We continue our 31 days of Halloween with a cult classic from 1999. Idle Hands is about a slacker teen named Anton Tobias (Devon Sawa). He is incredibly lazy, and one day, he has his right hand possessed by a demonic force. He ends up killing his two best buddies, Pnub (Elden Henson) and Mick (Seth Green), who return to life as wisecracking zombies. Anton must find a way to keep control before his hand kills even more people.
The Story
This is a great horror comedy that, unfortunately, not many people have checked out. Sure, there is a cult following, but I still feel this one should have been bigger. It’s the perfect blend of horror and comedy. The script is funny and the characters are likable and memorable. Even with the humor, the movie is pretty gruesome and has some really cool practical effects. The movie overall is a quirky good time with an awesome soundtrack.
The Acting and Characters
Devon Sawa as the lead is fantastic. He is supposed to be incredibly lazy, but he still manages to be likable. When his hand becomes possessed, he does a great job moving around like he lacks control. The hand at one point is actually played by Christopher Hart, who many know also played Thing in The Addams Family movies.
Seth Green and Elden Henson are great as the undead best friends. They have some of the funniest lines, and the makeup on them adds to the horror and comedy. Vivica A Fox and Jessica Alba are also in the movie and do well. This movie has a lot of stars who became bigger in the future. We also get some great cameos from Tom Delonge from blink-182 and Dexter Holland from The Offspring.
Why It Works?
Idle Hands works because it never takes itself too seriously. The movie finds a way to have suspense around the humor. It does this well because we care about the characters. We don’t want to see them get killed, and we want Anton to succeed in vanquishing this demon.
There is a scene where the hand puts each finger inside a pencil sharpener in order to sharpen its nails in order to hurt people more. That is the type of movie this is, and it’s glorious. This one is great to watch during spooky season. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you haven’t.
What really hurt this film turned out to be timing. The movie was set to be released just 10 days after the Columbine shooting. People felt the movie was insensitive due to being about a teenager who goes on a killing spree. The movie had nothing really similar to Columbine in it, but people didn’t care. Even a senator denounced the film, calling it “grossly violent”. The premiere was cancelled and many theatres refused to screen the film, causing it to overall become a box office bomb.
Idle Hands is available to watch on Pluto TV.
Join us tomorrow for more spooky reviews.
