Review of Idle-Hands (2010) by R.c. K — 25 Nov 2008

"These idle hands.

They do the devil's work and.

These idle hands.

They do a whole lot worse...".

I've read some pretty lunatic reviews of this movie over time, like, "generic slasher" and "Scream is better" and I'm mystified. Maybe Ebert was actually right and there is a "Level One" viewer so intellectually incompetent they can't recognize comedy in horror when they see it--but, more likely, people just don't pay attention or make huge blanket statements with words whose definitions they don't understand. Certainly we know that many a comparison is made that is utterly illogical, even though the person making it swears it makes perfect sense. I'd seen this movie before, though, and knew it was a comedy because I remembered it as such--and when Fred Willard came into the credits, it was just guaranteed, no question. So, yes, it is a horror comedy, a genre I have a relative amount of familiarity with and tend to enjoy quite a bit.

Anton (Devon Sawa) is a slacker--a pothead who sits on the couch watching tv and smoking up all day. His mother (Connie Ray) still dotes on him, referring to him as "Scooter," while his father (Willard) notes that he would not "scoot his ass off the couch if the house were on fire." His friends Mick (Seth Green) and Pnub (Elden Henson) are not much better, being found by Anton--when he runs dry--hitting a bong and mocking his distant fantasies of Molly (Jessica Alba). Randy (Jack Noseworthy) is the local motorhead (no, not Motörhead) type, blaring Mötley Crüe's "Shout at the Devil" from his raised Ford truck endlessly, whilst being tattooed, in muscle shirts and other accoutrements to support his stereotype. The major non-high school character is Debi LeCure (Vivica A. Fox), who is the nun visiting a prison where a mass-murderer is imprisoned for reasons unknown. A mass-murderer is running through Anton's town though, and he is informed of this by Mick and Pnub, who list the victims--some parts showing up in Anton's home, where it is quickly learned that his right hand has a mind of its own--a murderous one.

Of course, it's a given that about half of the film is an extended form of the centrepiece Evil Dead 2 gag, and when zombified friends appear, it's hard not to think of An American Werewolf in London. It's a good mix of comedy and horror though, giving the deaths the right mix of violent kick for shock and horror and over-the-top insanity for the humour. The jokes actually fire quite well (Seth Green's response to the electric knife, for instance), mostly thanks to a solid cast in Sawa, Green and Henson. Green does the thing that has made him famous, though of course it was Buffy that most thoroughly broke him out, that sort of zany/sarcastic mix alongside self-deprecating confidence. Rodman Flender (no, really) directs quite well, nodding to many horror films without relying on said references and nods. Flender clearly loves the genre and does not rely on hack-y gags without understanding them. This is often ripe opportunity for misfired horror (and comedy), but here it all works perfectly for a very amusing experience. The soundtrack is built from time-specific music, mostly punk and industrial metal, which is very amusingly familiar to me, from 2wo's "I Am a Pig" (Rob Halford's between-Priest band), Rob Zombie's "Dragula" (often effective filmically), on to, at the end of the credits, Static-X's "Push It"--and of course, The Offspring actually appear at the school dance at the end of the film, for that matter, which I'm always a sucker for (see also: Newfits appearing in Romero's Bruiser). Possibly the most amusing note is the movie almost edges toward a message--then Seth Green shoots it in the foot.

Sawa is actually very good at making his possessed hand a different character from himself, and it's nice that as a pothead he's certainly a stereotype, but not a caricature. He doesn't have carefully created "pothead" clothing--thereby making it actually more authentic, as compared to all the ones I've known. Seth and Elden are also strong characters, not carefully created, but I'd imagine simply themselves--and it works very well for that. The only real weakness is (surprise!) Jessica Alba. She's mostly there to be purty and the mystic, adolescent fantasy girl for Anton, and works insofar as that I suppose, not really making much of an impression if you don't think she's absolutely smoking (she doesn't do much for me, which may make some think I lack a pulse, but I simply have unusual taste, and personality tends to play a strong role).

The last thing I've got to note is the outright chunks of horror films: both Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead make brief television appearances, the first in an amusing scene of the possessed hand attempting to force a viewing of hand-based images on Tv, against the wishes of Anton.

I sort of thought I might be disappointed when I watched this for the second time, but I wasn't--I still enjoyed myself thoroughly, got a few more references, songs and jokes and didn't see any drag or misfire anywhere in it. It's not an astounding lost masterpiece or anything, but it does play with conventions, not outright defying them nor sticking to them, but playing with them as befits the plot and jokes. In summary? Good fun.

Oh, and the lyrics are from "Idle Hands" by the Murder City Devils (RIP).