The R-Rated Horror-Comedy You Forgot Starred Fantastic Four's Jessica Alba

Although still acting, fans certainly don't hear from Jessica Alba like they used to anymore — that is, outside of her massively successful wellness brand The Honest Company and her recent appointment as a Yahoo board member (via Deadline). However, during the 2000s, Alba made her mark as one of the most popular actors on TV and in film. Following the highly successful sci-fi series "Dark Angel," Alba built her Hollywood career to new levels with a flurry of worthwhile and memorable parts.

One of Alba's breakthrough roles that continued her reign in the 2000s was her portrayal of Susan Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, in "Fantastic Four." This early Marvel movie didn't win over a lot of critics upon its premiere, but it did become a box office hit. Films like "Fantastic Four, "Spider-Man," and "Blade" helped change superhero films and pave the way for the string of comic book-based movies that followed. 

While fans are likely to fondly remember some of her impressive hits at the start of the 21st Century, such as "Sin City" and "Machete," they might have forgotten some of her other interesting roles before her meteoric rise. In fact, one particular R-rated horror-comedy surprisingly featured Alba.

Before cosmic rays bombarded her for the "Fantastic Four," Alba played the romantic interest of a young stoner saddled with a very evil hand. Alba starred alongside Devon Sawa, Seth Green, and Vivica A. Fox in the 1999 black comedy "Idle Hands." The movie centers on slacker teenager Anton Tobias (Sawa), whose hand is possessed by a demon and goes on to murder many people, despite Anton's efforts to stop it. Alba played Anton's neighbor Molly, who likes him, but doesn't know anything about the demon-possessed hand.

Conceptually, "Idle Hands" feels like a house nestled on the same street between marijuana-centered comedy like "Up In Smoke" and the cartoonish take on fire and brimstone lore found in the goofy Adam Sandler comedy "Little Nicky." However, its off-kilter blend of comedy and gore didn't exactly wow people when it first debuted. Against a budget of $25 million, "Idle Hands" only made approximately $4 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo). On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently has an audience score of 58%, with its critics' score sitting at just 15%. 

Still, "Idle Hands" is at least a neat peek into pre-Y2K pop culture, as it features some cameos of artists we would have seen on MTV's "TRL." The movie even has appearances from former Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge and The Offspring.

"Idle Hands" clearly took inspiration from the old saying about still hands serving as the devil's playthings. But in retrospect, the movie may have also ignored any saying about everyone staying on the same page. As Seth Green, who played Anton's zombie friend Mick, told The A.V. Club in an interview, everyone who worked on "Idle Hands" had a different idea about the type of movie they were making. This at least led to a general lack of cohesion in the project, and it definitely accounted for some strange changes, especially by order from the studio.

As Green mentioned in the A.V. Club interview, the studio said that test audiences wanted more slapstick, marijuana-smoking, and more skin shown by Alba. This is what essentially caused the movie's ending as we know it. In the climactic scene, Molly is tied to the top of the car by the demon-possessed hand. As the vehicle steadily moves towards the ceiling, Anton tries to pull Molly off, accidentally ripping off part of her Halloween costume, revealing her torso. The scene is cringeworthy and largely unnecessary, but the studio got their wish. 

The movie also manages to have drug use comedically save the day. Anton and his friends trap the passed hand inside of a puppet, which they then get high using a mechanical bong, leading to the puppet releasing the controls moving Molly and the car towards the ceiling.