Enjoyable!

[NNancy1964 · 15 March 2003]

I saw this on the Saturday night Creature Feature, which usually plays the WORST kind of dreck... I was pleasantly surprised that this film was as good as it was. Being from a family of musicians, and a flutist myself, I understood all too well the care that Vernon took of his hands, and the devastation he must have felt. The premise of the film wasn't really anything new, but there were enough twists to keep it interesting... :-)

Talk to the Hands cause the face is asleep!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 18 December 2007]

"Hands of a Stranger" is a version of the same story told in Peter Lorre's 1930's classic "Mad Love" (and also in "The Hands of Orlac, but I haven't seen that one yet), only the visual flair and suspenseful atmosphere of that film have been removed here and replaced with nothing but … melodramatic speeches! Every character in this film, whether he or she plays a leading part or just a supportive one, simply looooooooooooves to speech. Even the simplest "yes" or "no" questions are answered with incredibly overlong, tedious, irritating and besides-the-point nagging and driveling. Needless to say this badly affects the amusement factor as well as the pacing, and "Hands of the Stranger" indeed quickly became one of the dullest & laughably pretentious thrillers I had the displeasure of watching recently. The story opens with a random guy getting shot by anonymous men from a driving car. The identity of this man, the reasons why he must die and – equally important – who killed him are all questions that unprofessionally remain open throughout the entire movie. All we learn about him is that he has strong and beautiful hands. Whenever someone informs about his identity or background, the standard response is that the investigation isn't finished yet. Nevertheless, the span of the story is approximately 4 to 5 months, so imagine how slow the CSI departments worked back in the 1960's. Anyway, the hands of the mysteriously assassinated stranger's hands are amputated and sewn on to the arms of an acclaimed pianist who lost his in a terrible car accident. Define irony; the guy walks out of an accident without a single scratch on his body yet his hands are entirely mangled and unrecognizable. He, Vernon Paris, subsequently has to learn to accept his new hands but instead of that the force him to kill. At least that's the explanation given in the film, but I'm convinced the script exclusively suggest that his mind went berserk. "Hands of a Stranger" is a nearly unendurably stupid film with very few aspects that are worth mentioning. Personally, I counted two remotely interesting sequences, namely one when Paris confronts the cab driver responsible for the accident and another one set at a carnival. The rest of the film is miserably boring, with endless lame dialogs, implausible characters (the Doctor looks like a rock star and the cop acts like a stand-up comedian), a total shortage of horrific moments, hideous photography, uninspired directing and just plain retarded plot twists.

"I was my hands!"

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 12 July 2022]

Talented and handsome pianist Vernon Paris (James Stapleton) loses his precious hands in a car accident. Pioneering surgery means he gets a new pair of hands sewn on but they are very strong and have murderous tendencies that Paris cannot control. This is the fourth film version of the classic tale "The Hands of Orlac", for sure it's not up there with the previous adaptations but it isn't too shabby either. Vernon's descent into madness and murder is well done, one of my favourite scenes is at a fairground at night where he really starts to lose it. He has a sister Dina, with whom he has a very close relationship, perhaps even a little too close. She is played by Joan Harvey who sadly overacts. Film looks good in black and white and has a few disturbing scenes. First time viewing for me and I thought it fairly good but nothing more.

shiny eye shadow, bad script, bad acting a distraction

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 2 September 2012]

After a horrible car accident, a concert pianist's hands are transplanted and he becomes a monster in "Hands of a Stranger," a 1962 film starring Paul Lukather, James Stapleton, and Joan Harvey.

Somewhat based on the often remade "Hands of Dr. Orlac," Stapleton plays Vernon Paris, a gifted pianist. The cab he is in has an accident, and his hands are mangled. A surgeon (Lukather) decides to try a hands transplant, taking hands from a corpse brought in a couple of hours earlier. When the bandages come off and Vernon realizes they're not his hands, he basically flips out and goes on a killing spree. A couple of times, he doesn't know his own strength and people end up dead. Then he starts deliberately killing.

