Anger Management: The Hand (Oliver Stone, 1981)

I have a friend who claims The Hand to be Oliver Stone's best movie. I'm not sure I can agree on that. My personal favorites is JFK, Alexander (believe it or not!) and U Turn, but The Hand IS an underrated horror film, or simple a psychological breakdown starring Michael Caine. 

This is one of those movies Caine did just because he needed the money (the rumour says he needed a garage, which reminds me of Jaws 4, where he built a house for his salary). Luckily for us Caine is also a fine actor he often makes good performances even if he doesn't like the job. I think I can see in his eyes. He often plays grumpier and more rude in movies he just took for the money. Just look at The Swarm. There's something cold in him, shark eyes. I like him anyway.

In The Hand he plays a comic book artist who looses his hand in a car accident and slowly goes deeper into insanity, getting jealous, paranoid, bitter - and soon he thinks his hand, they never found it, is after those who fucks around with him. He and his wife separates and he goes to California to teach, but the hand - just like a certain shark several years later - follows him and starts to kill, Kill, KILL!!! You get the point.

There is a certain amount of cheesiness over the whole concept, we can all agree on that. But Caine is delivering such a nasty, dark, bitter and unpleasant character that the cheese soon rots away and reveals a pitch black relationship drama. Which is why The Hand in the end is so damn cool. It wouldn't surprise me if Warner was confused when the movie was ready for relase - in the middle of the slasher boom someone makes an anti-slasher, probably scaring away every damn teenager in the cinema. It's a more adult horror/thriller, sometimes slow - but rich on atmosphere.

Oliver Stone makes a solid debut with his first feature and the script he's written isn't bad either, even if the cheesier kill scenes seems more from the mind of a producer or company boss wanting more blood and boobs. There's some very graphic nudity and some blood and violence. The scene where his hand is cut off is absurdly bloody, almost Monty Python-esque with blood spurting everywhere. Fun. 

Have any of you seen M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable? Because I haven't. But I know what it's about and I feel that The Hand is in the same territory, but instead of superheroes this film shows us the birth of slasher villain. It all leads up there, the trauma, the gimmick with the metal hand and finally going completely bonkers in the and...

Well, what's going on there anyway? Is it in his mind or does he actually controls his cut off hand, making it a killer hand? I hope so. Sincerely hope so, but even if it's just one of those mindfucks, it's a good movie. Yeah, even a great - but slightly cheesy - thriller. I've seen it countless times over the years and I still dig it. Plus, it has Viveca Lindfors in a cameo - the best actress to come from Sweden in my humble opinion!

Comments

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"I have a friend who claims The Hand to be Oliver Stone's best movie. I'm not sure I can agree on that."

I totally disagree with your friend, Stone has done a lot better films.

"My personal favorites is JFK, Alexander (believe it or not!) and U Turn"

JFK(1991) and especially U Turn (1997)I like alot.....U Turn (1997)is very funny dark comedy, unfortunatley Stone didn´t have the same luck with Savages(2012), but see it anyway Fred.

Alexander(2004) was disapointment for me....Stone is the right guy for epic ancient battles, but then again I haven´t seen the uncut version.

"This is one of those movies Caine did just because he needed the money (the rumour says he needed a garage, which reminds me of Jaws 4, where he built a house for his salary). Luckily for us Caine is also a fine actor he often makes good performances even if he doesn't like the job. I think I can see in his eyes. He often plays grumpier and more rude in movies he just took for the money. Just look at The Swarm. There's something cold in him, shark eyes. I like him anyway."

Yeah, he can be very menacing, look at him in On Deadly Ground (1994).

"There is a certain amount of cheesiness over the whole concept, we can all agree on that. But Caine is delivering such a nasty, dark, bitter and unpleasant character that the cheese soon rots away and reveals a pitch black relationship drama."

Yeah, I always felt that Stone may have wanted to do a dark relationship drama but the studio refused.....Stone reversed his course and made genre picture instead.

Who knows......but´s a nice flick, I think.

"Oliver Stone makes a solid debut with his first feature and the script he's written isn't bad either, even if the cheesier kill scenes seems more from the mind of a producer or company boss wanting more blood and boobs."

Maybe, but Stone has never shied away from graphic nudity, gore etc.

Remember how upset people were about Natural Born Killers(1994)?

Then you have Salvador(1986), Platoon (1986), Any Given Sunday(1999) etc....Stone doesn´t hold back.

"Have any of you seen M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable? Because I haven't. But I know what it's about and I feel that The Hand is in the same territory, but instead of superheroes this film shows us the birth of slasher villain. It all leads up there, the trauma, the gimmick with the metal hand and finally going completely bonkers in the and..."

Yep, I seen it....but Shyamalan is way more pretentious in Unbreakable(2000), slower pace then in The Hand (1981).

Very stylish, nice cinematography in Unbreakable(2000), one of few good things about it.

I even prefer Lady in the Water(2006), very uneven film, but fun, I think you should review it.

"Yeah, even a great - but slightly cheesy - thriller. I've seen it countless times over the years and I still dig it. Plus, it has Viveca Lindfors in a cameo - the best actress to come from Sweden in my humble opinion!"

Well, I only seen it once, but it has some good moments.

Lindfors, almost forgotten now, but she delivered some great performances.

Good review.