Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Idle Hands’

Written by Scott Edwards

When you start acting differently than you normally do without an explanation, you have to believe that someone else is taking over your body, right? I mean, if you have never stolen something in your life and are caught shoplifting, it wasn’t you, it was the voices inside of your head.  I have never given this much credence over the years, since whenever a murderer is questioned, it always seems like they want to plead insanity, because it works, but what if there is really something out there that can take over your mind and actions? Being forced to watch your body do something that you know you should not be doing would be terrifying and I just hope that those who have had to witness this are able to remove whatever conduit is inside of them, causing them to be someone completely different. 

Anton Tobias is living his life to his own standards, waking up, listening to music and getting high, which is all well and good for him and his parents.  When waking up to see that he has exhausted his stash, Anton puts a call into his best friend Pnub to get some reserves, but Pnub and his buddy Mick are not willing to cough it up for their struggling friend. When hearing about a curfew that has been put in place on the town due to some unsolved murders, Anton also hears about a school dance that might be something right up his alley if he is able to even talk to the girl of his dreams.

Not seeing his parents for a couple of days, Anton is shocked to see that they are carved up and left to rot in his house. Thinking that the killer is loose in the house, Anton does the only thing that he can think of and calls his best friends over to help. Looking around the house however, the three find that all of the signs point to Anton being the killer. Not wanting to do anything drastic, Anton tries to get his friends out of the house before something bad happens to them, but alas, the evil in his hand is too strong and cannot be controlled. Killing Pnub and Mick and burying them in the backyard, Anton finds himself outside of Molly’s house looking for his cat that his uncontrolled hand threw out the window.

Thinking that Anton is cute, Molly invites him in and once again his hand takes over and gives her a grab and liking the aggressiveness, Molly is ready to rock the shy boy’s world. Getting a date for the dance, Anton is worried about what will happen when his hand decides to kill again and has to find a way to control it. Talking to his neighbor Randy about possession and what not, Anton finds that idle hands are the devil's playground and sees that he can control it, as long as he keeps it busy. With his friends back from the dead and trying to help him on his journey, Anton finds that it is not enough as the hand will do everything in his power to kill anyone that gets in its way. Thinking of only one way to stop his hand, Anton takes it to the next level and cuts it off, but finds that it was the wrong decision as the hand can kill on its own without a body attached.

This is just a fun horror movie that may not explain what is really happening, but who cares since there is a possessed hand on the loose, killing everyone it can. I cannot help but think back to Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 when watching this movie since a handless hero is what the world really needs to keep it safe. The jokes between the best friends are the best and Molly is a stunner as Anton already knows and she has a little dark side that he is lucky enough to see. I still cannot get over how nobody wants to hear what is going on with the young stoner kid, but when there is a pretty woman or an ancient cure being thrown around, it seems like a canary is singing. Great cast, good story and plenty of blood and interesting ways to die, this movie is fun for horror fans of all ages. Stay Scared.

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