Director: Robert Florey
Year: 1946
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Disembodied Appendage
Plot:
Following the death of their charge, a group of friends staying in his Italian villa become convinced his disembodied hand is committing a series of gruesome murders around the house, trying to ensure a deadly secret remains hidden, and try to stop it before they're all killed.
Review:
This here was quite an enjoyable and fun effort. What really gives this one a great feel here is the exceptional build-up to the actual revelation, which comes off really nicely without giving off a really boring pace. The early part of this one is a great build-up of the mysterious death of their boss and the general resentment of everyone towards his intentions, following the reading of the will, which gives this a really solid base once it moves to the haunting stages. These here are all quite fun as the hand gets quite inventive here with some spectacular scenes of the disembodied hand coming out from around corners, behind curtains and statues to attack without warning only to disappear without a trace and then to immediately begin playing the piano makes for some creepy times here, and several other big stalking scenes that come about showing it walking about which give off a really fine touch.
There's even a great deal of detective work on display here as the middle parts here revolve very nicely around determining the course of actions within here, which follow through the group exploration of the tomb where they find the initial disturbances where the hand has gotten loose and left the evidence of its disappearance, as well as bringing about the start of the regular investigations. The scenes of the group wandering around the house following each of the attacks where the earlier clues here about trying to get to the other will while trying to solve the murders leads to the secret room in the library, and the further realization of the tricks used to pull it off are revealed, given the introduction of the hoax at the center of it all. It's a strong enough concept here that this one is indeed good enough, and there's a lot to like despite the film's few problems.
The biggest issue here is, in fact, the film's final twist, something which not only renders what's going on here completely arbitrary but also is revealed in a really clueless way, unfurling it without much suspicion by the sole member of the household who has been informed the least by what's happening and really taking a lot of sting out of the film. It's not really as clever as it thinks it is because of this, and it really tends to downplay a lot of what happened here. Also, the ending's jokey nature tends to really conflict with the more serious efforts here in the rest of the film, but it's more the twist here that holds this one down.
Overview: ****/5
One of the best in the genre in this particular style, there's a lot to like here and not too many flaws, so it comes together incredibly well as a standout feature overall. Those with an appreciation for this era of the genre, who are curious about it, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, while most others should heed caution.
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