Line #20 Film/TheHand


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_hand_6.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"It lives. It crawls. And suddenly, it kills."'']]
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4	''The Hand'' is a 1981 American psychological horror film written and directed by Creator/OliverStone, based on the novel ''The Lizard's Tail'' by Marc Brandell. The film stars Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/AndreaMarcovicci, and Creator/BruceMcGill. Special effects were provided by Creator/CarloRambaldi and Creator/StanWinston.
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6	Jon Lansdale is a comic book artist who loses his right hand in a car accident. The hand was not found at the scene of the accident, but it soon returns by itself to follow Jon around and murder those who anger him.
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8	!!Tropes used in ''The Hand'' include:
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10	* AirVentPassageway: At the end of the film, the hand reappears emerging from an air vent in the mental hospital. Justified, as it is a [[HelpingHands self-mobile severed hand]] and has no trouble fitting through a vent.
11	* AmbiguousEnding: Just how real is the hand? [[spoiler:While the film initially seems to indicate that the hand wasn't real and was just a delusion of Joe's broken mind, at the climax it suddenly reappears to kill his psychologist and free him from the asylum. Only the film goes to black-and-white, as it had during his blackouts, implying this might just be another delusion.]]
12	* AmicableExes: Averted, as the film progressed, it becomes evident that Jon and Anne both ''hate'' each other and tried to compete to gain full custody of their daughter Lizzie.
13	* AnArmAndALeg: Jon loses his hand in a freak accident when it gets caught between his car and a truck.
14	* ArtificialLimbs: After losing his right hand in a freak accident, Jon is given a prosthetic hand that works fine for most purposes, but lacks the fine control he needs to be able to draw properly.
15	* ArtificialLimbsAreStronger: Jon's prosthetic hand is capable of a much stronger grip than his real hand, and he often causes people pain when he grabs them in a fit of anger.
16	* CareerEndingInjury: Cartoonist Jon Lansdale [[AnArmAndALeg loses his right hand]] in a freak car accident. Although all he wants to do is draw, his doctor tells him the prosthetic will never have the fine control to allow him to do that.
17	* CatapultNightmare: Jon sits bolt upright in bed following a dream where he sees his hand scurrying around the woodpile in the cabin.
18	* CreatorCameo: Writer/director Creator/OliverStone appears as the bum who is the first victim of the hand.
19	* DeadManHonking: Brian slams his hand down on the car horn repeatedly as he is being strangled by the hand.
20	* DisposableVagrant: The first person murdered by the hand is a one-armed wino who bumps into Jon in the alley and harasses him.
21	* EvilDetectingDog: Jon's cat senses the presence of the EvilHand in the cabin long before Jon does. It investigates, is attacked and flees; never to be seen again in the film.
22	* EvilHand: Once separated from his arm, Jon's hand becomes an evil, independent entity: seeking out and slaying those who anger him.
23	* FallenOnHardTimesJob: After losing his hand, and being dropped and fired by his agent, Jon takes a job teaching cartooning at a remote community college, to a class of students who seem largely uninterested in the subject.
24	* HelpingHands: Jon's severed hand acquires a life of its own and starts murdering those who anger him.
25	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The climax of the film (and most the violence) occurs around Christmas.
26	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Is Jon's severed hand really responsible for the murders, or is it simply Jon's delusion that allows him to temporarily dissociate from his own crimes (the final scene seems to suggest that the hand is real, however, it could just as well be that we're seeing events from Jon's point of view).
27	* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: This film showcased Jon's dark descent.
28	* PunkInTheTrunk: The police find the bodies of Brian and Stella stuffed into the trunk of Jon's car.
29	* SmugSnake: Both Jon and Anne, who both arrogantly attempted to win over Lizzie's affection.
30	* SpiritualPredecessor: To ''Film/MonkeyShines'', another horror film distributed by Creator/OrionPictures based on a book about a bitter, disabled protagonist and how an evil, independent entity telepathically connected to him killed anybody who angered and/or wronged him. Even music composer Music/JamesHorner's music score for this film had similar sensibilities to fellow composer David Shire's score for ''Monkey Shines''. On a [[HilariousInHindsight trivial note]][[invoked]], both films featured an actor would later have a supporting role in a 90s Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme action movie directed by Creator/PeterHyams and distributed by Creator/UniversalStudios (this film featured Bruce [=McGill=], who would co-star with ''Monkey Shines'' actress Janine Turner in ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}'', who would later appear in ''Film/{{Timecop}}'', while ''Monkey Shines'' featured Kate [=McNeil=], who would appear in ''Film/SuddenDeath''). Also, both films each featured a cast member from the horror anthology film ''Film/{{Creepshow}}'' (''Monkey Shines'' featured Christine Forrest, who appeared in the anthology film's segment "The Crate," as the BattleaxeNurse, while this film featured Viveca Lindfors, who appeared in the anthology film's other segment "Father's Day," as a psychologist).
31	* TeacherStudentRomance: Jon has an affair with his student Stella while teaching at a community college.
32	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Jon refuses to see a therapist because they cost too much. If he had addressed his anger issues, much bloodshed might have been avoided.
33	* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Jon's severed hand goes around murdering people who have angered him. Or does it? [[spoiler:At the end of the film, it seems that he has been committing the murders himself during disassociative blackouts, and created the murderous hand as an explanation for his acts. But, at the very end, the hand shows up to rescue him from the asylum, only the film goes black-and-white (as it has during his blackouts), leaving it ambiguous exactly how real what we saw was.]]
34	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Everyone involved with the accident other than Jon is ultimately responsible for the chain of events that happen after:
35	** The truck driver that Jon and Anne try to pass whose truck tears off Jon's hand as he signals towards an impatient driver behind him.
36	** The impatient driver behind Lansdale's car, as they're the one who causes Jon to lean out the window and get his hand severed in the first place. Unlike the truck driver, they do nothing to help in the situation at all.
37	** Anne herself, for trying to pass the truck when another car is coming down the lane she's trying to pass and slams the brakes hard enough to sever the hand.
38	* VillainProtagonist: Jon Lansdale, a despicable character whose SanitySlippage is followed by the audience.
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Context Film / TheHand