The Hand (1981) User Reviews

Decent enough

[ODDBear · 7/10 · 14 October 2007]

I don't know if I was in a rare forgiving frame of mind but The Hand actually worked for me.

It doesn't go very deep in the psychological department and just about every average viewer can spot the twist but then the end just throws everything out the window and leaves the audience shouting; What the ****!

But it's well acted, especially by Caine who completely earns viewer's sympathy. Writer/director Oliver Stone effortlessly builds up suspense and atmosphere and some scenes here do work really well. Technical aspects are surprisingly well handled and make up effects are gruesome and well done.

While The Hand won't go down as a cinematic masterpiece, it's a solid thriller nonetheless.

Not all THAT bad.

[WOZ inOZ · 7/10 · 8 October 1999]

Oliver Stone and Michael Caine may well feel a little embarrassed by this tale of a cartoonist haunted by his own severed drawing hand, but despite it's ludicrous premise and rather rubbery effects from Stan Winston, the film isn't all THAT bad.

Michael Caine brings an amiable nonchalance to the E.C. horror comic style proceedings while portraying his character's ever growing bitterness perfectly. While the story provides little in surprises the film does work on more than one level, leaving the viewer wondering if what's going on, is all in mind of Caine's character or that it is indeed actually happening. And for a film like this that makes you think, or more fittingly, makes you stop thinking how all very silly this all is, is no mean feat.

Much Better Than You May Think

[TheAnimalMother · 7/10 · 21 August 2021]

This film starring Michael Caine seems like it might be ridiculously dumb due to its name and cover art. However it's actually quite thought provoking, and very entertaining. This film has a sort of funny brilliance to it. I think most people go into it just so unready for it or something; Hence the low rating. Also, if you don't watch it from the beginning, it will most likely just seem stupid. This film still has less than 6,000 votes on here at this point. It's definitely underseen and it's somewhat of a hidden gem in my view. 7.5/10.

Stone tries his 'hand' at horror

[JOHNBATES-1 · 30 January 2003]

An early Oliver Stone directed film. The Hand does well with atmospheric settings, an essential part of any horror story. There's the beautiful country lakeside home, a New York loft and a rain drenched Northern California town.

The horror level won't blow you out of the room however. It's more of a story of dark, suspicious moods and egos presented with intelligent scripted dialogue by a first rate cast. Mara Hobel, playing the young daughter, even does well with little furtive glances, dead pan stares and pert smiles.

A master touch is the final scene between a thoroughly exhausted and shattered Caine and the Viveca Lindfors 'there are no such things as ghosts' psychiatrist. The final freeze frame of Caine rising up with a look of gloating madness is brilliant.

THE HAND (Oliver Stone, 1981) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 20 March 2007]

Nobody can ever accuse Michael Caine of not having had a fascinating career. His incredibly prolific filmography (132 appearances and counting in just over 50 years) is littered with high highs (a handful of all-time classics and 2 Academy Awards) and low lows (actually, from quite early on in his career to, unsurprisingly, the present day). Still, the latter bunch are, for all their glaring faults, hardly unwatchable and, at times, fairly tolerable and this rare horror item is certainly among his more interesting failures.

Apart from its horror elements and the chance to watch another Michael Caine stinker (although, as it turns out, Jon Voight and Christopher Walken had both previously turned down the lead role), the film's main draw nowadays is watching an early (though not the first) directorial stint from Oliver Stone (he even has an amusing unbilled cameo as an ill-fated tramp) and, most intriguingly, within an exploitation genre from which he has distanced himself completely since then. As I mentioned earlier, the film ends up being less the disastrous embarrassment I had anticipated and more a watchable (if hardly original) horror flick which moves rather slowly but has has the occasional effective shock moment to satiate genre fans. In fact, Stone infuses the film with a modicum of style including subjective shots from the marauding hand's point of view, delirious dream sequences often shot in monochrome and, most incredibly, an utterly grisly freak car accident sequence (with fake blood galore) early on in the film in which cartoonist Caine loses his drawing hand and which sets the narrative in motion.

