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39 reviews in total

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17 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Not all THAT bad., 8 October 1999

Author: Warren Hawkes from Melbourne, Australia

Oliver Stone and Michael Caine may well feel a little embarrassed by this tale of a cartoonist haunted by his own severed drawing hand, but despite it's ludicrous premise and rather rubbery effects from Stan Winston, the film isn't all THAT bad.

Michael Caine brings an amiable nonchalance to the E.C. horror comic style proceedings while portraying his character's ever growing bitterness perfectly. While the story provides little in surprises the film does work on more than one level, leaving the viewer wondering if what's going on, is all in mind of Caine's character or that it is indeed actually happening. And for a film like this that makes you think, or more fittingly, makes you stop thinking how all very silly this all is, is no mean feat.

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15 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Stone tries his 'hand' at horror, 30 January 2003
Author: JOHNBATES-1 from vista, ca

An early Oliver Stone directed film. The Hand does well with atmospheric settings, an essential part of any horror story. There's the beautiful country lakeside home, a New York loft and a rain drenched Northern California town.

The horror level won't blow you out of the room however. It's more of a story of dark, suspicious moods and egos presented with intelligent scripted dialogue by a first rate cast. Mara Hobel, playing the young daughter, even does well with little furtive glances, dead pan stares and pert smiles.

A master touch is the final scene between a thoroughly exhausted and shattered Caine and the Viveca Lindfors 'there are no such things as ghosts' psychiatrist. The final freeze frame of Caine rising up with a look of gloating madness is brilliant.

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12 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Decent enough, 14 October 2007

Author: Bjorn (jbjorns) from Iceland

I don't know if I was in a rare forgiving frame of mind but The Hand actually worked for me.

It doesn't go very deep in the psychological department and just about every average viewer can spot the twist but then the end just throws everything out the window and leaves the audience shouting; What the ****!

But it's well acted, especially by Caine who completely earns viewer's sympathy. Writer/director Oliver Stone effortlessly builds up suspense and atmosphere and some scenes here do work really well. Technical aspects are surprisingly well handled and make up effects are gruesome and well done.

While The Hand won't go down as a cinematic masterpiece, it's a solid thriller nonetheless.

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11 out of 16 people found the following review useful:
THE HAND (Oliver Stone, 1981) **, 20 March 2007

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

Nobody can ever accuse Michael Caine of not having had a fascinating career. His incredibly prolific filmography (132 appearances and counting in just over 50 years) is littered with high highs (a handful of all-time classics and 2 Academy Awards) and low lows (actually, from quite early on in his career to, unsurprisingly, the present day). Still, the latter bunch are, for all their glaring faults, hardly unwatchable and, at times, fairly tolerable and this rare horror item is certainly among his more interesting failures.

Apart from its horror elements and the chance to watch another Michael Caine stinker (although, as it turns out, Jon Voight and Christopher Walken had both previously turned down the lead role), the film's main draw nowadays is watching an early (though not the first) directorial stint from Oliver Stone (he even has an amusing unbilled cameo as an ill-fated tramp) and, most intriguingly, within an exploitation genre from which he has distanced himself completely since then. As I mentioned earlier, the film ends up being less the disastrous embarrassment I had anticipated and more a watchable (if hardly original) horror flick which moves rather slowly but has has the occasional effective shock moment to satiate genre fans. In fact, Stone infuses the film with a modicum of style including subjective shots from the marauding hand's point of view, delirious dream sequences often shot in monochrome and, most incredibly, an utterly grisly freak car accident sequence (with fake blood galore) early on in the film in which cartoonist Caine loses his drawing hand and which sets the narrative in motion.

The thing is that, while it starts well enough, the film is soon bogged down by repetitive marital squabbles between an increasingly unhinged Caine and his free-spirited wife Andrea Marcovicci. Besides, Caine's stump is not exactly the greatest and, when all is said and done, we have been here once too often and I only need to point out the other more notable cinematic examples of "the walking hand" - THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924), MAD LOVE (1935) THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946), THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962), DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) and ...AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! (1973) - for this film's relative redundance to become apparent. Still, that such an old-fashioned concept was revived at this point in time and by these film-makers is extraordinary in itself but, even if they did try to bring it up-to-date with the addition of gore and sleaze, I can't say I was too surprised by the twist ending which - while not making a great deal of sense and somewhat dispelling the strong similarities with Michael Caine's previous role in another imitative (but much more successful) slasher, DRESSED TO KILL (1980), which had previously been to the fore - provided Hollywood veteran Viveca Lindfors with a very brief but notable cameo as Caine's no-nonsense shrink.

