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

4 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:

twin brother | drug use | strangulation | demonic possession | disembodied hand | 

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Taglines:

The comedy that gives horror films the backhand.

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The two songs that The Offspring performs at the concert are "I Wanna Be Sedated" (originally by The Ramones) and "Beheaded".

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Goofs

In the very beginning of the movie they show the pumpkin head people decorations directly in the window almost touching the window but when Anton's mom comes downstairs to check on her husband the pumpkin head people are far enough away from the window for her to walk in front of both of the with plenty of room to blow out the candles inside.

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Quotes

Pnub: Don't you watch the news?
Anton: I hate that fucking show.

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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

Features Glen or Glenda (1953)

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Soundtracks

I Am A Pig
Written by Rob Halford, John 5 (as John Lowery) & Bob Marlette
Performed by Two
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Comedy & Horror Seem To Work Well Together

I thought this was going to be just another dumb teen comedy. After watching the first 10 minutes, I was convinced it was, and was ready to try something else. Well, I am glad I stayed with it. It was very funny and a combination comedy and horror film. Yes, it's humor geared more for teens but people far older than 15 should still get a lot of laughs out of this.

Warning: some of the scenes are pretty gross, at least for a comedy, but that's what made those particularly scenes funny. Comedy and horror mix well together, anyway.

The film reminded me a bit of "American Werewolf in London" with the "undead" kids. Despite the absurdity of it, there are a couple of good message in here....but, generally, this is purely escapist fun and nothing else.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Idle Hands

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

Gross USA:

$4,152,230

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,152,230

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