The Devil's Hand 2004 Horror Movie Review

The Devil’s Hand was one of the earlier films to deal with the subject matter of devil-worship, but don’t expect anything too shocking in this surprisingly good 1961 suspense thriller (alas, there’s no blood or nudity whatsoever).  Robert Alda stars as Rick, a mild-mannered fellow heading for a seemingly idyllic life with his fiancée Donna (Ariadna Welter).  Then he starts dreaming about an attractive blonde who comes to haunt him both day and night.  Walking around one sleepless evening, he comes upon a doll shop with a doll in the window that looks exactly like the girl in his dreams.  The mystery deepens when the doll maker speaks to him by name and informs him that he is the one who ordered the custom-made doll.  On a return trip to the shop with his girl Donna, he discovers another doll that looks just like his fiancée.  You’re thinking voodoo, aren’t you?  If you aren’t, you should be - even though it’s passed off as witchcraft in the story.  The mystery blonde witch, Bianca (Linda Christian) soon makes stronger contact with Rick, and all it takes is a little smooching to make Rick declare his love and agree to join Bianca in her worship of the devil-god Gamba.  It’s not easy being a Gamba worshipper, as each full moon means a loyalty test for one of the flock.  For those Gamba deems unworthy, it’s the end of the line. 


Rick walks a fine line of loyalty to his new god, never quite forgetting Donna, who has been hexed right into the local hospital.  Donna, as you might expect, makes for the ultimate loyalty test for Gamba’s newest novitiate.  It’s all fairly predictable, but there’s just something about The Devil’s Hand that makes it more interesting than it has any right to be.  A lot of it, I think, has to do with Neil Hamilton’s performance as the leader of the Gamba cult - then again, maybe it’s just the fact that it took me the whole movie to figure out why his face was so familiar - he went on to play Commissioner Gordon on TV’s Batman.