# Trying To Find An Old Movie Title **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931 "2013-10-22T14:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/1 "2013-10-22T14:43:45Z")
I have searched and searched online, and I keep coming back to “The Hand” in 1981, but I know this isn’t the right movie because it’s too late. When I was growing up, they showed horror movies every Saturday morning. One of the horror movies I saw then still gives me nightmares today, well at least once scene. It’s a black and white film, and the scene I remember is a dismembered hand crawling on its own. I think there was also a still living dismembered head that would command the hand (I might be combining two movies). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/2 "2013-10-22T14:47:15Z")
How old were you? Is it at all possible you were watching reruns of The Addams Family? ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/3 "2013-10-22T14:50:51Z")
I would’ve been between 4 and 6 I think, and yeah, I know it was a movie and not the Addams Family (or at least I’m pretty sure it was a movie). I’m still Googling too, but I’m not sure what term I can use. I’m not even getting Addams Family hits using dimembered hand crawling on its own. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/4 "2013-10-22T14:52:57Z")
_**[The Crawling Hand](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056961/)**_? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/5 "2013-10-22T14:53:54Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > I would’ve been between 4 and 6 I think, and yeah, I know it was a movie and not the Addams Family (or at least I’m pretty sure it was a movie). I’m still Googling too, but I’m not sure what term I can use. I’m not even getting Addams Family hits using dimembered hand crawling on its own. If it helps to jog your memory, here’s Thing from The Addams Family. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/M_pMlnOxotA/maxresdefault.jpg "Thing-Addams Family.avi") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pMlnOxotA) It was always a bit comical (it was a comedy), but I could see thinking the show was scary to a 4 year old, especially looking back on it years later trying to figure out what you were watching. It’s a long shot, I’m just tossing it out there. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/6 "2013-10-22T14:54:58Z")
Lots of titles to look through [here](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OrganAutonomy). WARNING: TV Tropes link. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/7 "2013-10-22T14:59:08Z")
> [@bup](#): > > _**[The Crawling Hand](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056961/)**_? It might could be, I’ll watch it and see. I don’t remember the astronaut angle at all, but I am just going on vague memories. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/8 "2013-10-22T15:29:41Z")
Strange, I thought I had inquired about the living head that would issue commands but couldn’t find it. Was it kept in a box? Paging CalMeacham, I think he’s who answered it before. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/9 "2013-10-22T15:41:35Z")
Yeah, the head was in a box. But I’m not 100% sure that I’m combining movies. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/10 "2013-10-22T15:49:52Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Strange, I thought I had inquired about the living head that would issue commands but couldn’t find it. Was it kept in a box? > > Paging CalMeacham, I think he’s who answered it before. This might be _The Thing That Couldn’t Die_ ([The Thing That Couldn't Die (1958) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052289/)). No severed hand crawling around, though. Other crawling hand movies I can recall are _And Now the Screaming Starts_ (although this was in color) and _Attack of the the Eye Creatures/Invasion of the Saucer Men_ (one in color, the other in black in white). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/11 "2013-10-22T15:54:18Z")
[The Frozen Dead (1966)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060434/board) contains a head-in-a-box. Don’t recall a disembodied hand, though. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/12 "2013-10-22T16:05:30Z")
Invasion of the Saucer Men had an Alien’s hand get cut off and come to life. Maybe that was it? ETA: oops missed that someone else suggested this. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/13 "2013-10-22T17:57:27Z")
Hammer Films _Doctor Terror’s House of Horrors_ included a segment with a disembodied hand in pursuit of Christopher Lee, and Hammer films were always on Saturdays when I was a kid. IMDB link: [Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) - Plot - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059125/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/14 "2013-10-22T18:08:56Z")
Attack of the the Eye Creatures was great fun, even before MST3K. It was just SO bad! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/15 "2013-10-22T18:25:55Z")
Also, the “Night Gallery” vignette “Return of the Sorceror” featured a disembodied hand. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/16 "2013-10-22T18:45:09Z")
(Miss Mapp, I don’t know about Zyanthia but you nailed the box shut for me, thanks!) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/17 "2013-10-22T18:46:44Z")
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but didn’t John Carpenter’s “The Thing” have heads and hands crawling around? His version wasn’t in B&W though. ---
**Author:** ![Tante\_Dillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Tante\_Dillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tante_Dillie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/18 "2013-10-22T20:36:59Z")
Could it be _The Hand_ starring Michael Caine as a cartoonist who loses his hand in a car crash? After the accident, the disembodied hand starts following Caine’s character around. See: [The Hand (1981) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082497/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_74) ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/19 "2013-10-22T20:51:48Z")
The original “Dark Shadows” serial had a hand, Count Petofi’s I think? ---
**Author:** ![Tante\_Dillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Tante\_Dillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tante_Dillie)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931/20 "2013-10-22T21:28:46Z")
:smack: > [@Tante\_Dillie](#): > > Could it be _The Hand_ starring Michael Caine as a cartoonist who loses his hand in a car crash? After the accident, the disembodied hand starts following Caine’s character around. > > See: [The Hand (1981) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082497/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_74) Oops, I have just re-read the OP’s question and I sheepishly withdraw my answer.:smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-find-an-old-movie-title/671931.md?page=2)