The thing is that, while it starts well enough, the film is soon bogged down by repetitive marital squabbles between an increasingly unhinged Caine and his free-spirited wife Andrea Marcovicci. Besides, Caine's stump is not exactly the greatest and, when all is said and done, we have been here once too often and I only need to point out the other more notable cinematic examples of "the walking hand" - THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924), MAD LOVE (1935) THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946), THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962), DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965) and ...AND NOW THE SCREAMING STARTS! (1973) - for this film's relative redundance to become apparent. Still, that such an old-fashioned concept was revived at this point in time and by these film-makers is extraordinary in itself but, even if they did try to bring it up-to-date with the addition of gore and sleaze, I can't say I was too surprised by the twist ending which - while not making a great deal of sense and somewhat dispelling the strong similarities with Michael Caine's previous role in another imitative (but much more successful) slasher, DRESSED TO KILL (1980), which had previously been to the fore - provided Hollywood veteran Viveca Lindfors with a very brief but notable cameo as Caine's no-nonsense shrink.

Surreal psycho-thriller in which Stone describes a gifted cartoonist who suffers cruel nightmares and creepy events

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 21 January 2013]

This is an exciting psychological thriller based on the novel by Mark Brandel "The tail of the lizard" , though was consistently underrated by most reviewers . It's a surprising flick and very intriguing whose value more remarkable is the ambiguity that its filmmaker Oliver Stone poses in this . A surreal psycho-horror pastiche in which a famous cartoonist of comics named "Jonathan Lansdale" (Michael Caine) who lives unhappily with his wife (Andrea Marcovicci) loses a hand , being severed in an unfortunate car accident that ends with his career and creates a strong tension in their marriage . Soon after , the hand is on the loose with a mind of its own . As a harrowing nightmare, the lost hand appears seeking out victims , committing atrocious murders with an obsessive revenge.

This first important Oliver Stone film contains chills , thrills , suspenseful and is quite entertaining . It's the first commercial outing in medium budget from Oliver Stone, which was not well received by the criticism at the time. . Stone's sophomore directorial shows us a dense , unique , atmospheric and surreal ambient , where the subjectivity seizes the story . There are times when the film that we question whether what we recount and we see is really the case or any other remedy used to deceive and confuse the spectator . Through the film and gradual manner the story is complicating and becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from fantasy . This theme about a hand on the loose with a a mind on its own is already been seen in former films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924 by Rober Wiene , Mad Love (1934) by Karl Freund with Peter Lorre and Hands of Orlac (1960) by Edmond T Greville with Christopher Lee and Mel Ferrer . First rate acting by Michael Caine as Jon Lansdale , a comic book artist who loses his right hand in a car accident , though Michael said in a TV interview that the only reason he did this film was to earn enough to put a down payment on a new garage he was having built .Oliver Stone initially wanted Jon Voight to play the lead role, but was turned down by him ; Christopher Walken and Dustin Hoffman also declined the role . Very good support cast formed by expert secondary actors such as Bruce McGill , Viveca Lindfords , Rosemary Murphy , among others . Furthermore , a cameo by Oliver Stone as Bum . Colorful cinematography with a right management of the camera by Baggot , as the picture packs a turbid, dark, surreal, disturbing atmosphere . Thrilling and tense musical score by the great James Horner .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Oliver Stone , though usually panned by mostly critics , nowadays is best considered .Stone returning from the Vietnam war did his first film , it was a student film entitled Last Year in Viet Nam (1971), followed by the gritty horror film Seizure (1974) for which he also wrote the screenplay. The next seven years saw him direct two films: Mad Man of Martinique (1979) and this The Hand (1981) . He also wrote many screenplays for films such as Midnight express (1978), Conan (1982), and Scarface (1983). Stone won his first Oscar for Midnight express (1978), but his fame was just beginning to show.

Glossy but plodding

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 6 July 2016]

Oliver Stone's second movie was this classy, big-studio, high-budget horror movie which has a memorable, extremely well-done "freak accident" scene and great special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, but plods along too slowly, especially considering that the central big "twist" becomes obvious quickly (if you think you've guessed what's happening right from the first murder....you're probably right). Michael Caine (who claims he did this movie only to pay for his new garage!) has some intense acting moments, but at other times he seems to be trying to stifle his laughter at his own dialogue! Nevertheless, this would make a compatible double bill with his other bizarre shocker from the early 1980s, "The Island". ** out of 4.

