Hands of a Stranger

A man is murdered on the streets. Dr. Gil Harding tries to save him but he dies on the operating table. The doctor does notice the dead man's exquisite hands. Police Lt. Syms has questions for the doctor. Vernon Paris is a brilliant concert pianist and his sister Dina Paris is his biggest supporter. Vernon's hands are terribly mangled in a car accident. Dr. Harding tries an experimental hand transplant surgery.

This is a horror story staple. The body horror idea has deep roots despite its surgical unreality at the time. This is closer to an old style slasher B-movie. It's not the most compelling after an intriguing start. It's old and melodramatic. I doesn't take advantage of the body horror angle. It's all rather flat.

As others have noted, an extremely talky flick, with dialog so florid you could pin it on a prom date. However, there are some nice touches to be found: the opening sequence is noirishly atmospheric and well-executed, so to speak. Paul Lukather's seething mien carries the film valiantly,although his and his sister's rage at the doctor's eminently logical and humane decision to graft good hands onto Paul's mangled stubs strains credulity. Also, watch for the ending shot, which emulates a famous religious painting nicely.

The deaths/killings are egregiously mild by today's standards, but, with the exception of a ludicrously spontaneous immolation, are effectively staged. The low-budget look is offset somewhat by inventive camera work that sustains a grim mood.

It's not made clear whether Lukather's character starts killing because he now plays piano like Whack-A-Mole, or because his new hands somehow carry with them the temperament of their previous thuggish owner.

Considering the dreck that was around in the early 60's, this is not bad stuff; with less gaseous dialog, it might have been memorable.

Virtuoso pianist, Vernon Paris (James Noah) is about to taste the rewards of his hard work, when disaster strikes! An automobile accident leaves Paris' hands mangled beyond repair. Thankfully, gifted surgeon, Dr. Gil Harding (Paul Lukather) decides to try a new procedure to replace Paris' hands with a donor pair. All that is known about the provider of the transplanted mitts is that he was a murder victim.

The operation is a success, and Vernon's recovery goes amazingly well, at least physically. Since no one told him that his hands were lost, Paris was under the assumption that he'd only "broken" them. The truth comes as a bit of a shock. Then, just as he's trying, without much luck, to adjust to his new hands, something else occurs. Something strange and maniacal! Several deaths soon follow. Just who was the previous "owner" of these hands?

HANDS OF A STRANGER is a solid, though quite melodramatic thriller, playing much like a TV hospital serial of its day, mixed with a little of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Noah is convincing in his role, balancing between self-pitying jackass and homicidal madman.

BEST PARTS: #1- Vernon's visit to the home of the cabby he blames for his condition. #2- The carnival scene. #3- The fittingly fateful finale.

Co-stars the beautiful Irish McCalla (SHE DEMONS) as Holly. Also, watch for a young sally Kellerman in a scene-stealing part!...

I remember seeing this late at night in the mid sixties on Chiller theater and it really creeped me out so I was anxious to check it out again when it showed up at the public domain bargain bin section. It doesn't really hold up that well but I can see a why it stuck in my mind in a few well shot and staged scenes.

Of the four filmed versions of The Hands Of Orlac (Four and a half if you count sections of Oliver Stones flop The Hand) this one comes in at dead last. It's not awful but it doesn't hold a candle to in inventiveness and weirdness of the Peter Lorre Version Mad Love and it doesn't have the silliness and fast pace of the Mel Ferrer ,Christopher Lee Version The Hands Of Orlac. As noted by others this doesn't credit orlac at all . Although there are marked difference between all of the versions it doesn't take a genius to figure where the story came from even though it ends differently.

I liked the opening and the scenes at the carnival and of course nurse Irish McCalla (Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle)isn't hard to look at. Juvenile actor Barry Gordon is sympathetic without being annoying like many child actors and Paul Lukather (who still works) has enough bravado to carry him through the long winded and stilted episodes of prose.

If you're a horror completist and don't expect much or if you're into B-movie noir you might give this a glance otherwise stick to the Karl Freund version Mad Love. You can't beat Peter Lorre on a tirade anyway.

I saw this on the Saturday night Creature Feature, which usually plays the WORST kind of dreck... I was pleasantly surprised that this film was as good as it was. Being from a family of musicians, and a flutist myself, I understood all too well the care that Vernon took of his hands, and the devastation he must have felt. The premise of the film wasn't really anything new, but there were enough twists to keep it interesting... :-)