Hands Of Death (a.k.a. Nurse Sherri)

Year releasted: 1977

by Keith Phipps
January 21st, 2004

With health costs forever on the rise and study after study suggesting the value of approaches outside of Western medicine, it's no wonder that so many have turned to alternative therapies. But while acupuncture and herbal remedies have made inroads into modern life, strange cults in which believers chant over bodies they hope to raise from the dead have not, perhaps thanks to cautionary tales like Hands Of Death. The movie features one such cult, led by bad guy Prentiss Moulden, who seems to be on the verge of successfully resurrecting a dead colleague—until he keels over from a heart attack. Ironically delivered to a hospital practicing the kind of medicine he preached against, Moulden decides to exact revenge from beyond the grave by turning himself into what looks like an animated green bowler hat and inhabiting the body of nurse Jill Jacobson. Meanwhile, in a development that conveniently helps clear up the plot, recently blinded football star Clayton Foster copes with his new disability by telling pretty nurse Marilyn Joi about his voodoo-practicing Haitian grandmother and her experiences with the undead. When Jacobson beings walking around covered in blood and starts missing lunch appointments in order to stab retired doctors in the back with pitchforks, her friends grow suspicious. Could modern science be wrong about the possibility of supernatural possession? Jacobson's doctor boyfriend reluctantly answers that question "Yes," based on the empirical evidence of Jacobson hiding in the shower and trying to kill him. Fortunately, Joi and another nurse listen to Foster's voodoo expertise and destroy Moulden's body. With the curse lifted, they all look toward a brighter future, except for Jacobson, who has been driven insane.