"The subconscious is capable of anything".

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 10 October 2011]

Easily influenced by "The Beast with Five Fingers", film-maker Oliver Stone makes his major film debut tackling early 80s horror pulp starring Michael Caine as a comic book illustrator who loses his hand in a freak car accident (that sequence is torturous to watch) and then suddenly he starts to have tormenting visions of his missing hand coming to life committing murders. Making things worse, is the rocky relationship with his wife and his daughter being caught up in the middle of it. A drearily intense psychological shocker, which bestows a strong tailored performance by a professional Caine, but there's also good support offered by Andrea Marcovicci, Bruce McGill, Annie McEnroe, Rosemary Murphy and minor turn by Tracy Walter. The force-fed script plays around with the idea of our central character, is he losing his marbles due to the stress of the ordeal and what's going on around him (family issues) or is his decapitated hand moving around on its own knocking off people. I don't think the mystery is hard to guess, but still Stone's direction is ably pulled off in creating an unsettling nightmare with a convincingly edgy Caine to sell it. It's done in a serious tone, which this type of story has been recycled many times before and even mocked. But it works here. There's one interesting technique, where Stone's changes the screen to a washed out black and white when the hand attacks its like reality is becoming a comic world. Maybe this is a clue, especially when blackouts are mentioned? Also the sound FX, along with James Horner's music score are simply unnerving and dread induced complementing the paranoid state growing. The camera work is beautifully implemented and there are numerous POV shots of the hand at work. Kind of liked the horrific closing too, which throws a spanner into the mix although could have been easily discarded. "The Hand" was a lot better than I expected.

"I don't think it was really alive".

as a fan of Caine's and a (usually) fan of Stone's it's suffice to say this is crap

[Quinoa1984 · 4/10 · 9 May 2009]

The Hand is a psychological horror film, at least that's what it touts itself to be on the video box. It's mostly just a lot of heavy-handed pseudo-thrills meant to give chills and shocks when really it just creates some redundancy. We're given the tragedy of a character, Joe Lansdale, who loses his hand in a rather freak accident while his wife is driving the car, and he can't seem to find the bloody thing in a field. He gets a metal replacement put on ala the Terminator, but does the old hand left for the bugs in the field have its own mind? Or is Joe just controlling the thing and going after all of the people he's close to (i.e. his own wife, his mistress, his mistress's actual guy on the side, etc)?

The real intentions aren't made totally clear, this despite Oliver Stone's attempts at creating a sense of danger and paranoid with Caine's character. And Michael Caine, he does try his best, he really does, going for every scene with the kind of dedication and (trying to search for) truth of the matter even as the script tries to undercut him with below-par dialog. Maybe Stone wasn't really equipped for this material anyway, that in his defense (if possible) he was a hired gun- based more possibly on his first film Seizure, a horror film, than any clout he got from his first Oscar- and whatever skills he brought weren't put into a style that really made things work.

Indeed, now that we have a movie like Raimi's Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, we see how cheesy a killer-hand flick really is and how it would be simply better off as unintentional comedy. There's a couple of scenes were we see the potential for something over the top, like when the black cat jumps up on the desk and inexplicably crashes through the window (!) or just the image of that lizard's tale flapping about which the original book from the movie has its name. But none of the characters are convincing, and the tendencies that are weakest that Stone tends towards which are, frankly, beating-you-over-the-head things with direction and writing, are put way up front here. It's been said, by the man himself, that Stone was on coke for a period in the early 80s prior to writing Scarface. Maybe some of that rubbed off the wrong way here?

Bottom line: whatever's meant to be scary is downright lame, and its just crappy film-making that battles with an actor of Caine's caliber who does try and make it interesting. He does, actually, which may be the only real longevity this has. If you're at all a Stone fan, as I am (up to a point) it's a disappointing Psycho variation, and for his haters it's just more fuel for the fire.

