X

1999
R
Sony Pictures Releasing
1 h 32 m

1999
R
Sony Pictures Releasing
1 h 32 m

Summary Anton Tobias (Sawa) wakes up Halloween morning to discover-after watching some TV and perusing the contents of the fridge, oblivious to the pool of blood on the floor-that his parents have been turned into a couple of headless Halloween decorations. After hanging out with his equally irresponsible friends, Mick (Green) and Pnub (Henson),...

Directed By: Rodman Flender

Written By: Terri Hughes Burton, Ron Milbauer

1999
R
Sony Pictures Releasing
1 h 32 m

1999
R
Sony Pictures Releasing
1 h 32 m

Idle Hands

Metascore Generally Unfavorable Based on 20 Critic Reviews

31

User Score Universal Acclaim Based on 177 User Ratings

8.1

My Score

Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Where to Watch

Summary Anton Tobias (Sawa) wakes up Halloween morning to discover-after watching some TV and perusing the contents of the fridge, oblivious to the pool of blood on the floor-that his parents have been turned into a couple of headless Halloween decorations. After hanging out with his equally irresponsible friends, Mick (Green) and Pnub (Henson),...

Directed By: Rodman Flender

Written By: Terri Hughes Burton, Ron Milbauer

Where to Watch

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Generally Unfavorable Based on 20 Critic Reviews

15% Positive
3 Reviews

20% Mixed
4 Reviews

65% Negative
13 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Generally Unfavorable Based on 20 Critic Reviews

15% Positive
3 Reviews

20% Mixed
4 Reviews

65% Negative
13 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Loaded with smart sight gags and endearing secondary characters, it effectively mixes slapstick splatter and deadpan satire...Pretty damned irresistible.

By Nathan Rabin FULL REVIEW

Hey, it's not "Gone With the Wind" or even "Nightmare on Elm Street", so don't expect a masterpiece. You get a little nudity, a lot of gore, Seth Green doing his ironic commentary thing, and an easy way to kill a couple of hours.

By Ron Wells FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

User Score

Universal Acclaim Based on 177 User Ratings

81% Positive
144 Ratings

7% Mixed
13 Ratings

11% Negative
20 Ratings

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

User Reviews

User Score

Universal Acclaim Based on 177 User Ratings

81% Positive
144 Ratings

7% Mixed
13 Ratings

11% Negative
20 Ratings

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

May 12, 2021

The school gym where the Halloween dance is held is the same gym used for the high school gym in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and Jawbreaker (1999).

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May 10, 2021

vuugguguihihihihigbyfrssersfyug............@#$%+×÷=_&*() ?!;;:"'○●□■☆⊙°•¤《》¡¿♤♡◇♧{}[]●●■■••°°○○°°•••

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Entertainment Weekly

Let us now praise Seth ''Scott Evil'' Green, whose beautiful delivery of otherwise generic wisecracks is all that stands between this painfully derivative horror comedy and a premature date with the eject button.

TV Guide Magazine

There's about half an hour's worth of sickly amusing material here...Unfortunately, that leaves a solid hour's worth of witless screaming, running around and expiring in a welter of icky special effects.

By Maitland McDonagh FULL REVIEW

Chicago Tribune

It's got the sex. It's got the violence. And, most important, it has an array of pot-centered jokes that might be funny to someone under the influence of an illegal substance. [30 Apr 1999]

Perhaps thinking he had a farce to play with, Flender encourages tons of mugging; by overplaying what should be underplayed, helmer and cast deliver a fatal stab to the intended comedy-horror.

By Robert Koehler FULL REVIEW

It's an unholy mess.

By Staff [Not Credited] FULL REVIEW

See All 20 Critic Reviews

Apr 25, 2021

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

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Jan 11, 2020

Idle Hands is a comedy riot. The movie is really funny and really scary. The acting is great & the special effects pack a punch.

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Jul 9, 2014

Idle hands is a horror comedy that will delight you. The movie is about a teen who's hand is possessed by the devil. He can't control his left hand and many horrible events start happening. The comedy and horror is balanced nicely. The movie will make you jump, chuckle and the movie is original with its screenplay.

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Feb 2, 2020

fun, campy and the special effects are actually pretty well done, unfortunately this movie hasn’t aged well. it’s American Pie era aspirations has a lot of **** humor etc. also, the ending is terrible. jessica albas character is written very poorly (by a man) and she’s just used as eye candy! the films concept could be v cool if remade today by better writers!

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TastyJamProject

Apr 4, 2011

A horrible wasted time. I expected this to be a riff off of Evil Dead 2 and be more funny than scary. It was neither. This movie wastes the talent of Seth Green, still seems lame with it's R rating and gives you nothing to root for, (I hated the main character, he was dumb, knew nothing about weed for being such a stoner, and ultimately killed everyone around him). This movie single handedly ended Devon Sawa's career, (for good reason).

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See All 11 User Reviews

Details

Production Company Columbia Pictures, Licht/Mueller Film Corporation, Team Todd, TriStar Pictures

Release Date Apr 30, 1999

Duration 1 h 32 m

Rating R

Genres

Tagline The film that give horror movies the finger.

View All Details

Awards

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

• 2 Nominations

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

• 1 Nomination

Teen Choice Awards

• 1 Nomination

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