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The comic book writer and cartoonist Jonathan "Jon" Lansdale (Michael Caine) is the creator of the successful hero "Mandro" and lives with his wife Anne Lansdale (Andrea Marcovicci) and their daughter Lizzie in the countryside. Anne wants to move to New York and has an argument with Jon while driving on the road. She distracts with an impatient driver and has a car accident with a truck where Jon loses his right hand. The hand is not found and Jon needs to use prosthesis. They move to New York and his editor Karen Wagner (Rosemary Murphy) offers another cartoonist to proceed with "Mandro". However Jon is not happy with the modifications introduced in his character by the new cartoonist and Karen let him go.

Without money, Jon moves to California to teach in a college while Anne and Lizzie stay in New York for a few more months. Jon has a love affair with his student Stella Roche (Annie McEnroe) and he feels attracted by her. However when his colleague Brian Ferguson (Bruce McGill) tells that Stella is an easy woman, Jon does not want to see her. However, his severed hand kills Stella and when Brian tells that he is going to the police to report that Stella is missing, his hand also kills him. Meanwhile Anne and Lizzie come to his house to spend Christmas with him. Soon he learns that Anne is betraying him and that she intends to go to Los Angeles with Lizzie. Out of the blue, his hand tries to strangle Anne and Jon follows it. Is it possible that the hand does exist to kill whoever anger him?

"The Hand" is an early film directed by Oliver Stone with a creepy story. The plot is developed in slow pace and the mystery remains until the last scene when the viewer finally understands what happened. Michael Caine has a great performance as usual and the movie is intriguing and engaging. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Mão" ("The Hand")

This film starring Michael Caine seems like it might be ridiculously dumb due to its name and cover art. However it's actually quite thought provoking, and very entertaining. This film has a sort of funny brilliance to it. I think most people go into it just so unready for it or something; Hence the low rating. Also, if you don't watch it from the beginning, it will most likely just seem stupid. This film still has less than 6,000 votes on here at this point. It's definitely underseen and it's somewhat of a hidden gem in my view. 7.5/10.

As a psychological thriller this actually works. In large part because of Michael Caine. As a B movie about a killer hand or a schizo cartoonist it features Olive Stone's tortured man, driven to ruin by a woman, whose lack of self-knowledge and unchecked rage propel him to violence. I kind of agree with another reviewer's disappointment at the ending not wrapping it up, but The Hand is enough of a thing that I feel neither way about the end. Stone's vitriol for women, a characterization many have stuck on throughout his career, is very apparent here. Caine as Johnathan Lansdale is comfortable in his beautiful country home, crafting a semi-popular syndicated cartoon. But his yogic wife Anne (Andrea Marcovicci) wants to do something with her life and demands a move to NYC. This ends up undoing him, but not before he struggles with having his writing/drawing hand severed. Without saying more, I'd recommend this for Caine's gradual unraveling, an engrossing trip into The Mind and even a good Oliver Stone cameo.

OK, the murders weren't gory (Just strangling), it was slow at sometimes, but still an enjoyable movie. I mean, Idle Hands was gory, funnier, fast-moving, has a great soundtrack, and better, but it's still a great flick.

The story is about a cartoonist played by Michael Caine who shows his girl a lizard's tail (The name of the story the movie is based on) which is still moving which fore-shadows what happens later in the movie. Then in an automobile accident, he loses his hand. They can't find it, so they give him a robot hand for a replacement. And the hand he lost was the hand he draws and writes with, so they have to have a replacement. He complains the artist is not as good as him and they find a recent cartoon scribbled on. And then there's the murders. A bum (played by director Oliver Stone) is killed by the hand (In a brilliant black and white sequence). Then Caine moves to some place to teach and cheats on another girl. Then other murders happen.

I won't give away what else happens. If you want a psychological thriller about a killing hand, rent this (Or And Now the Screaming Starts). But if you want a killer hand and a comedy, see Idle Hands (Don't listen to critics).

The Hand: B+ Idle Hands: A-

I remember watching this movie soon after it came out and the special effects were not bad for the time period that it came out despite what people say. Remember, Star Wars had only been out a few years by this time. As far as the movie goes, Caine does quite well with his part and the plot is believable in the way Freddie Kruger is believable. If you've seen many "creature" movies, then this one could seem to be predictable and thus lose some of it's "boo" effect. Wait until the end and watch closely. If you've seen this movie you should know what I mean, if not then pay close attention. After seeing that final scene you suddenly realize that maybe all wasn't as it seemed. Go back through this movie and keep in mind that last scene. Suddenly the whole movie transcends the Freddie Kruger believable and becomes in fact quite plausible. It's like watching Star Wars Episode 4 after just watching Episode 3, it all takes on new meaning!