Idle
Hands
(1999/Columbia/Sony/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: C+ Film: C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
This Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment in Australia, can play on all Blu-ray players
and can be ordered from the link below.
Roman
Flender's Idle
Hands
(1999) is a stoner/ teen horror/ comedy that takes one too many notes
from Evil
Dead 2
as a possessed hand gets the best of its hero. Slightly dated in
some regards with some pretty big plot holes in hindsight and weak
character development, the film shines at its brightest during its
special effects moments more than other areas, with SFX legend Greg
Cannom (Benjamin
Button)
doing the makeup effects.
The
film stars Devon Sawa (Final
Destination),
Seth Green (Austin
Powers),
Vivica A. Fox (Independence
Day),
Fred Willard (infamous comedian), Elden Henson (Netflix's Daredevil),
punk rockers The Offspring, and a very young (and jaw-droppingly
gorgeous) Jessica Alba.
Set
against the backdrop of Halloween, teenage stoner Anton (Sawa) goes
about his day unknowing that his parents were brutally murdered in
his house the night before by a serial killer. His mind focused more
on scoring weed and after smoking a bizarre substitute when he can't
find any, he eats a sandwich made of the killer's blood and ends up
becoming possessed... well, his hand becomes possessed anyway. Soon,
every person he comes in contact with (even his close stoner buddies
Henson and Green) the hand murders and soon threatens to off his hot
next-door neighbor (Alba) whilst confessing his love for her. A
bizarre comedy that is a disturbing look into the mind of a teenage
serial killer, Idle
Hands
isn't exactly a classic, but defiantly a fun watch for horror buffs.
As
mentioned, the film's script is absolutely ridiculous, with many
characters not very well developed and who make rash decisions that
aren't always justified. The worst written character is by far
Jessica Alba's - who is super ditsy and doesn't seem to be affected
by any of Sawa's strange behavior or absent mindedness that is hardly
realistic. The biggest plot hole of all is the absence of a
backstory for the killer itself and how Vivica A. Fox's character
knows so much about it. If you can overlook these, which at some
points are hard to ignore, then you will probably enjoy the film
more.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and
a lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track, the film looks and
sounds fine for the format and is a vast improvement over previous
standard definition releases. The film was issued on Blu-ray by
Image Entertainment in in U.S. in 2013 and, while I haven't seen that
version, I can imagine it looks similar to this one.
Special
Features...
Reversible
Cover
Deleted
Scene
Trailer
Archival
BTS Featurette
For
nostalgic purposes, Idle
Hands
is worth a watch, but I wouldn't necessarily consider it one of my
favorite cult horror films by any means.
To
order this
Umbrella import Blu-ray along with other hard-to-get titles, go to
this link:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