Unlike Mad Love, where we know the transplanted hands are those of a killer, we never do learn the identity of Vernon's new hands. As for Vernon, I guess we just assume for some reason he goes nuts. His hands are ruined, the doctor gives him a chance to continue his career, and he's furious with everyone involved and seeks revenge.

Directed by Newt Arnold, this is a fairly atrocious film. For one thing, the eye makeup and use of a shiny eye shadow used to draw light is obvious. On Stapleton, who has effete features, it looks ridiculous. The dialogue is mind-bogglingly dense and the images in the film are sledge-hammer obvious, focusing on hands, hands, hands.

The acting - I imagine most of these poor souls did the best they could under the circumstances. Joan Harvey is so over the top screaming and fake crying that she's practically on the ceiling. In contrast, Stapleton's face and voice remain completely unchanged throughout the movie. Paul Lukather, whose voice is famous because of all the video games he's done, had a very distinguished career in all mediums and tries to strike a balance. But what could he do talking about beauty and science and mankind all the time.

If you want to watch it, be advised and just get a kick out of it.

What is Past is Prologue

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 18 June 2022]

Far more professional that it sounds on paper, this sci-fier benefits from good acting, while given the subject the use by Richard La Salle of a concert piano on the soundtrack lends an additional poignancy.

Surprisingly shocking

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 17 November 2018]

Concert Vernon Paris' hard work has finally paid off. He's become the biggest star there is. That's when his hands are ruined in an auto accident and Dr. Gil Harding amputates them - with no authority - and replaces them with the hands of a murderer, all in the hopes that Paris can play piano again. Sure, the transplant is a success, but Paris becomes unhinged and increasingly violent toward those he blames for him needing his killer new mitts.

Sure, this is based on the 1920 novel Les Mains d'Orlac by French writer Maurice Renard, but the real draw is the absolutely over the top slasher like violence - well, as good as it gets in 1962 - throughout the film. First, Paris argues with his former girlfriend Eileen, who can't love him as a normal man and craves the limelight that dating him gave her. Her dress catches on fire as they fight and she burns alive. Later, Skeet, the son of the taxi driver who caused the accident, enrages Victor by being able to play the piano when he cannot. He crushes the child's hands, then smashes his head open.

Keep your eyes peeled for a very young Sally Kellerman and Irish McCalla, who was TV's Sheena: Queen of the Jungle. This isn't a great movie, per se, but it's over the top and filled with brimming menace. It's also anything but boring!

Get your hand in.

[ulicknormanowen · 7/10 · 13 July 2020]

Another remake of sorts of "mad love" (Karl Freund , 1933 ,starring Peter Lorre, considered the best one )," Orlac's HÄnde " (Robert Wiene ,1925) and "les mains d'Orlac (Edmond T Greville ,1960 ,starring Mel Ferrer).

Although the beginning drags on , with interminable preachy ethics ,the film hits its stride after the operation :the screenplay is rather well written and does not plagiarize the other efforts : James Noah gives an amost inexpressive performance ,and it makes him all the more creepy (the rest of the cast is rather bland);the best scene is the fair ,where the clowns and the distorting mirrors are used with stunning effects . The parents ought to tell their children to never let a stranger in !

This film is better than its reputation.

He's got strong hands.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 18 October 2018]

The plot for this hokey B-movie will be no stranger to fans of 'classic' horror: it's another retelling of Maurice Renard's novel Les Mains d'Orlac (already filmed as The Hands of Orlac in 1924 and 1960, and as Mad Love in 1935), in which gifted surgeon Gil Harding (Paul Lukather) grafts a new pair of hands onto concert pianist Vernon Paris (James Noah), whose own hands have been mangled in an car crash. Even though Vernon's body accepts the new hands, his mind cannot, and he goes on a killing spree, wreaking vengeance on those responsible for his condition.

