Alicia
I love this movie so much
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Leofwine_draca
IDLE HANDS is a late-'90s comedy horror flick that comes across as a cross between the self-knowing humour of SCREAM and the bodily dismemberment of EVIL DEAD 2. Unsurprisingly it's nowhere near as good as either of those movies, although those with a penchant for '90s horror might get a chuckle or two from this one.The worst thing about this, for me, was the main characters, who are a trio of the usual slacker/stoner types that I don't think much of. Devon Sawa, of FINAL DESTINATION fame, was never much of an actor and he struggles to bring any charisma to the part here, although Seth Green is always reliable. The idea of having the two buddies helping him out seems to have been borrowed from Peter Jackson's superior THE FRIGHTENERS.The whole 'possessed hand' thing has been done before, and better, most notably by Bruce Campbell, so there's not a whole lot of entertainment value there. Still, there are plenty of splattery and gory moments which are handled nicely, and it's always amusing to see actors in pre-stardom roles (step forward, Jessica Alba). The final denouement is a bit silly but overall IDLE HANDS is an acceptable film for what it is, just not one I found particularly funny.
Scarecrow-88
Insane horror comedy is all go-for-broke nonsense, but its energy and stoner hi-jinx are often (or were to me, and obviously a cult audience that has accepted this into their fold; I can see fans of Pineapple Express enjoying this specifically) irresistible. The main "heroes" of the film have lives almost consistently devoted to weed and television. Anton (Devon Sawa, with an exhaustively physical performance) awakens to find his hand uncontrollably violent and always looking to kill...it is possessed by an evil that has been moving from lazy body to lazy body, waiting to take an innocent soul to hell. That plot alone will certainly leave a chunk of people cashing their chips, but with a pace which doesn't take a smoke break (although the stoners always look to take a smoke from any kind of bong pipe (whether it has tits or was built in auto shop class)), add enthusiasm in the performances, and remove any remote sense of pretension; Idle Hands could very well be an alternative on Halloween. Set during a long Halloween day for poor Sawa, he unfortunately has a psychotic hand that kills his parents (he doesn't even realize it!) and eventually his two best stoner friends, Pnub (Elden Henson) and Mick (Seth Green). Setting in motion the serious threat to anyone it comes across, eventually Anton severs the damned hand from his arm, but all that really does is allow the cursed body part to move freely. Meanwhile, the hand sets its sights on choosing the smokin' babe next door (Jessica Alba) as the victim to take to the "netherworld". Also Vivica A Fox shows up in the plot as a type of "spiritual warrior" with a dagger that will eliminate the hand if stabbed by her. She calls herself a "druidic high priestess" to a metal music loving gearhead (Jack Noseworthy) wanting to get into her pants; he also wants to get back his ford truck stolen by Anton so he (along with Pnub and Mick) can rescue Alba from the hand at a Halloween high school costume dance (with musical group The Offspring performing I Wanna Be Sedated, by the Ramones).Hectic is a word I'd apply to the plot shenanigans, as Sawa starts his day innocent enough: just trying to score some weed. Alba digs him; eventually, after Sawa somehow subdues the hand, Alba even makes out (having invited him into her room) with him! But after burying a broken beer bottle in the skull of Green, and sending a spiraling saw blade from the basement that decapitates Henson, such a make-out seems rather fitting to the whole crazy movie. I mean, the two dead pals decide to give Heaven a pass, returning to their corpses, re-animating with their same loose, chill personalities intact. This alone should let you know what kind of movie this is. One scene has Henson's body holding his head upside down while he weeds out with the smoke exiting the neck wound! Deciding to use duct tape, eventually Henson's head is "sort of" re-attached!Getting to see the lead singer of The Offspring "scalped", two incompetent cops sewing-needle stabbed and face-shocked by a taser, a hand being cooked in a microwave, and a poor cat hurled by its tale out of the window of a house all are indicative of the kind of madcap horror silliness you are in store for. If anything, the talking, decaying corpses of Sawa's friends quipping up a storm while he's frantically searching for a severed killer hand on the loose provide enough incentive to determine just how much absurdity in one movie you can stand. Evil Dead II is echoed here, no doubt. This was right before Sawa would participate in the beginning of the popular Final Destination franchise. Here, Sawa tirelessly moves about, really getting into his demanding role which asks him to be on the go almost from the get-go. Green and Henson's slackers will certainly appeal to a type of audience. Alba was right on the cusp of being a regular fixture in the fantasies of a masturbating generation...she is even in just bra and panties at one point. When Alba opens her house to a rather bloody Sawa, in just a robe and undergarments, I could just visualize the slobber of quite a few horny guys. Sawa's work making the hand seem alive before lopping it off (Green obliges his wound with a hot iron because "that's what friends are for") is spirited to say the least. The old school practical effects and some CGI as finesse are impressive; Green and Henson are quite a pair for such effects.
rockchester
This movie is hilarious and for many reasons. Not the least of which are the special effects that just cracked me up most of the time. Truly inventive and well done.For those of us guys who demand eye candy in the movies we watch, there's Jessica Alba looking perfect and feminine, even dainty. There's also Vivica Fox looking tough but beautiful. But the real home run for me was that the director would sometimes inject scenes in to the fray with the thought 'let's see how really disgusting I can make this'. Absolutely fun to watch. Watch it with your girlfriend, she'll be grabbing you often and hiding her eyes while she clings to you when the truly gruesome and disgusting scenes come up.
lewiskendell
If you're a Jessica Alba fan, Idle Hands is going to appeal to you much, much more than the average viewer. We're talking about a movie where a woman who's basically made a career from being incredibly hot, is at her absolute hottest. If you're anything like me, that sole reason is more than enough to make Idle Hands required viewing. But some of you probably care more about the quality of the movie, than how hot young Ms. Alba was. Weirdos. Idle Hands is extremely dumb, and that's completely intentional. It's probably the most light-hearted slasher/horror movie I've ever seen, and there's a mix of stoner comedy in here, as well. A slacker's hand gets possessed by an evil force, and most of the movie involves him trying to keep it from murdering people. His bumbling friends often get in the way, and the hand's obsession with killing the girl he's interested in also complicates matters. Obviously, this isn't Hamlet, but I think it struck a decent cord between dumb humor and campy, 90's horror. I found it strangely enjoyable, in a very B-movie kind of way. Give it a shot, if you ever get the opportunity. Just have a cool drink handy, so that you won't melt under the hotness of Jessica.