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8 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
It's the ending that makes this movie., 20 September 2006

Author: jamnar from United States

I remember watching this movie soon after it came out and the special effects were not bad for the time period that it came out despite what people say. Remember, Star Wars had only been out a few years by this time. As far as the movie goes, Caine does quite well with his part and the plot is believable in the way Freddie Kruger is believable. If you've seen many "creature" movies, then this one could seem to be predictable and thus lose some of it's "boo" effect. Wait until the end and watch closely. If you've seen this movie you should know what I mean, if not then pay close attention. After seeing that final scene you suddenly realize that maybe all wasn't as it seemed. Go back through this movie and keep in mind that last scene. Suddenly the whole movie transcends the Freddie Kruger believable and becomes in fact quite plausible. It's like watching Star Wars Episode 4 after just watching Episode 3, it all takes on new meaning!

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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
A good performance of Michael Caine., 9 March 2010

Author: psagray from Spain

A cartoonist of comics "Jonathan Lansdale" (Michael Caine) loses a hand in an unfortunate accident that ends with his career and creates a strong tension in their marriage. As a harrowing nightmare, the hand lost appears, committing atrocious murders.

It's the first commercial launch of high budget of Oliver Stone, which was not well received by the criticism at the time. It's a movie surprising and very intriguing whose value more remarkable is the ambiguity that its director Oliver Stone poses in this psychological thriller based on the novel by Mark Brandel "The tail of the lizard".

Stone shows us a dense atmosphere and surreal, where the subjectivity seizes the story. There are times when the film that we question whether what we recount and we see is really the case or any other remedy used to deceive and confuse the viewer. Through the film and gradual manner the story is complicating and becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from fantasy, where the film has a turbid, dark, surreal, disturbing atmosphere.

Very good performance of Michael Caine, with a good management of the camera, and a pleasant and tense music of James Horner.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Disembodied hand story minus the usual camp, 28 October 2009

Author: Polaris_DiB from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Many early films, even from big name directors, are simple concept horror films. From world famous Oliver Stone comes a somewhat familiar disembodiment story where an artist loses a hand, only for the hand to become a literal "manifestation" (get it?) of his psyche--especially his anger. Now, disembodied hands have a history in cinema stretching back to the silent era, but for some reason in the 80s it was a really popular concept--Idle Hands, Evil Dead II... What's interesting about Stone's take is that it's played with a straight face and a minimum of camp.

Partly that has to do with Michael Caine. Caine is always good, and here he's downright sadistic as a grumbling, postal frustrated artist. Another element is the script. Based on a story by Marc Brandel, "The Hand" has more to do with a floundering marriage and unstable future than it does with cheap shocks and startles (though we are speaking Oliver Stone here, so there is more than enough blood). Thirdly, there's Stone's directing itself, which delights in unsettling camera play and some really impressive lighting. Though this is not Stone's first movie, for an early one it is still a very impressive indication of his skill behind the camera, his ability to direct actors, and his visual acumen.

For someone looking for scare-a-minute thrills, the plodding length and necessary character development will get in the way, but for those who like their psychological thrillers slowly bubbling up from the bottom, The Hand is very well-paced fare. It all becomes worth it as Caine's psyche breaks down and even he loses track of what he's responsible for.

--PolarisDiB

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A great blast to watch in this millennium, 5 August 2009

Author: cherbo from Singapore

Not a lot of people feel this, but the way films are made have changed since the beginning of the millennium. From blocking, cinematography, film stock, writing, pacing, everything is different. So it's really refreshing to watch michael caine do his thing in this oliver stone horrorfest. What might have been over the top campy shtick in the 80s becomes infinitely watchable.

I agree about the similarities to the shining but doesn't quite match up. The comments about the burning car i don't agree with. It's inserted to show michael caine getting unhinged the more he suspects he's got a pet killer hand out there.

A great movie to check out. Really fun.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Liked the psychological demons of Michael Caine, 20 July 2007

Author: horacekohanim from Lala Land

As a psychological thriller this actually works. In large part because of Michael Caine. As a B movie about a killer hand or a schizo cartoonist it features Olive Stone's tortured man, driven to ruin by a woman, whose lack of self-knowledge and unchecked rage propel him to violence. I kind of agree with another reviewer's disappointment at the ending not wrapping it up, but The Hand is enough of a thing that I feel neither way about the end. Stone's vitriol for women, a characterization many have stuck on throughout his career, is very apparent here. Caine as Johnathan Lansdale is comfortable in his beautiful country home, crafting a semi-popular syndicated cartoon. But his yogic wife Anne (Andrea Marcovicci) wants to do something with her life and demands a move to NYC. This ends up undoing him, but not before he struggles with having his writing/drawing hand severed. Without saying more, I'd recommend this for Caine's gradual unraveling, an engrossing trip into The Mind and even a good Oliver Stone cameo.

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6 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Brilliant & terrific, 14 May 2003

Author: stephanebordeauxmarseille from France

This is one of the most terrific movie of M Caïne. The music & noises are excellent. The cast is perfect, secondary actors and rednecks are really ugly. The story is a variation on the theme of the lizard tail. See this movie if you find it !

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