Search - The Hand (1981) on DVD

3.15 STARS: Imaginative and often misunderstood psychologica

HorrorMan | The Marsten House | 08/13/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I must say that it is about time somebody decided to put "The Hand" out on DVD!!!! I am so pleased as it is a pretty good (not great) horror movie that is a bit out of the ordinary and very clever in its design. Any horror movie fan should definitely check out "The Hand" as the viewer will be sure to love the brilliant acting of Michael Caine is his role as John Lansdale as well as Oliver Stone's mysterious and clever play with Lansdale's psychological state vs "the hand" itself.

Perhaps Oliver Stone's "The Hand" is a bit unfairly criticized when you analyze this movie's merits. This movie is one of the most misunderstood horror movies I have ever observed. Don't get me wrong: this movie is not a classic, but it is better than people give it credit for.

In "The Hand", Michael Caine stars as gifted cartoonist named John Lansdale who is having marital problems. To make matters much worse, Landsdale loses his hand in a fantastic and bloody automobile accident. John must come to terms not only with losing his hand but also his talent as an artist. He is about to lose his cartoonist contract and his cartoon character named "Mandrowe" to someone else that he despises.

With his marriage on the rocks and other emotional problems, Lansdale starts to lose it...he imagines his enemies being killed even an old drunk which turns out to be played by Oliver Stone himself. The interesting and fascinating thing about this movie which most people do not "get" is the dual possibilities of the murders that subsequently take place after Lansdale loses his hand.

In each instance when someone is murdered, Lansdale either blacks out and/or imagines this "hand" murdering people...he dreams about "The Hand" and fears "The Hand". The rhetorical question then becomes whether Lansdale is killing these people himself and "the hand" is his angry alternate personality that he implements in the unconscious mind to carry out these murders OR there really is a "hand" running around murdering, possessed by Lansdale's dark and raging unconscious evil mind.

The intelligent audience is left with the former assumption. It appears that Lansdale is simply crazy by movie's end and the viewer sees the various flashbacks that show Lansdale himself killing these people. But, is it "the hand" indeed that is committing these crimes and Lansdale who is definitely crazy but perhaps, he is right, as ridiculous and absurd as it sounds. Ultimately while driving Lansdale crazy, Lansdale fights with himself or as he sees it with "the hand".

It is clear that "the hand" is either Lansdale base and evil personality or it is an evil and supernatural possession of "the hand" which is not only killing Lansdale's enemies but also is framing him for the murders. After all, they never did find the hand after the automobile accident.

Oliver Stone's "The Hand" is a much better movie than people give it credit for and there is much more to it than meets the eye. In fact, "The Hand" is a psychological horror movie with a twist of either the dark and unconscious mind or an evil supernatural force which manifests itself as "the hand". Michael Caine is absolutely brilliant as John Lansdale in which Caine so eloquently portrays a madman at the brink of losing all sense of reality and forever relegated to the world of the insane. The directing by Stone is also quite good.

So, what is wrong with the movie you might ask? Well, this is no classic by any means and the idea of a hand killing people isn't exactly the scariest or most horrific idea offered to the horror movie genre. Also, the movie seems to drag in spots and become boring as Lansdale engages in cheap sexual conduct with a girl named Stella. Much of the movie also deals with Lansdale's marital problems which involves his wife having an extramarital affair. The script is good, but it is not great and the movie works fairly well as a horror movie, but perhaps much better as psychological thriller.

Even though "The Hand" isn't the best horror movie in the world, it is still a solid horror flick and much better than today's trash being pumped out today like rubbish into a landfill. I admit that "The Hand" is not for everyone and parts of it are indeed boring as the movie drags at times, and it certainly cannot be characterized as a mainstream horror movie or even a great one. That being said, however, because of the great acting and imaginitive and suspenseful plot coupled with a mystery which literally is or is not "the hand" itself, the movie "The Hand" creates a charm all its own and the merits of this movie certainly outweigh any criticisms whether warranted or otherwise."