Teen Slackers Learn a Lesson in Homicidal Hilarity in Idle Hands
This weekend, prepare for a cinematic experience that proves the old adage: the Devil really does make work for idle hands. And in the case of Anton Tobias, a teenage burnout whose life ambition seems to be achieving maximum couch-indentation, those hands are about to get very busy. When a mysterious killing spree rocks his suburban community—a community where the biggest excitement is usually finding a new bag of chips—Anton realizes his parents, and a couple of Fast Food Twins, are among the victims. What’s a perpetually stoned youth to do?
The twisted punchline is that the killer is none other than Anton’s own right hand, now demonically possessed and acting on a murderous agenda completely independent of his slacker brain. It’s a battle of the wits versus a wicked wrist! Think Evil Dead 2 but replace the chainsaw with a bong-hit hangover and you’re halfway there. With his parents dead and his two best friends soon joining the undead ranks as wisecracking zombies, Anton must literally fight his own appendage to save his crush, Molly, from becoming the final sacrificial lamb at the local high school Halloween dance. Will the youth of today finally get off the couch to defeat a demonic force, or will they just smoke more oregano? Find out in this gory, ridiculous, and undeniably ’90s horror-comedy.
Review by Ben Dover
Idle Hands… well, for a movie about a kid who does nothing, it sure does a lot of stupid, loud, and messy things. This film is a monument to the end of the 1990s, a time when kids were still running around in those ridiculous parachute pants and Hollywood thought that stoner logic mixed with gore was the height of comedy. I suppose I should be grateful that these so-called “teenagers” are at least engaging with something—even if it’s the demonic possession of a hand—instead of staring into their little phones all day like they do now.
The premise is as lazy as its main character: Anton Tobias, a walking advertisement for lethargy, wakes up to find his parents have been brutally murdered. He barely registers it, because, you know, weed. It’s only when he realizes his own hand is the culprit that he finally decides to act. And what an act it is! The hand is a proper little menace, scurrying around like a hairy, homicidal tarantula. But the whole affair really kicks into gear when his two equally useless friends, Mick and Pnub, also bite the big one and come back as… zombies. Seriously, zombies who still think about snacks and girls. It’s a miracle they managed to remember they were dead.
The thing that surprisingly works, and I begrudgingly admit it, is the chemistry between these three slack-jawed yokels. Devon Sawa, Seth Green, and Elden Henson are perfect as the world’s most incompetent demon-fighters. Seth Green, in particular, plays the undead, wise-cracking Mick with a deadpan delivery that’s actually funny. I hate that I laughed. You’d think being a walking corpse would give a young man some perspective, maybe inspire him to get a job, but nope. They’re still obsessed with chasing a girl in a cheerleader uniform, who, by the way, is played by a young Jessica Alba, looking exactly like the type of neighborhood siren who only dates the absolute worst of the worst. And the druid chick, the demon hunter played by Vivica A. Fox? She’s the only one with two working brain cells, and of course, the movie makes her look like a frantic lunatic. You just know these Hollywood writers don’t respect authority.
It’s all ridiculously over-the-top, from the casual decapitation to the possessed hand’s bizarre attempts to seduce the girl next door. Yes, a severed hand tries to get some action. You can’t make this junk up. The movie is a bloody, rock-and-roll mess, and while it’s packed with a lot of juvenile humor I frankly don’t understand (apparently, getting the demonic hand high on pot is a legitimate strategy) it has a manic energy that keeps the whole stupid thing moving. It’s not smart, it’s not classy, and it’s certainly not a movie I’d recommend to anyone over the age of thirty who still reads books, but I suppose for what it is—a “horror-comedy” from a time before everything was digital and “ironic”—it’s a cult classic for a reason. And that reason is that I’m probably getting soft in my old age. Now turn that awful punk rock down!
Rating
3/5 Stars
(Three stars. No more, no less. It’s stupid, but it’s committed to its stupidity.)
Cast and Characters
- Devon Sawa as Anton Tobias: The world’s laziest high school student who only notices his parents are dead when his hand stops cooperating. He spends most of the film panicking, bleeding, and trying to win over the girl next door. Frankly, the hand is a more compelling character.