There Is No Hand, Jon

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 27 September 2015]

The comic book writer and cartoonist Jonathan "Jon" Lansdale (Michael Caine) is the creator of the successful hero "Mandro" and lives with his wife Anne Lansdale (Andrea Marcovicci) and their daughter Lizzie in the countryside. Anne wants to move to New York and has an argument with Jon while driving on the road. She distracts with an impatient driver and has a car accident with a truck where Jon loses his right hand. The hand is not found and Jon needs to use prosthesis. They move to New York and his editor Karen Wagner (Rosemary Murphy) offers another cartoonist to proceed with "Mandro". However Jon is not happy with the modifications introduced in his character by the new cartoonist and Karen let him go.

Without money, Jon moves to California to teach in a college while Anne and Lizzie stay in New York for a few more months. Jon has a love affair with his student Stella Roche (Annie McEnroe) and he feels attracted by her. However when his colleague Brian Ferguson (Bruce McGill) tells that Stella is an easy woman, Jon does not want to see her. However, his severed hand kills Stella and when Brian tells that he is going to the police to report that Stella is missing, his hand also kills him. Meanwhile Anne and Lizzie come to his house to spend Christmas with him. Soon he learns that Anne is betraying him and that she intends to go to Los Angeles with Lizzie. Out of the blue, his hand tries to strangle Anne and Jon follows it. Is it possible that the hand does exist to kill whoever anger him?

"The Hand" is an early film directed by Oliver Stone with a creepy story. The plot is developed in slow pace and the mystery remains until the last scene when the viewer finally understands what happened. Michael Caine has a great performance as usual and the movie is intriguing and engaging. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Mão" ("The Hand")

One of the most pointless movies I've ever seen

[davidmalaimo · 5/10 · 3 February 2019]

This movie does not have all the makings of a terrible movie. The directing seems fairly decent, the acting is great. But boy this movie is devoid of any real point. The whole time you watch this movie you just wonder why the hell you are watching it. You remember why you started watching it (early Oliver Stone written/directed horror film about a comic book writer who's hand comes alive and kills people), but despite the fact that that group of words seem like they could equal anything that could do any wrong, it sure does not deliver. I think my first complaint is Michael caine as the comic book writer. It just doesn't make any sense. You see his character draw comics, but he leads a life of the bourgeois. He is the very last person I would ever cast in this role. Like, the complete last. You could have altered the script to make him an "arteest", painting some post modern whatever's and what nots and it would of worked. It would have felt like it had a point! But as a comic book writer, uh-uh. This movie definitely should have been a schlocky slice and dice em, maybe with a sort of tongue and cheak, in your face style similar to Natural Born Killers. Instead you get a wannabe sophisticated slow masterpiece theatre type horror film, with unbelievable pointless B and C stories, with great acting that doesn't make any sense, directed by someone who would prove to be a genius just 5 years later.

If the premise to this movie seems awesome, and you are looking for something similar that is actually pretty dope(if you're into super B movie type stuff), check out Cellar Dweller directedby John Carl Buechler, the amazing special effects artist; written but don Mancini (childs play), and produced by Charles Band(the doll obsessed puppet master). That movie has a lot of cool comic art mixed with some great horror, I believe the monster in his comics comes alive and kills people. Again, B movie gold.

There's also a great Tales From the crypt episode that delivers a similar vibe. Anyways, I really would say don't watch this, even if you're a completist of horror. Maybe if you're a Stone completist it might be worth it, but it really made me question my place in this pointless, meaningless world.

A great blast to watch in this millennium

[cherbo · 8/10 · 5 August 2009]

Not a lot of people feel this, but the way films are made have changed since the beginning of the millennium. From blocking, cinematography, film stock, writing, pacing, everything is different. So it's really refreshing to watch michael caine do his thing in this oliver stone horrorfest. What might have been over the top campy shtick in the 80s becomes infinitely watchable.

I agree about the similarities to the shining but doesn't quite match up. The comments about the burning car i don't agree with. It's inserted to show michael caine getting unhinged the more he suspects he's got a pet killer hand out there.

