AllMovie

A "Phyllis Barrington Special" from independent low-budget producer Willis Kent, Sinister Hands remains an excruciatingly dull whodunit, whose murderer is easily identifiable for any armchair detective. Known for his economical but fast-paced Westerns, veteran director Armand Schaefer was somewhat stifled by the mostly interior sets of this stage-bound mystery "thriller." The blonde Miss Barrington was a Kent protegée who spent her entire screen career in low-budget fare like Sinister Hands. The real star of the film, however, is Russian émigré actor Mischa Auer, whose greedy Swami Yomurda was so well received that the character (and Auer) returned in the 1933 Willis Kent potboiler Sucker Money.