Search - The Hand on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Not For Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1981 DVD Release: 09/25/2007 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 45 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Horror, Psychological Thriller

Oliver Stone's first directorial effort for a major studio (and his second horror film after the 1974 Seizure) came shortly after the phenomenal success of Midnight Express, which was based on Stone's Oscar-winning screenplay. The director turned to Mark Brandel's obscure thriller "The Lizard's Tail" as source material for what is essentially a silly psychosexual variant on low-budget horror films like The Crawling Hand. The title appendage belongs (for a while, anyway) to smug, conceited artist Joe Lansdale (Michael Caine), who owes his success to a popular comic strip featuring a macho, Conan-type hero. After Lansdale's drawing hand is sheared off in a grisly car accident, his career, dignity, self-control and even his sanity soon begin to abandon him as well. His tenuous relationship with his wife Anne (Andrea Marcovicci) falls apart as she takes steps to improve her own self-worth -- something she had never had the strength to do before the accident. Bitter and paranoid, Joe begins to lash out in anger at everyone around him ... and becomes convinced that his severed hand has come back, wandering in fields and dark alleys and squeezing the life out of everyone it comes in contact with. The question of whether the hand is real or merely a manifestation of Lansdale's rage is never answered, even in the film's "shock" coda. At any rate, it's impossible to take the film seriously -- the crawling-hand effects are laughably shoddy for a major studio production, reflecting none of the skills of effects wizard Carlo Rambaldi, and Caine's sweaty, pop-eyed histrionics are too goofy to be convincing. On the plus side, James Horner's score is remarkably chilling, contributing a great deal to a few effective suspense scenes -- but it belongs in a better film than this. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Michael Caine - Ian Lansdale
Andrea Marcovicci - Anne Lansdale
Annie McEnroe - Stella Roche
Bruce McGill - Brian Ferguson
Mara Hobel - Lizzie Lansdale
Viveca Lindfors - Doctress

Warner Brothers has assembled a nice little DVD for this cultish catalog title. The Hand looks fantastic on disc, benefiting from a strong anamorphic transfer that captures the widescreen image with plenty of color and clarity. It's worth noting that the film's periodic black-and-white segments look equally rich here. The disc uses a Dolby Digital stereo mix for its audio and it offers a crisp blend of dialogue, effects and music. A few extras are also thrown in -- namely, a theatrical trailer and a commentary track with writer/director Oliver Stone. The latter is a surprising addition and an interesting listen: Stone speaks with frankness about the challenges of directing his first Hollywood film, the difficulties with special effects and the gap between the European films that inspired him and the requirements he had to fulfill to satisfy the studio. All in all, this disc of The Hand is worthy of exploration for the curious horror fan and a good purchase for its fans. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide