Idle Hands (1999) **1/2

I saw Idle Hands (1999) in the theater when it was released and on DVD at least once. But I hadn't watched it since then (more than 23 years ago, damn), so I didn't remember a good chunk of it. For the most part, the movie is silly stoner stuff, but I am amazed at what still passed muster at the tail end of the '90s. It's like some throwback to '80s teen/sex comedies—such as 1984's Sixteen Candles and 1985's Weird Science (sorry, John Hughes)—in the way it presents its female characters (basically as set dressing, to gawk at, and to be rescued), and the way its male characters talk about and treat said female characters (and what the female characters consider appropriate behavior).

Which is all to say, this is very much a "dude" movie, very much a teenage male fantasy, and very clearly written by a man with a "dude" mentality whose key audience is teenage boys. I will admit that the characters are certainly accurate for the time period and their age (I believe today's youngsters would say "bois do be like that.") If the film was a bit stronger, and all of the above wasn't so often the focus, it would be more enjoyable (and there are some funny bits and fun gore gags). IH does aim to carve its own niche with its goofy genre mashing and, in some ways, succeeds at a time when most horror films were copy/pasting 1996's Scream (review). But, mostly, revisiting the movie just made me realize I'd rather be watching Evil Dead II (1987) (review) or The Addams Family (1991) (review).