Anton (Devon Sawa) is a teenager who is so busy getting high and sitting on the couch that it takes him a few days to realize that his right hand has been possessed and has murdered his parents. The hand also kills his two best friends (Seth Green and Elden Henson), but fortunately, they’re able to stick around and talk to him as members of the living dead. Meanwhile, all Anton wants to do is go out on a date with the hot girl next door, Molly (Jessica Alba). Meanwhile, a demon hunter (Vivica A. Fox) is searching for the evil force that has possessed Anton’s hand.
No wonder we all loved this movie in 1999!
Watching the film today, I’m still impressed by the energy of Idle Hands, even if the movie seems to be trying too hard to imitate the zaniness of Sam Raimi. It’s interesting to compare Devon Sawa’s performance here to his more serious turn in Final Destination. I remember that the film was controversial when it first came out because the Columbine shootings were still fresh on everyone’s mind and people weren’t in the mood to laugh at a homicidal teenager, even one who was ultimately not responsible for the actions of his possessed hand. Seen today, the action in Idle Hands is too broad to really be taken seriously as a potentially bad influence.
There wasn’t a teenage boy alive in 1999 who didn’t have a crush on Jessica Alba, but also there wasn’t a boy who didn’t know the awkwardness of not feeling like he could control himself. Sure, we may not have had a possessed hand, but we still always seemed to do the wrong thing at the exact moment that everyone else was watching. If Anton thinks having a possessed hand is bad, just imagine waking up with a big zit on your forehead or forgetting how to put sentences together just because a girl looked in your direction. That’s one reason why Idle Hands is more fondly remembered than some of the other teen horror films from that era. It captures a certain teenage awkwardness. We’ve all been there.
