The Hands of Orlac

1960 "The frightening nightmare of a man who finds himself with hands which he can't control!"
5.7| 1h35m| en| More Info
Released: 01 December 1960 Released
Producted By: Société Cinématographique des Studios de la Victorine
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Famed concert pianist Stephen Orlac survives a plane crash, but his hands are permanently destroyed. Helpful surgeon Volcheff grafts a pair of new hands on the hapless Orlac. Unfortunately, they're the hands of an executed murderer – useless for a pianist, but quite handy for less delicate work...

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Société Cinématographique des Studios de la Victorine

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
rodrig58 It's not true what Rainey-Dawn (United States), writes in his review: Orlac knows he has the hands of a "killer", he wakes up on the hospital bed after surgery and sees the two articles on the front page of a newspaper, about him and about the "killer". Mel Ferrer is unconvincing in the role, and the same is Lucile Saint-Simon. The only ones trying to save the film, through his acting value, is Christopher Lee, and through her personal charm, is Dany Carrel. But the movie can't be saved because the whole story is absurd and stupid. The final is a great demonstration.
Rainey Dawn This is a fairly rare film starring Christopher Lee, Mel Ferrer and Dany Carrel. Three fine actors in the movie that actually make the film worth watching. Christopher Lee is good as usual in this film... he plays a really wicked blackmailer - watch this film just for his performance if nothing else.The story is an interesting one: a pianist looses his hands in a accident and surgically gets new hands but he did no know that the hands originally belonged to a murderer.So we have good actors and a good story. What's wrong with the film is the cinematography.... it's really flat, one-dimensional - amateurish yet watchable. As others have mentioned, there is the lack of some creepy or suspenseful music - if the film had that it would have added a new layer of underlying horror if it was present in the movie.Over all, I enjoyed this film.... it's just a lack of better cinematography and eerie music that is all that is missing - otherwise a decent story and good acting.7/10
fwmurnau A good story and a good cast are wasted in this amateurishly written and directed misfire. It's nearly as bad as Ed Wood films like PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE.How these no-talents managed to engage so many name actors is a mystery. It was a French production, I guess, and they tried to film it in French and English, but the results are amazingly tacky and clumsy.Virtually every scene falls flat or is unintentionally funny. But it's not quite bad enough to be good, like PLAN NINE. It's just bad.What's worse? Christopher Lee's unintentionally comic "maniacal laughter"? Or the jaunty, jazzy musical score. Apparently no one told the composer he was writing music for a horror film. The grimmest scenes are accompanied by toodling flutes and cheery jazz riffs that would be more appropriate to a 1960s documentary on "Swingin' London".The best version BY FAR of this much-filmed story is 1935's MAD LOVE, directed by the great Karl Freund, with Peter Lorre.
Gracken Christopher Lee told online entertainment site 'Entertainment Asylum' that there were some movies of his that he'd never watch again. This one was undoubtedly one of them. The dialogue and plot are banal, and the background music is virtually nonexistent, meaning that the movie is full of long, pregnant pauses as actors stride into rooms to read their lines.Nevertheless, Christopher Lee plays an excellent villain. In fact, when put up against Mel Ferrer's weak portrayal of concert pianist Stephen Orlac, it's impossible to avoid rooting for the bad guy.This is a picture of British horror entertainment before Hammer came along. All I can say is, thank goodness for Hammer! Watch it for Lee's acting, Other than that, be prepared to laugh your head off.