Anatomy of a Psycho

The acting and direction are wooden, and the production values are minimalist. But from time to time I really enjoy these independent films from the 50s through the 70s. Last night on TCM was one of those times. A man is about to be executed for murder. You never get to see or hear from that man. All you know about him is what other people say. The man's brother, Mickey (Ronnie Burns) is angry at everybody who played a part in his brother's execution because his brother told him he was innocent. His sister, Pat (Pamela Lincoln), does not share in his anger because she does not believe in her brother's innocence. Besides, she knew he made his living robbing other people. Mickey points out that the money from those robberies went to them being raised by their criminal brother when he could have let them go to an orphanage.

Mickey hangs with a rough crowd of teens in "the shack" - an abandoned former pool hall. When Mickey swears vengeance on everybody that helped send his brother to the gas chamber the gang helps - some. But eventually things go terribly wrong. A complicating factor is that Mickey's sister is engaged to the son of the star prosecution witness against Mickey's brother.

The overall plot line is interesting and makes some good points, almost religious ones such as the importance of forgiveness and how when a person hates it is that person who is wounded most by it.. However the actual dialogue and some of the scenes are to die for. Examples - Mickey's straight arrow sister offering to drop out of college so her delinquent brother can go because "girls don't need school". The "tough cop with a heart of gold" threatening to shoot an unarmed Mickey for - climbing up a water tower??? Was he afraid he would fly away? When he comes back down the cop says "You know you can trust me???. Mickey's girlfriend dumps him, but I really didn't pay much attention to her dialogue because her hair has a life of its own! Is there a stylist and some hair gel in the house?

If you are looking for an A or even B list film, or if you are looking for a horror film, this will disappoint. But for MST3K style goodness without the rifftrax, this fits the bill.

"Anatomy of a Psycho" has a premise that I'm pretty surprised that hasn't been copied to death by other movies - someone swearing revenge against those who were responsible for sending his brother to the gas chamber. There could have been a lot of perverse pleasure seeing judges, district attorneys, and jury members get snuffed. Unfortunately, the filmmakers don't seem to understand the potential they had. Despite a 73 minute running length, the movie is really slow- moving, and the central character only enacts revenge on three people - and two of those people are just RELATED to the people who were actually responsible for the central character's brother's death. With that in mind, the only way the movie could have been saved would be with unintentional humor. While there are some laughs here - miscast actors, bad acting, dopey dialogue - for the most part the movie is just drab and dull. If you want to see a more successful telling of the movie's theme, watch "Law Abiding Citizen" instead.

"A young man is despondent over the conviction and subsequent execution of his older brother. Having idolized his brother to the point of it being an obsession, the young man cannot believe he was guilty, even though he was, and swears to avenge him. The crazed young man decides to carry out his revenge by tracking down and killing all the officials and jurors responsible for his brother's trial and execution," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Boris Petroff's "Anatomy of a Psycho" is a pale period piece, which seemingly sought to (given the title) bask in the glow of two significantly more timeless films. It might have been interesting had it tweaked the covertly homosexual relationship between Darrell Howe (as Chet Marco) and Frank Kiliman (as Bobby Brown), for starters.

By the way, it's easy to mistake Mr. Howe for Ronnie Burns (as Mickey Craig), due to the latter's star billing. Mr. Burns, who plays a slightly more secondary role to Mr. Howe's "bad boy" lead, was the more well-known actor, due to his appearing from 1955-'59 on his parents' TV series. Relax, Ronnie does not stray too far from his familiar role as the nice young son of George Burns & Gracie Allen.

*** Anatomy of a Psycho (1961) Boris Petroff ~ Darrell Howe, Ronnie Burns, Pamela Lincoln

Chet has a strange attachment to his older brother that was executed. He has a sister, Pat, that will reveal more about the older brother - reminding Chet of who his older brother was but Chet feels differently about him. In the film, we watch Chet spiral into madness and built up anger over the death/execution of his older brother.

It is true this film is slow at times but the film is better than it's given credit for. I do believe this film will bore some crowds - in particular the younger crowds that want a lot of action. This film is little action and all crime-drama with a few thrills. Worth a watch for fans of the older crime-dramas.

5.5/10

The son of Burns and Allen plays a cold, messed up 25 year old teenager with a group of 25 year old high school friends. His brother is sent to the electric chair and he gets tunnel vision concerning him. There is nothing wrong with the premise. It's just that the acting is atrocious and the plot so stupid. There are two kinds of kids: the punks and the Leave It to Beaver crowd. The scene where the psychotic guy is invited to a party by his sister's boyfriend is absolutely ludicrous. You almost expect him to say, "They're going to have a clown and everything." Anyway, the good guy gets framed and the movie is about how that is handled. One thing I've noticed in watching all these films of the forties and fifties. If you kill someone, no matter the circumstances, they send you to the chair. They try really hard to make this one social commentary, but it's beyond help.