A glimpse into the world of cinematic horror and sci-fi.
Killer Hand
Author: Serena Debegnach
Rebellious "upper limbs" abound in horror movies: hands that have been amputated, detached, possessed... all sharing a disturbing mind of their own, and a bad attitude, obviously. This is a collection of some rather diverse films in which the common denominator is the "revolt" of this particular body part.
Specifically, most of these films fall within one of two main camps: on one hand (sorry!), we would cite works with plots reminiscent of that found in the pages of "The Hands of Orlac" (Original title: "Les Mains d'Orlac" - Maurice Renard, 1920). These films feature a hand that once belonged to a killer and which continues to engage in violent conduct even after being transplanted to a new individual.
Examples
- "The Hands of Orlac" (Original title: "Orlacs Hände", Robert Wiene, 1924), "The Hands of Orlac" (Edmond T. Gréville, 1960), "Hands of a Stranger" (Newt Arnold, 1962).
Then there's the case of evil hands which, despite being physically detached from the body, are still able to act autonomously, unleashing their killer instincts. One of the most notable literary forerunners of this theme is undoubtedly the short story "The Beast with Five Fingers" (William F. Harvey, 1928). In addition, another excellent story is "The Right Hand of Doom" by Robert E. Howard.
Examples
- "And Now the Screaming Starts!" (Roy Ward Baker, 1973), "Demonoid - Messenger of Death" (Alfredo Zacarías, 1981), "The Hand" (Oliver Stone, 1981).
The table below includes only the films we’ve already reviewed, filtered by the current Tag. We know many important titles are still missing: they’ll come in time. Some features are reserved for our Patreon supporters.
| Title | Directors | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invasion of the Saucer Men | Edward L. Cahn | 1957 | 3 |
| Mad Love | Karl Freund | 1935 | 7.5 |
| The Antichrist | Alberto De Martino | 1974 | 5 |