An Unlikely Cult Horror Movie Is Getting Remade With A Stranger Things Star

One of the zaniest little cult horror films of the 1990s is getting a remake, and it's coming from a pretty unlikely team. According to Variety, "Idle Hands," the 1999 stoner horror comedy that stars Devon Sawa as a teenager named Anton who is forced to do battle with his hand when it becomes possessed by the devil, is getting a remake produced by Jason Reitman, the director behind movies like "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and "Saturday Night." The remake will see him reteaming with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" star Finn Wolfhard, who is writing the screenplay with Billy Bryk, whom the "Stranger Things" actor collaborated with on their film "Hell of a Summer." Wolfhard and Bryk are also potentially in the running to direct the reimagining as well, given the success of "Hell of a Summer" when it debuted at TIFF in 2023. Reitman and Wolfhard's careers are both in a place where they have the clout to possibly get to really do what they want, so it will be interesting to see if they have a strong vision for movie or if it's going to be another run-of-the-mill remake. 

"Idle Hands" is a pretty unique little '90s movie, mixing stoner humor with absolutely brutal blood and gore and one of horror's most bizarre villains. (Seriously, can you think of another movie where people are on the run from a possessed, disembodied hand?) The real question, honestly, is how Wolfhard and Bryk are going to update the movie for modern audiences — that and if a stoner horror comedy can even work these days at all.

Here's the thing about "Idle Hands": critics absolutely despised it and audiences were pretty mixed. It also had the horrible luck to come out right after the Columbine High School shooting, which meant no one wanted to watch teens get killed onscreen. It ended up finding an audience on home media, and over the years that audience has grown into a pretty good little cult following. It's a ridiculously silly movie, following Anton as he realizes his hand is possessed and has been killing people while he sleeps. He even ends up killing his two best friends, Mick (Seth Green) and Pnub (Elden Henson), who come back from the dead because the walk to the white light was just too far. The cast is a perfect '90s ensemble, including Vivica A. Fox as a demon hunter and Jessica Alba as Anton's crush and neighbor, and it even has The Offspring playing live at the school Halloween dance. The movie is a time capsule of sorts that will be difficult to update, especially in the age of social media, cell phones, and legalized cannabis in many states. 

Look, I absolutely love "Idle Hands." It's the perfect kind of silly, disgusting little horror flick that we just don't get much of anymore. Will Millennials interested in a remake of one of their old faves check out the new one? Will younger audiences be interested in what "Idle Hands" has to offer at all? Only time will tell, but Wolfhard and Bryk really have their work cut out for them.