Idle Hands (1999)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Rodman Flender

Writers (WGA):

Terri Hughes (written by) &
Ron Milbauer (written by)

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The touching story of a boy and his right hand.

Plot:

Lazy Anton's right hand becomes possessed with murderous intent.

Plot Keywords:

Hand | Halloween | Friends | Killing Spree | Truck

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Devon Sawa	...	Anton Tobias
Seth Green	...	Mick
Elden Henson	...	Pnub
Jessica Alba	...	Molly
Vivica A. Fox	...	Debi LeCure
Christopher Hart	...	The Hand
Jack Noseworthy	...	Randy
Katie Wright	...	Tanya
Sean Whalen	...	McMacy
Nicholas Sadler	...	Ruck (as Nick Sadler)
Fred Willard	...	Dad Tobias
Connie Ray	...	Mom Tobias
Steve Van Wormer	...	Curtis
Kelly Monaco	...	Tiffany
Timothy Stack	...	Principal Tidwell

MPAA:

Rated R for horror violence and gore, pervasive teen drug use, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

90 min | 92 min | Argentina:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36158) | Greece:K-13 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Finland:K-18 (original rating) | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Anton is watching Night of the Living Dead (1968) on TV.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Anton microwaves the hand and blood spatters on the inside of the microwave, the position and pattern of the blood on the microwave window changes between shots.

Quotes:

Mick: [to 911 operator] There is something wrong with my friend, I think he smoked some nutmeg or something.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: Dragon Nuts (#2.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

I Wanna Be Sedated

A very pleasant surprise

As mentioned in the other comments, this movie is a awful lot better than it would first seem. Its still a rather brainless teen slasher flick, with the usual array of 2D characters ( the goofy friends, gorgeous love interest, aggressive hunk etc) and situations (school Halloween dance), but the great dialogue and great visual effects elevate it above the majority of other movies in the teen slasher style and doesn't do too much talking down to the audience. Where most other movies of this type give the audience 2 answers before a single question is answered Idle Hands has no fears about leaving things unanswered, where the viewer can make their own mind up (for once). Devon Sawa makes for a convincing and cute Anton, while Jessica Alba is all thats needed to keep the target audience of under 20's males glued to their seats. Don't get me wrong, this isn't up there with the likes of Lawrence of Arabia, but it never sets out to be; it's hilariously funny, satisfyingly gory and one hell of a lot better than you'd ever think. Go rent it, you'l be pleasantly surprised. Also, the soundtrack is great.