The Hand
1981 Directed by Oliver Stone
Synopsis
Nothing Will Prepare You For THE HAND.
Jon Lansdale is a comic book artist who loses his right hand in a car accident. The hand was not found at the scene of the accident, but it soon returns by itself to follow Jon around, and murder those who anger him.
Cast
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shocking, silly, weird, eerie atmosphere, gory, fun, Michael Caine's hair.
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This might be my favorite Oliver Stone film. I had no idea he directed not one, but two horror films before doing SALVADOR. A slight bit clever in that it takes what could be the dumbest idea for a horror film and plays with the expectation in probably what is just about the only way it can. Michael Cain is great as a man whose life unravels slowly after an accident involving the loss of his hand. What's really great here are the scenes of violence. Cain losing his hand for instance, a bit drawn out, the camera placed firmly in front of the severing, and then stays with him as he writhes in pain, blood spurting out in geyser-like…
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shocking, silly, weird, eerie atmosphere, gory, fun, Michael Caine's hair.
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Some fun Oliver Stone trash here as Michael Caine goes after his disembodied hand as it does things he could only dream of. Which usually involves killing women...
Stone brings a fair amount of style, Caine is convincing and the Hand itself is displayed well on-screen. The women in the film are there to be either screwed, shouted at or killed and that leaves a sour taste but the film basically admits to this within the dialogue at the end anyway. A slightly guilty good time.
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Oh ha, richtig Oldschool, aber im Gegensatz zu manch anderer Genreproduktion verhältnismäßig gut gealtert. Klar, als aufgeklärter Zuschauer ahnt man natürlich schon recht früh worauf der Plot hinaus läuft, das tut der Spannung aber keinen Abbruch an. Michael Caine trägt fast den kompletten Film auf seinen Schultern und es macht Spaß seine Odyssee ins Grauen mitzuverfolgen. Allerdings mutet es doch etwas seltsam an das er den Verlust seiner Hand so locker wegsteckt. In Sachen Blut geht es eher spärlich zur Sache, was aber vollkommen ok ist das The Hand eher als Psychothriller denn als Horrorfilm funktioniert.
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Like his debut Seizure, Oliver Stone's second feature The Hand is a literalized horror-movie treatment of psychological tensions. David Cronenberg did it better, and Stone was wise to stop at this point. The movie has some parallels with its predecessor — creative type cracks up, his hostility manifesting itself as an Id creature who goes after his acquaintances — though it's based on other material, Marc Brandel's solid novel The Lizard's Tail. Michael Caine is a cartoonist who loses his drawing hand in a car accident. The severed hand takes on a life of its own and flops around strangling people (including Stone himself, in a cameo as a bum), while the increasingly agitated Caine is suspected of the murders…
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Went into it with low expectations based on seemingly unanimous negative reactions to the film which probably contributed to my being delightfully surprised by this oddball psychological horror film from Oliver Stone. The premise is interesting (though derivative) and Michael Caine's performance is exceptional.
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Slow-moving early horror film from Oliver Stone stars Michael Caine as a cartoonist whose drawing hand is sheared off in a car accident, but somehow survives to do his dirty work, killing those who have crossed him. It has a strange charm, but the effects are unbelivably bad, as the story is too obvious. Even Caine’s performance is strained and frequently over-the-top.