A great movie to check out. Really fun.

Disembodied hand story minus the usual camp

[Polaris_DiB · 7/10 · 28 October 2009]

Many early films, even from big name directors, are simple concept horror films. From world famous Oliver Stone comes a somewhat familiar disembodiment story where an artist loses a hand, only for the hand to become a literal "manifestation" (get it?) of his psyche--especially his anger. Now, disembodied hands have a history in cinema stretching back to the silent era, but for some reason in the 80s it was a really popular concept--Idle Hands, Evil Dead II... What's interesting about Stone's take is that it's played with a straight face and a minimum of camp.

Partly that has to do with Michael Caine. Caine is always good, and here he's downright sadistic as a grumbling, postal frustrated artist. Another element is the script. Based on a story by Marc Brandel, "The Hand" has more to do with a floundering marriage and unstable future than it does with cheap shocks and startles (though we are speaking Oliver Stone here, so there is more than enough blood). Thirdly, there's Stone's directing itself, which delights in unsettling camera play and some really impressive lighting. Though this is not Stone's first movie, for an early one it is still a very impressive indication of his skill behind the camera, his ability to direct actors, and his visual acumen.

For someone looking for scare-a-minute thrills, the plodding length and necessary character development will get in the way, but for those who like their psychological thrillers slowly bubbling up from the bottom, The Hand is very well-paced fare. It all becomes worth it as Caine's psyche breaks down and even he loses track of what he's responsible for.

--PolarisDiB

The Hand

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 20 January 2007]

Comic book artist Jonathan Lansdale(Michael Caine)loses his good hand in a freak car accident. His marriage to Anne(Andrea Marcovicci)had already begun to crumble and even suffers worse because JL even becomes are harder person to be around than before. She has hinted at them separating while she takes their daughter Lizzie(Mara Hobel)to school in New York, but when his professional career hits the skids, a California teaching job becomes available. The job itself is nothing to write home about but an affair with a student, Stella(Annie McEnroe), offers a promise of happiness as Anne becomes involved with another man much more attentive to her emotional needs(..and it does help that this man is kind to her treating her with respect which seems to be faults JL lacks). But, JL is not the kind of person to give up his family because his pride is a monster to deal with and his very thought of that man fulfilling his role as father enrages him. That's where the horror elements come into play. Those who cross JL's ire are being attacked and killed by his severed hand! That hand seems to have such power in it that it crushes bones and throats with gusto. Director Oliver Stone, though, often provides doubt regarding whether it's really that hand or JL himself as we see his face twist in bitter anger as if he's on the verge of unleashing furious violence. Caine does this well, but unfortunately his cartoonist can often be so vile and harshly aggressive and taken to outbursts towards Anne, that we feel nothing for him at all when his life becomes threatened itself. I certainly don't blame Anne for wanting to leave him and seeing his life fall apart isn't that shocking. It's hard to feel any sort of sympathy for his plight because we rarely have a chance to like him. Stella is able to get through to his calmer side which seems to soften him until we find out a secret regarding her and another teacher(Bruce McGill)she's involved with sexually.

Decent horror fare, with a nasty little bloody sequence where JL loses his hand with blood squirting all over the place. Stone creates enough a mystery keeping us from totally believing this hand is doing the offing. It has an end result regarding JL when that hand has one last task, silencing Anne(not that surprising, huh?)which might provide enough answers to satisfy, yet Stone doesn't release us, but instead drags it out further. That last five minutes, I believe, could've been left out and it wouldn't have hurt the film. Stone, it seems, wants one last grisly scene to close his film.

Not the best, but good

[Scream-7 · 4 June 1999]

OK, the murders weren't gory (Just strangling), it was slow at sometimes, but still an enjoyable movie. I mean, Idle Hands was gory, funnier, fast-moving, has a great soundtrack, and better, but it's still a great flick.

The story is about a cartoonist played by Michael Caine who shows his girl a lizard's tail (The name of the story the movie is based on) which is still moving which fore-shadows what happens later in the movie. Then in an automobile accident, he loses his hand. They can't find it, so they give him a robot hand for a replacement. And the hand he lost was the hand he draws and writes with, so they have to have a replacement. He complains the artist is not as good as him and they find a recent cartoon scribbled on. And then there's the murders. A bum (played by director Oliver Stone) is killed by the hand (In a brilliant black and white sequence). Then Caine moves to some place to teach and cheats on another girl. Then other murders happen.

I won't give away what else happens. If you want a psychological thriller about a killing hand, rent this (Or And Now the Screaming Starts). But if you want a killer hand and a comedy, see Idle Hands (Don't listen to critics).

The Hand: B+ Idle Hands: A-

"Get back, you silly cow!!!"

[Aussie Stud · 1/10 · 21 February 2006]

Michael Caine is absolutely embarrassing in this 1981 bore-fest that tries too hard to pass itself off as legitimate "horror" but comes off as any other number of his misfire films from the 70's and 80's that can be found in a cut-out bin at your local non-chain video store (or nowhere at all).

There are only a few moments of unintentional humor, such as the "paper crumpling" sounds that can be heard whenever "the hand" goes for a walk, or the complete inability to act by Andrea Marcovicci who plays his wife. Every scene Marcovicci is in reeks of "D-Grade acting". In fact, I swear half the time she isn't even trying, like she's hamming it up on stage for some ridiculous off-Broadway production that no one bothered to see.

Most people who visit this page must already know what "THE HAND" is about. Basically Caine is a comic illustrator/writer who loses his hand in an accident after he sticks it out of a car window while his wife fails to pay attention to the truck in front of them. This was probably the "goriest" scene which involves red blood spraying out of a bloody stump. Don't hold your breath, there aren't any other gory scenes following this one.

So Caine revisits the accident site trying to find his missing hand and of course, it's gone. Meanwhile, we have a "hand-cam" following a gray hand walking around country-sides and hitching rides(!!), choking people to death, mostly those who have either wronged Caine or upset him. So by now, this would make a great movie to watch while either stoned or in the mood for a comedy, but it provides no entertainment to either party.

Most of the actors/characters in this movie are so grating, unsympathetic and obnoxious, you pray that "the hand" is going to get them fast, especially the wife. The "ending" should not have continued to the scene with the psychiatrist as I thought it was nicely wrapped up the way it was first explained. But then again, all lousy horror movies need to end with a scene that leave them open for sequelitis should they become financially successful ("BASKET CASE", here's looking at you!).

Caine acts to a level that is unnecessary for the dreck that he is starring in. I've always felt that Caine is a very good actor (it's not common to see Caine deliver a bad acting performance) yet has starred in so many horrible and forgettable movies that it's quite amazing how broad his resume stretches. "THE HAND" is up there with "THE ISLAND", "THE JIGSAW MAN", "ASHANTI" and "PEEPER" as some of the worst movies he's ever starred in.

This movie isn't even worth it for a good laugh or two. You'll only get one, and that's when Caine yells "Get back, you silly cow!!!" to the female driver that causes his accident. Trust me, that's not a good thing either!

Liked the psychological demons of Michael Caine

[horacekohanim · 6/10 · 20 July 2007]

As a psychological thriller this actually works. In large part because of Michael Caine. As a B movie about a killer hand or a schizo cartoonist it features Olive Stone's tortured man, driven to ruin by a woman, whose lack of self-knowledge and unchecked rage propel him to violence. I kind of agree with another reviewer's disappointment at the ending not wrapping it up, but The Hand is enough of a thing that I feel neither way about the end. Stone's vitriol for women, a characterization many have stuck on throughout his career, is very apparent here. Caine as Johnathan Lansdale is comfortable in his beautiful country home, crafting a semi-popular syndicated cartoon. But his yogic wife Anne (Andrea Marcovicci) wants to do something with her life and demands a move to NYC. This ends up undoing him, but not before he struggles with having his writing/drawing hand severed. Without saying more, I'd recommend this for Caine's gradual unraveling, an engrossing trip into The Mind and even a good Oliver Stone cameo.

Oliver Stone should keep his HANDS off the horror genre

[Coventry · 3/10 · 8 February 2004]

All the overenthusiastic movie-junkies who claim that Oliver Stone is a genius and a undeniable master in cinema should watch this early failure and reconsider. Sure, films like Platoon and JFK (which he directed) and titles like Midnight Express and Scarface (which he wrote) speak to the imagination, but this grotesque and rather nasty horror film is completely uninspired and silly. Actually, it's just a plain rip-off from the classic suspense film `The Beast With Five Fingers' starring the legendary Peter Lorre. ***Small Spoilers***Michael Caine plays an entangled cartoonist who loses his hand in an accident. His lost hand comes to life again and seems to start a killing spree…Is that true, or is our cartoonist just hallucinating and suffering from a twisted, murderous pressure himself ?? ***End Spoilers*** The acting performances of the entire cast are far below standards, especially Annie McEnroe…I don't know where Stone found her, but she sure can't act her way out of this...even though it's a rather simple role. Overall, the whole movie contains exactly ONE scene that is worth mentioning and that is the accident sequence in which Caine loses his hand. Not much, is it? Oliver Stone might be a master in certain fields but, when it comes to horror, he surely needs a helping hand… NEXT!

... on the other hand not bad as an adult drama

[manuel-pestalozzi · 7/10 · 8 January 2007]

A part of this movie is pure camp – a severed hand plays a kind of an avenging angel for its former proprietor. Special effects abound. In my opinion they almost destroy the whole movie, especially the final scene – they are more silly than scary.

Strange as it may sound, there is a serious, well acted and superbly constructed drama behind all this. I suspect Oliver Stone wanted to do something in the vein of Kubrick's Shining here. The story has so many similarities that a mere coincidence can be ruled out. A comic book artist feels a midlife crisis coming on. He becomes estranged from his wife and during a bickering scene while she's driving a car the – you know what – event takes place. It is perfectly filmed and the way it comes about is totally plausible. The accident triggers an insane obsession in the main character's life about what is missing – you feel it but you don't have it - and it goes much further than a severed hand. In my opinion Michael Caine does a superb job here playing the disillusioned artist. Andrea Marcovicci is also very good as the wife who is a „woman with principles" and wants to „find herself" – it's stereotype, but high quality stereotype.

The best and really memorable scene of the movie takes place in a class room in the attic of a college deep in the sticks. The Caine character accepted a teaching post there after the accident. The camera takes a glance of the assembled students. They look extremely dumb and devoid of any interest. Caine asks them who is their favorite comic book character. You, Billy? Billy starts thinking hard. After several, very long seconds he answers „I dunno". Caine asks a few other students but does not get better results. The scene creates a perfect atmosphere of disillusionment and doom. A girl at least makes eye contact, and she's not even bad looking. She later looks the Caine character up for some joyless sex, and the bottomless sadness that girl displays throughout is simply heart wrenching and epitomizes the dead end aspect of life one would rather like to forget. Good performance by Annie McEnroe, the girl. Whatever happened to her? I saw her in Stirba-Werewolf Bitch, but, well.

Here's Michael!

[Chase_Witherspoon · 3/10 · 23 January 2010]

So, you're a highly strung cartoonist (sort of Jack Nicholson's illustrator alter-ego of "The Shining") experiencing marital problems when you lose your drawing hand in a freak road accident. From there, your life spirals out of control, as your former appendage takes on an existence of its own, prowling the country-side, defacing your artwork and strangling your bedfellows. You'd go mad - who wouldn't? Michael Caine certainly did, but it's whether his altered state occurred before or after he agreed to make this picture, that is really in question. Sure, it's dark, haunting, there's a grim atmosphere and some gruesome violence, but it never manages to escape the absurd premise.

Caine is at his unhinged best, while Marcovicci as his Shelley Duvall, takes flight into the arms of a co-worker, as his odd behaviour turns strangely obsessive. He seems to maintain a psycho-somatic link to his phantom grip, but is he really able to control its actions? That's the sixty-four dollar question that we never really learn, although there's more than a hundred minutes in which to watch it all unravel - the movie that is (it only takes Caine one scene to reach maximum lunacy).

