The Hand (1981)

Michael Caine plays a world famous cartoonist who loses his hand in a freak auto accident. Things digress rapidly from here as he loses his job (think about it) and his wife leaves him for a dude in a leotard. Caine packs up and moves away, landing a gig teaching at a community college where he starts having weird blackouts, bangs a cute little blond (how does that happen?) and generally starts going nutty. Oh, and there’s also a little problem with his severed hand, as it seems to still be “alive” and killing anyone who pisses Sir Michael off. I’m sure all amputees can relate, no? The film in a whole is rather dismissible, save for the performance from Michael Caine. This guy can play whackos and play em’ well, it’s as simple as that. Problem is, Caine’s character starts out as a rather likable sort who you find yourself rooting for, only to be a complete asshole by the second half of the film. What the hell Oliver Stone, are we supposed to like the dude or what? Then there’s the deal with the killer hand. First off, how threatening can a hand be? I mean, maybe if it could fly it would pose a bigger threat but c’mon, it’s just a frigging hand! Step on it, flush it down the toilet, do whatever…just protect your throat and you should be ok. Of course, no one does this and we’re treated to several lame hand attacks that are just, well, lame. Pass on this unless you got a thing for killer hand movies or wanna see Sir Michael nail a chick half his age.