IDLE HANDS
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? Anton Tobias (Devon Sawa, Wild America) is a channel-surfing, junk-food munching, couch potato burn-out who can’t control the murderous impulses of his recently possessed hand. With the help of his zombiefied buddies, Mick (Seth Green, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) and Pnub (Elden Henson, The Mighty), Anton’s got to stop the rampaging devil appendage before it takes total control of his life and ruins any chance he has with class hottie Molly (Jessica Alba, Never Been Kissed). Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day) and Jack Noseworthy (The Brady Bunch Movie) co-star in this wickedly funny horror comedy.\
Director: Rodman Flender
Writers: Terri Hughes Burton, Ron Milbauer
Stars: Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, Vivica A. Fox, Christopher Hart, Jack Noseworthy, Katie Wright, Sean Whalen, Nicholas Sadler, Fred Willard, Connie Ray, Steve Van Wormer, Kelly Monaco, Timothy Stack, Joey Slotnick, Tom DeLonge, Sabrina Lu, Kyle Gass, Mindy Sterling, Donna W. Scott, Randy Oglesby, Molly Maslin Arbogast, Carl Gabriel Yorke, Dexter Holland, Greg K, Noodles, Ron Welty,
Rating: 7 / 10 Stars
REVIEW – I remember in 1999 going to see “Idle Hands” in the theater with a date. This film, in its initial release, had one big pitfall: it came out within days of the Columbine tragedy. So, I am not sure if it was a good idea, after having that cloud over our society, to release a film with teens depicting violence against other teens. “Idle Hands” is the story of Anton, a lazy slacker teen whose life goals seem to be smoking pot and watching television. He, along with his friends Mick and Pnub, are basically your typical 90s slacker group with no aspirations or cares in the world. We learn that there have been a series of murders happening in their small town, but things take an interesting turn when Anton finds out that he is the one doing the killing. Well, sort of; his right hand is doing the killing. Confused? The film tells us that Anton, unbeknownst to him, was possessed by an evil spirit that seems to control his hand. We watch as Anton kills his parents and then his friends Mick and Pnub, who come back as slacker zombies. His hand has a mind of its own and decides to go after his girlfriend Molly, which prompts Anton and his friends to try to find a way to defeat his hand.
Watching this film again after 14 years made me laugh to think that people took it seriously in its tone and message and saw it as a threat to those who grieved. This film is a parody in a way, mixing elements of “Evil Dead” and “Re-Animator” with some stoner laughs. Plus, you get to see a young Seth Green, Devon Sawa, and Jessica Alba who clearly had a fun time in this film. If this film can be described in one word, it would be “weird.” It has some good blood and horror moments that may frustrate some viewers. The film tries to walk the fine line between being funny and horrifying, and at times, it seems to work better than others. The pacing of the film can be a bit frustrating at times, and there are periods where it seems to drag a bit. The strengths, as I mentioned earlier, are the performances by the young stars. It’s a shock that despite their talents, Devon Sawa did not become a bigger name. Seth Green, on the other hand, tends to steal every scene he’s in with his humor.
All in all, if you have the DVD, I think you’ll be okay with that. If you’ve never seen it before and are curious, I would recommend grabbing the Blu-ray version, as it offers the best transfer.
IDLE HANDS | Official Trailer:
