Synopsis
There's nothing more to life for Anton than getting stoned and watching TV all day. That is until his realizes his hand is a murderer.
Thoughts
I enjoy comedy as much as I do horror. I'm not some snob that thinks something like Dumb and Dumber is beneath them. Seeing that I don't watch movies to boost my IQ, lowbrow humor entertains me as much something sophisticated. Call me open minded. But if you combine teenage stoners with typical humor and a horror story about the devil murdering people by possessing people's hands, you'd have one hell of a classic on your hands. No pun intended.
When Idle Hands was finally available to rent, we made that maiden voyage to the video store to pick it up. This one was watched as many times as possible until it had to be returned to just be rented again. Lucky for us, after a few more times of renting it back to back, they just gave us the copy. Alright, you get it. I love this movie. Everything about it is just fun.
To expect anything from something that is a pretty senseless comedy, would be presumptuous. It's about a dense teenager that sits around all day smoking pot and watching television who's hand becomes possessed by the devil and murders people. Try not to look for any meaning. Also, the whole devil thing is merely implied. Yes, something satanic/demonic has possessed his hand, but you're never clued into what it exactly is. The best part is the irony in what saves the day in the end.
The humor throughout is pretty damn funny. Senseless humor, so again, don't look much into it. Anton murders his two friends who come back to life. The logical question here would be to ask why didn't his parents, or anyone else for that matter, come back to life? My logical reply...they wouldn't be as funny as his friends. Devon Sawa, Seth Green and Elden Henson are pretty good at playing stoner buffoons. Jessica Alba is pretty much eye candy here, but at least Vivica A. Fox has a contributing role as a druidic high priestess. After Anton, played by Devon Sawa, cuts off his hand, it gets a role on its own. For just being a hand, it performed very well. Think about that for a second. A hand...performed very well. Luckily the dialogue in the film was entertaining enough, that a hand didn't outshine the entire cast. That might've been pretty damning for their careers.
All the blood and makeup was great. You've got the top half of a beer bottle sticking out of Seth Green's head, Elden Henson carrying around his head until eventually being put back on with a pitchfork and a hand transformed into something truly evil looking after a run through the microwave. Oh, how could I forget The Offspring frontman's scalp being ripped back.
Idle Hands is a really neat slasher comedy. Fifteen years later and it's just as fu as it was back in '99. I'm sure you already know that this is a must ad for your collection. It's for the days you need some light, humorous and bloody at the same time. This isn't one for the background either because it's actually entertaining from start to finish. Head on over to Amazon and order a copy.
IMDB: 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 3.4/10
WeFLM: 6/10
Come for the Leatherface joke. Stay for the scalping.
-kp
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