Hands of a Stranger (1962) Reviews

In Hands of a Stranger, concert pianist James Stapleton loses his hands in a traffic accident. Doctor Paul Lukather grafts on a new pair of hands, which were "donated" by a murder victim. Distressed that his new extremities are radically different from his old ones, Stapleton suffers a severe emotional breakdown. He subsequently causes the deaths of several people, both directly and indirectly; the most chilling moment is the death of young Barry Gordon, the son of the now-blinded cab driver whom Stapleton holds responsible for his accident. This was an unofficial screen version (the fourth up through that time) of the novel Hands of Orlac; previous versions were made in 1924 (as Orlacs Hände), 1935 (as Mad Love) and 1960 (as Les Mains d'Orlac). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi