Weird Wednesdays: Vibrations (and The Hand Canon)
This screening was part of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series. For upcoming shows, click here.
It is said by someone, somewhere, at some time in history, that if the eyes are the windows into the soul, the hands point to the path of the divine. But what happens when a person loses their hands?
At a recent screening of Vibrations during Weird Wednesday at the Alamo Drafthouse, the protagonist T.J., a musician, loses his hands in a shockingly violent altercation—his ability to reach heaven and enter the kingdom of rock Gods is cut short by a few drug-dealing jerks (and, as this movie is constantly reminding us, drugs aren’t cool man). T.J. becomes a homeless alcoholic with no direction, wallowing in the absence of a path forward.
Indeed, many characters in our favorite motion pictures find their faith in a higher power tested by a lack of palms, fingers, and opposable thumbs. Characters who lose their hands lose a piece of themselves. But this is the movies—where adversity can be conquered with the assistance of technology, a bit of moxie, and the ever-enduring power of friendship.
The following films are about characters who lose a hand (or hands) and, depending on the movie, come out stronger for it.
This is The Hand Canon.
Honorable Mentions
Rats! (2025)
What is a hand without a wrist? Rats, a 2024 indie surrealist stoner-comedy shot, locally in Pfluggerville, contains many hands, many of which are cut from their owner’s, who’d remain mostly unknown. Is it an offhanded reference to the missing ear in Blue Velvet? Maybe—but if you’re not at least a little stoned while considering where these hands come from and reflecting on your own suburban ennui, then you’re probably not watching this movie correctly.
One might say, “With the number of missing hands in this movie, shouldn’t this be considered at the top of The Hand Canon?” A fair question. However, hands are not hands in the universe of Pfresno. They are something else entirely: strange, weird symbols of missing identity. They’re so otherworldly they’re not even called hands, they’re “hahns”. Now, that’s a real trip—one that likely belongs in a canon all its own.
Disclosure: The author of this piece appears as an extra in this film.
The Hand Canon
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Inspector Kemp is played by Kenneth Mars, a method actor so committed he refused to stop using the monocle, eyepatch, and fake hand between takes. Imagine him, in a full German accent, at the crafty table seeking a baby carrot—having to adjust the crank of his fake hand with his real one, his arm flying involuntarily upward, flinging the carrot into the air. He’s a genius.
When Inspector Kemp lets go of his hatred of the monster and invites everyone back to his place for a town hang, you believe it—because Kenneth Mars put in the work.
Moonstruck (1987)
“When the moon hits your eye, you lose your hand, you lose your bride.” Who better to lean into the DRAMA of having one hand than Nicolas Cage? His proclivity for camp and pop bigness makes Cage and Cher a perfect match. Nothing exemplifies that more than Cage’s wooden monologue, which defined an entire generation of going for it.
Vibrations (1996)
T.J. Cray is a crazy name—but what’s crazier is the almost sadistic way Michael Paseornek directs the attack in which Cray loses his hands. The sequence, despite the lack of gore, is agonizing to watch, the crunch of metal and James Marshall’s violent screams are overwhelming as Cray’s hands are crushed by the weight of a construction truck and the metal of Cray’s own car. Even more disturbing is the sadistic glee Cray’s assailants take in the assault.
It’s established early on that Cray’s hands are his form of individuality and self-expression. We don’t want poor James Hurley—sorry, T.J. Cray—to be homeless and addicted. We want him to follow his dreams of getting on stage, man.
James Marshall and Christina Applegate’s characters remain products of the film’s ’90s origin; the solution to James’ plight is a downright Clintonian invention, and the free market uplifts T.J. out of his despair. It’s no mistake that Anamika sells merch at weirdly drug-free, yet still illegal, house raves. She’s doing what all good capitalists do: finding a niche needing innovation—the niche being T.J.’s missing upper-phalanges.
The innovation? Giving T.J. new piano-playing robot hands. Those hands make beautiful music for tweens. It's an occupational therapist’s fever dream.
The Hand (1981)
Oliver Stone wrote and directed this film, in which Michael Caine plays a comic book artist whose hand is severed when his wife backs a truck into him. The hand goes missing. He becomes increasingly erratic, imagining the severed hand turning into an inanimate object—or worse, a killer.
Sounds cool, right? While the movie warrants inclusion for its direction, the plot becomes a bit of a bore, especially compared to other movies where a severed hand grows a consciousness and becomes sentient. Still, it raises an intriguing question about how what we lose can drive us mad. Imagine a version where John Wayne Bobbitt’s missing appendage grows a mind of its own. Stone, call us.
Evil Dead II (1987)
Speaking of madness—has an X rating ever been more hilarious than Evil Dead II? The progenitor of Dead Alive and every gore-comedy flick, Bruce Campbell takes the concept of possession and turns it into a Busby Berkeley–meets–Charlie Chaplin sketch.
As a teen, this author took it as a metaphor: Never bite the hand that feeds you, or that hand might punch you in the face.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
What does a hand represent but Hammurabi—an eye for an eye? A hand for a hand? The Empire Strikes Back shows how that idea can extend across generations. Anakin Skywalker loses his hand in his lust for power. Years later, still gripped by that thirst, he does the same to his son.
Luke eventually breaks the curse of his lost hand—representing generational trauma—by becoming more powerful than his father could ever imagine. It’s like poetry; it rhymes.
Robocop (1987)
Does a movie qualify for The Hand Canon if someone loses not just their hand but all of their limbs? Yes—if the hand delivers a literal hand cannon: a satirical bullet into the belly of late capitalism.
Conclusion
What other films would you include in The Hand Canon? Disagree with any of these choices? Hit me up on Hyperreal Discord.
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