IDLE HANDS RATING: 6 / 10 --> Barely recommendable
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Finally, a teen flick that deals with the real issues that conflict our generation of Xers from day to day: kids smoking pot, watching TV all day, getting horny, getting their hand possessed by the devil, listening to heavy rock music, killing folks in the gruesomest of manners, and oh yeah, smoking more pot.
PLOT: Young man with nothing but time on his hands, suddenly finds one of his hands possessed by the devil, and looking for murder. After his hand kills two of his good friends, they return as the undead and try to help their buddy solve his little hand problem, and save the girl of his dreams from the wrath of his five fingers.
CRITIQUE: A poor man's rehash of two true horror/comedy classics: Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD 2 (8/10) and John Landis' AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (8/10), this film features a lot of hit-and-miss black humor, some overly disgusting killings, a beautiful damsel in distress, and a lot of head-banging music, that will have you momentarily amnesia-ing its lame plot and overall weak impact. This movie is easy enough to watch if you enjoy this type of gore and humor, but nothing to brag about to your horror-fiend buddies. Weak believability is another detriment to this film, as his right hand's "possession" is never really explained, and his love interest, for reasons unknown to anyone, never ever notices one little thing about his major problem. Hello?!? McFly? Anybody home? In its defense, the film actually does pull off the delicate balance of comedy and horror, but somehow lacks the conviction or originality in either of the two arenas to score as a complete hit.
Some cinematic newbies might enjoy it because of its original premise (Unoriginal to me, having seen the themes covered better in earlier films), the loud and hip music (The punk-band-de-la-jour "The Offspring" actually make an appearance in the movie, and officially staple themselves as sell-outs, or horror movie aficionados?) and the T&A sprinkled here and there (Well actually, there is only some T, but unfortunately for all of us, no A whatsoever). The actors are all very good with Devon Sawa pulling off a great performance as the Mary-Jane-slacker-kid with the possessed hand, and Seth Green continuing his streak of solid comedic showings as one of the lively undead. All in all, a passable horror/comedy time for those looking for exactly this type of gruesome action (Potheads also more than welcome!), but a definite skip-me to all others who might be looking for something original, all-out funny and/or terrifying. Recommended slightly higher on video.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Devon Sawa was born in Vancouver, Canada. You may remember him from his title role of CASPER as the ghost's human persona, opposite the lovely Christina Ricci. Seth Green made his film debut at the tender age of eight in THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE and starred in Woody Allen's RADIO DAYS four years later. He was born in Philadelphia, and might be best remembered of late as the son of Dr. Evil in Mike Myers' AUSTIN POWERS movies. In love with the idea of becoming an actress from the age of five, Jessica Alba was twelve before she took her first acting class. Nine months later, she was signed by an agent. Vivica A. Fox hasn't stopped working ever since she was discovered in a Sunset Boulevard restaurant more than ten years ago. Her big break came in 1996's INDEPENDENCE DAY (6/10). Director Rodman Flender cut his teeth on the horror genre under the watchful eye of film legend Roger Corman. A Harvard grad, Flender was made Vice-President of Worldwide Marketing and Distribution at Corman's company, and eventually, VP of production, after having sent his student film BLOODY MUTILATORS to Corman himself. He also directed LEPRECHAUN 2. This is the first produced screenplay for writers Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer. Producers Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd are sisters.
Review Date: April 28, 1999 Director: Rodman Flender Writers: Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer Producers: Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd Actors: Devon Sawa as Anton Tobias, Seth Green as Mick, Elden Henson as Pnub Genre: Horror/ Comedy Year of Release: 1999 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com ---------------------------------------
(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
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