Starring Linda Quiroz and Sam Raimi as the Milkman, Attack of the Helping Hand! is a short film written, produced and directed by Scott Spiegel. Made in 1979, the film centers on a comic idea that would later reappear in Raimi’s film The Evil Dead (which Spiegel co-wrote).

As a plot device, the murderous disembodied hand made an early appearance in the Robert Florey/Curt Siodmak classic The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), which starred Peter Lorre. It would return with a vengeance when Michael Gough’s disembodied hand later blinded Christopher Lee in Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), before becoming lovable as “Thing” in The Addams Family.

Spiegel (as Raimi did later) opted for a mix of horror and comedy in Attack of the Helping Hand! to enjoyable effect. It was shot by Raimi and actor Bruce Campell.