- Seth Green as Mick: Anton’s best friend who becomes a zombie after an unfortunate glass bottle incident. He’s the loud, sarcastic one and gets most of the decent lines, which is typical. The best actor is always stuck playing the sidekick.
- Elden Henson as Pnub: Anton’s other best friend, who also returns from the grave as a zombie after a close encounter with a cleaver. He’s the quieter, slightly dimmer foil to Mick.
- Jessica Alba as Molly: The beautiful neighbor and Anton’s crush, who inexplicably finds a murderous, possessed hand a turn-on. This is why I don’t understand young romance.
- Vivica A. Fox as Debi LeCure: A very serious, very determined Druid high priestess hunting the evil spirit responsible for the homicides. She provides the only exposition in the movie, which is immediately ignored by everyone else.
- Christopher Hart as The Hand: The actual star of the movie. A hand actor—you read that right—who also played “Thing” in The Addams Family. He brings more menace and personality with five fingers than most actors do with their whole body.
Special Effects and Music
The Special Effects are refreshingly practical. This was back before everything was some sterile, blurry CGI mess. The gore is wonderfully cartoonish and messy: decapitations, impalements, and a hand that looks like it’s been dipped in a vat of strawberry jam. The way the zombie makeup looks, and the physical movements of The Hand itself (courtesy of Christopher Hart), are the kind of cheap, practical fun that modern cinema is too cowardly to attempt. I liked the microwave scene. Finally, a kitchen appliance doing some meaningful work.
The Music is a cacophony of late 90s/early 2000s punk and ska-punk. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, and it’s probably why all the kids today have attention deficit disorders. You’ve got bands like The Offspring, Rob Zombie, and others who sound like they just fell off a skateboard. It perfectly suits the film’s hyperactive, low-brow energy, which, again, I hate to admit. They even get The Offspring to perform at the Halloween dance, only to have their lead singer get scalped. A little violent, maybe, but at least someone was trying to thin the herd of that awful noise.
Complete Synopsis and Plot Breakdown
The Setup: Anton Tobias is a stereotypical suburban slacker—a high school senior whose life revolves around smoking pot and watching TV. He is so utterly detached that when a string of brutal murders begins in his quiet town, he barely notices. He does finally realize something is wrong when he discovers his parents have been murdered in their bedroom.
The Discovery: A day later, Anton is still wandering his house in a daze, barely registering the carnage. It is revealed to him (and the audience) that his right hand is possessed by an ancient, demonic spirit that makes a home in the laziest person it can find, the classic “devil makes work for idle hands” situation. Anton’s hand is the actual killer, acting completely independently and going on a spree to find an “innocent soul” to drag to Hell during a ritual that must be completed on Halloween.
The Zombie Buddies: In a desperate attempt to stop the hand, Anton accidentally murders his two best friends, Mick and Pnub, with a broken bottle and a cleaver, respectively. They promptly return as wisecracking, semi-rotting zombies because… reasons. The movie doesn’t bother to explain why they come back and his parents don’t, which is a major, frustrating plot hole that only a stoner writer could ignore. With the help of his undead pals, Anton tries to contain his evil hand.
The Amputation: Anton attempts to impress his neighbor and crush, Molly. The hand, however, tries to strangle her during a romantic interlude, which, bizarrely, only makes her find him more appealing. Realizing the danger, Anton and his friends manage to cut off the hand with a cleaver and seal it in the microwave, which Mick and Pnub then accidentally let escape while attempting to cook a burrito.
The Hunter and The Chase: Meanwhile, a Druid high priestess named Debi LeCure and her assistant, Randy, are tracking the spirit. They show up and explain the mythology to Anton and the zombies, confirming the hand is heading to the high school Halloween dance to claim Molly’s soul.
The Climax: The hand causes mayhem at the dance, ultimately trapping Molly atop a car in the auto shop class. Anton, Mick, Pnub, Debi, and Randy race to the scene. In a moment of pure cinematic genius (or pure idiocy), Mick and Pnub get the rampaging hand “high” by forcing it to inhale from a mechanic’s bong, slowing it down. Anton saves Molly, and Debi dispatches the evil appendage with a sacred dagger.
