FILM REVIEW: THE HAND

I was feeling nostalgic and a little down while shopping after work. In the FYE entertainment store, I came across a film I could barely remember. Something really bloody from my past that had chilled me to the bone and had caused me to cover my eyes and ears at every turn.

I am speaking about THE HAND starring Micheal Caine (Alfred in the DARK KNIGHT)and written and directed by Oliver Stone.

Yes, that Oliver Stone. I had thought he was above horror movies and was more or less into producing and directing historical dramas like "Born on the Fourth of July". But, I digress.

THE HAND is a psychological horror about a gifted cartoonist whose life as he knows it officially comes to an end when his left hand (his drawing hand) is accidentally severed. Remarkably, as he tries to adjust to being maimed for life, darkness creeps inside of his subconsciousness. He begins to have blackouts, and people who stand in his way begin to die.

But, is it the man who is committing these murders or is it his severed hand acting demonically on its own?

Carlo Rambaldi is responsible for the special effects in this feature. Reportedly, designing a different hand for each scene: A crawling hand, walking hand, a strangling hand, a hand slowly decomposing, etc. Over 30 different hands in all.

The movie as a whole has very Hitchcock feel to it. We don't see the cartoonist committing the murders. Instead we see his severed hand do the dirty deeds. It leads the audience to wonder how culpable the cartoonist really is and sane he really is.

I found it interesting that it was his left hand that was severed. The left side of things is often reserved for evil deeds while the right is for good. For Michael Caine's character, the left hand is his most deepest repressed desires coming into fruition. He know what he wants, and he takes what he wants. Be damned anyone who stands in his way.

However, it is the goodness of his whole nature that cannot stand it. So the left hand acts on its own.

This was a really interesting and terrifying film. Micheal Caine gives a wonderful performance and holds the whole film together while his character comes apart bit by bit. We don't feel for anyone but him as he tries to hold himself together in the face of an uprooted life, a non supportive wife, and sheer madness.

All in all a very good film.