VividSimon Simply Perfect

Micransix Crappy film

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gridoon2018 Oliver Stone's second movie was this classy, big-studio, high-budget horror movie which has a memorable, extremely well-done "freak accident" scene and great special effects by Carlo Rambaldi, but plods along too slowly, especially considering that the central big "twist" becomes obvious quickly (if you think you've guessed what's happening right from the first murder....you're probably right). Michael Caine (who claims he did this movie only to pay for his new garage!) has some intense acting moments, but at other times he seems to be trying to stifle his laughter at his own dialogue! Nevertheless, this would make a compatible double bill with his other bizarre shocker from the early 1980s, "The Island". ** out of 4.

Claudio Carvalho 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")

Woodyanders Successful comic book artist Jon Lansdale (an excellent and credible performance by Michael Caine) loses his right hand in a freak automobile accident. Various people who anger Jon begin to disappear. Is the hand responsible for what's happening? Or is Jon's troubled mind imagining everything? Writer/director Oliver Stone handles the potentially silly and laughable premise with admirable maturity, intelligence, and seriousness: The plot is grounded in a believable everyday reality, cheap shocks and excessive gore gets eschewed in favor of compellingly ambiguous psychological horror, the perspective remains refreshingly dark and adult throughout, and the tense and spooky mood of intriguing mystery keeps the viewer guessing right to the very end. Moreover, the movie often plays more like a bleak domestic drama with horror elements than a straight-up frightfest. The fine acting by the tip-top cast holds the picture together: Caine does sterling work in the lead, with sound support from Andrea Marcovicci as Jon's fed-up New Age wife Anne, Annie McEnroe as smitten college student paramour Stella Roche, Mara Hobel as Jon's sweet daughter Lizzie, Bruce McGill as gregarious redneck college psychology professor Brian Ferguson, Viveca Lindfors as a tough shrink, and Rosemary Murphy as compassionate agent Karen Wagner. The convincing make-up f/x rate as another substantial asset. Both King Baggot's sharp cinematography and James Horner's shivery score are up to speed. A worthwhile shocker.

horacekohanim 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.