The Resolution: Anton, who sacrifices himself to save Molly, wakes up in the hospital. He’s in a full-body cast, having lost an arm and having a car dropped on him, but he got the girl. Mick and Pnub, now his official guardian angels, appear to him, still acting like absolute morons. As a final, irritating joke, a message is written on the ceiling above his bed: “I am under the bed,” suggesting the evil is never truly gone. Because, of course, a happy ending would require too much effort.
5 Famous Quotes from Idle Hands
- “I love the smell of octane in the morning.” – Mick (As a zombie, trying to sound tough.)
- “Well, look at me! I’m Leatherface! Aww!” – Mick (Upon finding the severed head of Pnub.)
- “Idle hands are the Devil’s playground.” – Debi LeCure (Stating the obvious moral, much to the annoyance of everyone else.)
- “If you want to have a miserable day, go ahead and smoke a cigarette.” – Anton (Trying to sound profound while smoking a joint.)
- “Just put the knitting needles down, honey.” – Mrs. Tobias (The last thing she says to Anton before her death.)
5 Notes/Interesting Facts from Idle Hands
- Box Office Bomb: The movie was a massive commercial failure, making only about $4 million against a reported budget of $25 million. It was released just 10 days after the Columbine High School tragedy, which caused many theaters to pull the horror-comedy from its schedule due to the sensitive nature of school violence at the time.
- The Hand’s Actor: The character “The Hand” was played by master magician Christopher Hart, who specialized in hand movements and illusions. He also played “Thing” in The Addams Family movies.
- Filming Location Trivia: Idle Hands was filmed in the same neighborhood of Pasadena, California, where the original 1978 horror classic Halloween was shot.
- Devon Sawa’s Driving Secret: Despite his character driving in a few scenes, actor Devon Sawa did not yet have a valid driver’s license while filming the movie.
- Band Cameo: The punk rock band The Offspring has a cameo in the film, performing at the high school Halloween dance, with lead singer Dexter Holland being comically scalped by the demonic hand. (This made me very happy)
- Family Ties: Jack Nosworthy (Randy) and Katie Wright (Tanya) first met on the set and discovered that they were half brothers and sisters although they had no knowledge of each other and grew up states apart.
- Remake: A remake of the 1999 horror-comedy film Idle Hands is officially in development at Sony Pictures, led by Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard and his creative partner Billy Bryk, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman producing. The new version intends to preserve the darkly comic energy while exploring fresh character perspectives.
Photos
Trailer
Reviewer Notes
Just realized that’s Sean (Sawa) from SLC Punk, he looks really different here.
Was that song “pop the coochie” wtf
OK “I’m gonna call 911 what’s the number” had me rolling its stupid but the delivery was spot on.
Seth didn’t last long in this… neither did our boy Eldon.
Hey that’s Jessica Alba alright I can certainly see why she became such a sought after “face” in Hollywood.
Crazy how everyone in this movie had really good Hollywood careers even though the parts are small. The casting was amazing here. Even the hand
Oh wait, Seth’s back and so is Eldon.
OK thought they were just being used to sell DVD’s (well Seth at least) but this movie made a weird and wonderful turn with the undeads.
Typical horror comedy stuff, just really well done….. these don’t usually make me laugh, but this one did and kept my wife entertained as well, not easy for a horror movie she typically only likes sci-fi horror.
OK climax time, nothing unexpected except that weed saves the day lol (This should be ANDY’S FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME.)
I personally love this movie for what it is, not a 5 star movie but a solid 4 for the genre and its maybe my favorite comedy horror, will definitely go into the Halloween time rotation.
There’s a kind of alternate ending scene they shot that was the original cut that took place in a pool with a lot more demonic stuff and a lot scarier, didn’t fit the tone of the movie though and was switched to the auto shop scene. It was definitely the right call after watching it. It’s available to see on the DVD or here it is: