Idle Hands

A couple of nights before Halloween, Mr. and Mrs. Tobias are killed. However, their lazy stoner teenage son, Anton, doesn't notice until the following night when he discovers their bodies. He shows the bodies to his friends, Mick and Pnub, and the three of them piece together that Anton is his parents' killer. After he stabs Mick in the head with a broken bottle, Anton realizes his right hand is possessed, but he is unable to stop it from decapitating Pnub. Anton struggles to control his hand, which winds up throwing his cat out the window. While searching for it, he encounters his neighbor and crushes Molly, and the two start a relationship. After Anton returns home, he buries his parents and friends in the backyard. However, Pnub and Mick decide not to go to heaven, returning to their former bodies and rising from the grave.

Meanwhile, a druidic high priestess named Debi LeCure is hunting the spirit responsible for killings across the country. After his hand kills two cops in his living room, Anton cuts it off with a cleaver. Pnub and Mick seek out a First-Aid Kit while Anton traps the hand in a microwave, burning it. Meanwhile, Debi (now along with Randy, Anton's neighbor) hunts Anton down to put a stop to the possessed hand. After sending Molly to the school dance, Anton returns home to finish off the hand. Unfortunately, Pnub and Mick inadvertently let go of the hand. The three then steal Randy's truck and head to the school. Mick and Pnub go to the Halloween dance to watch over Molly, while Anton looks for the hand. Randy and Debi meet up with Anton. Debi explains that the hand will drag Molly's soul into the netherworld. Anton crashes the dance and tries to warn everyone about his hand, but is ignored.

The hand then scalps the band's lead singer, causing a panic. Molly and her friend Tanya escape through the vents. They attempt to go through a fan, which they stop with Tanya's shoe, but Tanya gets caught on the rope. Molly tries to pull Tanya off the fan, and Anton's hand ends up removing Tanya's shoe, allowing her to be pulled to her death in the fan. Molly then runs into the art room, knocking her out. Anton enters and fights with the hand while it is inside a puppet, but it escapes to the auto shop, where Molly is strapped to a car in her bra and panties, being raised toward the ceiling. Anton, Mick, and Pnub fight with the hand over the controls. Mick finds a mechanic's bong, and he and Pnub smoke "for strength". Anton blows some smoke into the hand (still inside a hand puppet) until it drops the controls, and they save Molly. Debi throws a ritual knife into the hand, stopping it in a puff of smoke and fire. She and Randy take off for "ritualistic sex." Anton releases Molly from the top of the car, and they go under the car and start making out. In the process of lighting the bong for Mick, Pnub accidentally hits the controls for the car, and Anton is crushed by the car.

In the film's conclusion, Anton is in a body cast in the hospital, having given up heaven to stay with Molly, and Mick and Pnub are now his Guardian Angels. When he is left alone in his room, Anton looks up and sees the message "I am under the bed" written on the ceiling. Mick and Pnub walk down the hall, pondering whether to tell Anton they were the ones who wrote the message, but decide against it, laughing.

An elaborate swimming pool sequence utilizing a large pool model, "wall of hands" and a "hell hole" visual was initially planned as the film's final "hand" encounter. However, initial post viewing tests suggested the ending didn't quite mesh with the overall intended tone of the film.^[5][6] A replacement shop class sequence with both comic and horror elements was substituted, delaying the film's release by several months. The original swimming pool sequence with mostly completed effects can be watched as a bonus feature on DVD presentations.^[7]

A soundtrack album for Idle Hands was released through Time Bomb Recordings two weeks in advance of the film, featuring mostly punk rock and heavy metal artists. Though appearing on the album, the songs "Enthused" by Blink-182, "Mama Said Knock You Out" by The Waking Hours, "Bleeding Boy" by Disappointment Incorporated, and "My Girlfriend's Dead" by The Vandals were not used in the film.^[18] Chuck Donkers of AllMusic rated the album two stars out of five, remarking that it "befits a combination teen comedy/horror flick that climaxes at a high school dance" and "features songs from over-the-top adolescent favorites".^[19]

In addition to those on the soundtrack album, the following songs are also used in the film:

The film was parodied in the Robot Chicken episode "Dragon Nuts", in the sketch "Idle Nuts". The sketch has essentially the same plot as the original movie, but involving possessed testicles instead of a possessed hand. Seth Green, who played Mick in Idle Hands, is also an executive producer and co-creator of Robot Chicken.

In November 2024, it was announced that Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk will write and possibly direct a remake of the film. Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan are involved as producers, along with original producers Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd.^[20]