Idle Hands (1999)

A teenage slacker's right hand becomes possessed with murderous intent.

Director:

Rodman Flender

Writers:

Terri Hughes Burton (as Terri Hughes), Ron Milbauer

Stars:

Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Seventeen year old slacker Anton Tobias wakes up one Halloween morning to discover that both of his parents have been turned into two headless Halloween decorations. After speaking to his equally irresponsible friends, Mick and Pnub, he discovers that his right hand has a blood-thirsty mind of its own and is hell-bent on wreaking havoc whether he likes it or not.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | breasts | slow motion scene | trailer home | incense | 

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Taglines:

The touching story of a boy and his right hand.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

El diablo metió la mano

Filming Locations:

1034 North Madison Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,807,181, 2 May 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$4,002,955, 13 June 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Licht/Mueller Film Corporation, Team Todd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Anton, stunned after killing his two friends, walks into a support beam in his house, the thudding noise his body makes was not digitally added in after production - this is Devon Sawa actually walking into the solid-wood support beam. Often, when the cast would do a photo shoot or had to re-shoot a scene after this one, Devon would start off by walking into the support beam over and over again to the point that editors working below the stage started to wonder what the noise was.

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Goofs

The X-Marks on Debi's map changes over the shot.

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Quotes

Anton: Everybody go home, there's a psycho killer here! I cut off my hand, and now it's gonna kill you all!

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Alternate Versions

Besides the profanity noted above, all scenes of drug use have been taken out on TV too. This makes the ending very odd (Anton mysteriously has smoke in his mouth but we never see where it came from). Some blood/gore has been taken out, and some nudity has been taken out too.

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

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Soundtracks

I Am A Pig
Written by Rob Halford, John Lowery & Bob Marlette
Performed by Two
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Great mix of horror and humor

For reasons unknown, I couldn't see Idle Hands when it was released into theatres last year in 1999. I didn't get a chance to see it until it came out on tape in August later of that year. The plot centers around Anton Tobias(Devon Sawa), he's 17, he hasn't been to school in 6 months, he's in love with Molly(Jessica Alba) a girl who has lived across the street from him for lord knows how long, and he smokes pot with his friends Mick(Seth Green) and Pnub(Elden Henson). Anyway, Anton wakes up one day to find that his parents have disappeared, (although it takes him about two days to realize this). This goes to show you should stop smoking pot all the time. It isn't long before Anton discovers his horribly mutilated parents and that his right hand has been possessed by Satan. His hand soon kills his best friends Mick and Pnub. With the help of a priestess Debi(Vivica A. Fox) and a local headbanger (Jack Noseworthy) Anton comes up with a few odd ways of keeping his hand occupied from its homicidal tendencies such as listening to heavy metal and needle point.

Let me just say that this movie is hilarious. I should also say that this movie is also one of the grossest and goriest movies I've ever seen. There are quite a few hilarious moments as well as a few shocking ones.

Vivica A. Fox's name says it all and Jessica Alba isn't bad to look at either.

10/10