Idle Hands (1999)

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

Director:

Rodman Flender

Writers:

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 Devil will find work for idle hands to do... but what happens when he chooses the laziest teen slacker in the world to do his dirty work?

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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 Corporation,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

This is the same hand that appears in the Addams Family (1991) as Thing played by magician Christopher Hart

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Goofs

After slipping on the blood at the base of the stairs Anton's mother's knee pads can be seen as she gets up to run up stairs.

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Quotes

Mick: SWEET JESUS!
Pnub: Ok, that wasn't my fault, that thing should've come down a LOT slower!

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Connections

Referenced in Dead Man's Dream (2002)

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Soundtracks

Santeria
Written by Bradley Nowell (as Brad Nowell), Floyd Gaugh & Eric Wilson
Performed by Sublime
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Fun story, much blood and – oh yeah – a very yummy Jessica Alba

"Idle Hands" isn't priority viewing for horror fans but it's a very entertaining little gem, nevertheless. Cast and crew were smart enough to put the whole horror genre into perspective a bit and therefore this feels a lot more like a light-headed spoof than a sickening gore flick. Ever since that dreadful "Scream", the teen-slasher flicks are going through a revival and "Idle Hands" picks into this in a funny way with a very exaggerated plot, eccentric characters and outrageous situations. Devon Sawa (Final Destination) stars as an offbeat teenager whose goal in life is too sleep late and smoke dope. It takes him quite some time to realize that his right hand is possessed by evil forces that force him to kill. With the help of his stoner-friends (killed as well, but too lazy to reach for the light at the end of the tunnel), he has got to prevent that the beautiful muse across the street gets killed by the bloodthirsty hand. The storyline is ultra-thin but don't let that keep you from having a good time watching the well-elaborated gore effects and funny one-liners. Very creative (but especially comic) butchering in this film, as it for example contains one of the potheads getting stabbed in the head with a beer bottle! That same bottle than remains embedded in his skull for the rest of the movie, which is a pretty cool sight. There are terrific tributes to horror titles that featured the same idea of a murderous hand earlier (like "Evil Dead 2" or Oliver Stone's "The Hand") and an excellent soundtrack with songs from Mötley Crüe, Rob Zombie and The Ramones. The best acting performance is given by Seth Green who has an undeniable talent for comedy roles. And then there's Jessica Alba who portrays one of the most gorgeous horror-heroines ever! I've seen a few episodes of her "Dark Angel" TV-show but she definitely didn't this good there! "Idle Hands" is an overall okay film...not good enough to be named among the better horror-comedies but surely a lot better than the so many other pretentious spoofs.