The over-familiarity of the material isn't a problem: what prevents this film from being a lot of fun is the script and the leaden direction, with countless scenes of verbose dialogue that really cause the film to drag. It's a long haul before the killing begins, writer/director Newton Arnold really laboring the point about Vernon's inability to come to terms with his predicament. That said, there are a couple of scenes that are rather entertaining: Irish McCalla proving to be highly combustible, and 10-year-old Skeet (Barry Gordon) making the mistake of asking Vernon to tickle the ivories for him ("Gee, mister, it must've been a long time 'cos you sure can't play now").

Pretty fun and intriguing affair

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 3 September 2012]

After losing his hands in a tragic accident, a gifted pianist finds that the surgically replaced hands he now has take a murderous life of their own and must try to stop them from acting out the deadly urges.

This here turned out to be pretty much a fun and enjoyable effort. A lot of what makes this one so much fun is brought along by the film's central point of a lot more focus on the hands and how they're getting comfortable following the accident. Since they're far more crucial to the film's plot rather than any other side-quality, the fact that this is able to put more focus on that through the long arguing done before and after the actual surgery as well as the procedures afterward testing how they've come along since. It's all nicely handled here until it turns over it's murderous qualities in the second half. This is an enjoyable affair as this gives us plenty of good scenes including the meeting with his girlfriend in her apartment and the young son of his driver when he stops in to meet with him. The finale here is also fun where it has more creepy qualities than expected, starting with the carnival altercations of people using their hands that eat at him before his playing the game and resulting freak-out in the area, and the stalking of his girlfriend in the theater which includes a fine brawl mixed in here. These here are all enough to make this one enjoyable enough to hold out nicely over the few small flaws here. The biggest problem here is the film's uneven pacing where this one is pretty front- loaded with the bland talking scenes and saves the action for the end. While there's still some focus on the surgeon and his radical experiment here, the fact that this comes in the form of the over-the-top speeches and throwing around how unethical the action procedure is that there's really no time to get this one going on with the hands' ineffectual nature by showing it in action. A lot of that is how this one seems to spiral between being a serious horror effort and more campy material rather than bringing on any kind of display of powers during the examination scenes makes this one lose some steam along the way. As well, there's the rather underwhelming finale does it no favors either with a simple, matter-of-factly occurrence that takes place off-screen for the most part which really causes this to lower the impact of the action. Otherwise, this one was quite entertaining.

Today's Rating-PG: Violence

Pretty Good Version of Orlac

[Rainey-Dawn · 6/10 · 19 October 2016]

Hands of a Stranger is nothing more than another version of "Hands of Orlac" (1924/1960). It's a pretty good version of the story.

A murderer dies and concert pianist looses his hands in a car wreck around the same time frame. A policeman is still solving the case of the murderer and the pianist's surgeon has given him the murderers hands. Somehow the hands have a mind of their own and murders people while the pianist seems to black out or block out in a way as he takes on the personality of the murderer and the murders taking place from his new hands.

it's odd but still makes for a decent horror story.

6.5/10

Return of a Theme with Under-known Actor

[ccbc · 5/10 · 9 October 2015]

The plot is very standard here. If you have seen The Beast With Five Fingers, The Hands of Orloff/Mad Love, or even the Michael Cain vehicle, The Hand, you know what this is about: guy gets new hands sewn onto his wrists, gets an itch to go out and strangle pe0oople . (This is a twist on the Eyes Of A Murderer concept, which may be reviewed other places. One difference: these are not necessarily the hands of a murderer being grafted onto the gifted pianist's wrists, in fact we never do learn whose hands these were -- but murder ensues nonetheless. So the question is: why watch this? For me, the interest was with the young actor (denied lead billing) and the men's incredibly greasy hairdos. Leaving hair for another day, we have James Stapleton who reminded me of a young Ray Liotta, but (as another reviewer perceptively noted) was directed as Hurd Hatfield. Too bad. One or two Liotta humorless laughs and we would have had an Academy performance. Such is the danger of being born between two film concepts, Hatfield and Liotta. Let this be a warning to would-be thespians: is now your time? Or should you go back to that comfortable barista job? (James Stapleton changed his stage name to James Noah. He got work for years, but not much and I think, given the proper role, could have been dynamite.)