Capable supporting cast (McEnroe, McGill, Corley, Lindfors and Murphy) restore some mental equilibrium and the music and cinematography also help create a sense of psychological nightmare in spite of the credibility weaknesses. Had director Stone not been so explicit and only 'played his hand' (so to speak) by implication, this could almost have succeeded. But just when the cast and dialogue seem to have achieved maturity, out pops the crawling, decomposing throwback to the Addams family, with its vice-like mind grip on Caine's cognisance, and an equally taut clasp around a victim's throat. Sordid revision of "The Beast With Five Fingers" is testament only to the longevity of Caine's career, in spite of the plethora of abominable pictures he made in the eighties, of which "The Hand" is exhibit A.

The Hand (1981)

[robfollower · 7/10 · 13 October 2022]

A gifted cartoonist's life comes apart at the seams when his drawing hand is accidentally severed. Slowly, painfully, he tries to adjust...but a terrifying evil creeps into his consciousness. And one by one, the people who stand in his way begin to die. Written and directed by Academy Award winner Oliver Stone, this spellbinder showcases a vivid central performance by Michael Caine and wonderfully ghoulish special effects by veteran macabre master Carlo Rambaldi. Stone called for more than 30 different hands to be designed, all used in different--and fantastically horrific ways.

Very interesting psychological thriller,watching Michael Caine's character descend into madness is fun and uneasy. Oliver stone shows talent early on here in his direction and pacing of the picture some black and white shifts and lighting cues that accent Caine's character ever increasing anger. He begins to experience horrible dreams that his hand is alive doing his bidding against those who cross him while also having unexplained blackouts; culminating in an interesting conclusion .

"The Hand" remains a fun horror flick and is well worth checking out with some Cronenberg styled body horror . Highly recommended if your a Stone fan and want to see his early work ! It didn't receive very good reviews at the time but the film holds up fairly well.

Well its a remake!

[mm-39 · 5/10 · 1 November 2021]

I remember the old The Hand as a kid, so as a teenager I said I don't want to watch it saw it already, at my buddy Tony's place. Tony replied its the remake Mike! So we watched back in the 80's the remake. Tony said what's with this it's so cheesy. Cheap laughs as the severed hand kills, and draws. Years latter my girlfriend and I watched the remake, on A & E, while dating. A cheap date night, but we should of went out instead. Well, the girlfriend is now my wife, and we watched it again. A cartoon artist loses the drawing hand which crawls around and performs evil, and draws. Tony's words after all these years is right cheesy, but in a stupid way. There is a cameo spot with director Oliver Stone as the homeless guy who directed the remake. Well Caine is a good actor, which drives this cheesy, and slow in spots re make. Typical B style horror. I still remember my friends getting cheap laughs out this one. Watch it once every 15 years. 5 stars.

It's the ending that makes this movie.

[jamnar · 8/10 · 20 September 2006]

I remember watching this movie soon after it came out and the special effects were not bad for the time period that it came out despite what people say. Remember, Star Wars had only been out a few years by this time. As far as the movie goes, Caine does quite well with his part and the plot is believable in the way Freddie Kruger is believable. If you've seen many "creature" movies, then this one could seem to be predictable and thus lose some of it's "boo" effect. Wait until the end and watch closely. If you've seen this movie you should know what I mean, if not then pay close attention. After seeing that final scene you suddenly realize that maybe all wasn't as it seemed. Go back through this movie and keep in mind that last scene. Suddenly the whole movie transcends the Freddie Kruger believable and becomes in fact quite plausible. It's like watching Star Wars Episode 4 after just watching Episode 3, it all takes on new meaning!

Still haunted.

[scrawlist · 7/10 · 17 September 2018]

Saw it when I was twenty, but the creepiness scared me as if I was five. This is no masterpiece, but the images have haunted me for decades. Worth a watch.

rubbish

[filmbuff1970 · 1/10 · 24 May 2002]

A blatant rip off of The beast with five fingers.starts well but then just goes into slasher nonsense.Caine does tend to pick some awfully scripted movies hopefully he was well paid. Oliver Stone shows little of the talent he would go on to be.a Turkey.1 out of 10