Customer Reviews

Anatomy Of A Psycho

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Here is quite an odd cinematic pairing: Hatchet For the Honeymoon, a classic giallo film from the brilliant director Mario Bava, and Anatomy of a Psycho, a juvenile delinquent film that can in no way be considered horror. Don't let any cover illustrations fool you - there is nothing scary, monstrous, or really even entertaining about Anatomy of a Psycho. It's a great title for a forgettable movie. Young Chet swears revenge on all the people he holds responsible for his brother being convicted of murder and put to death; to be quite honest about it, Chet is just as much a worthless hood as his brother was. The only sympathetic character is the murderers' sister Pat who tries to stop Chet's reckless acts of violence and ends up causing further misery to the few normal people in this film that she cares about. Chet doesn't exactly cover up his crimes very well, yet the dedicated, hard-working cop has a heck of a time pinning anything on him. The whole thing boils down to a potentially good ending that winds up being rather silly and over-acted.

Hatchet For the Honeymoon is quite a different story. This is a low-budget Spanish-Italian giallo film directed by Mario Bava, the master of the genre. Bava films have a rich and distinctive atmosphere all their own, combining brilliant cinematography with lush visual effects and an intensive musical soundtrack that could conceivably carry the film on their very own. Throw in a delightfully droll, cold-blooded performance by Stephen Forsyth as the self-acclaimed madman who feels the need to slay new brides on their wedding nights, the dramatic accomplishments of Laura Betti as an unhappy and oh-so-vindictive wife, and the exotic charm and grace of the gorgeous Dagmar Lassander and you've got yourself a movie you can enjoy time and time again.

If you absolutely, positively have to have Anatomy of a Psycho (if such a thing is even possible), you'll be getting a terrific bonus in Hatchet For the Honeymoon if you buy this movie combo. If you want Hatchet For the Honeymoon (and I highly recommend this movie), you might as well get this combo and get a little (very little) more bang for your buck with an extra film that is not bad but is certainly not very good. Either way, you come out a winner.

ANATOMY OF A PSYCHO (1961) features Ronnie Burns in his last big screen appearance. Burns, who died in 2007 at age 72, was the adopted son of George Burns and Gracie Allen.

The juvenile 'psycho' of this story (Chet) is played by Darrell Howe. After his brother dies in the gas chamber and his face is badly scarred in an alleyway knifing, Chet goes on a vendetta. He plans to murder everyone involved in his brother's conviction. Chet's grip on reality slips badly and when not talking to his dead sibling, he terrorizes his friends.

During one of these incidents, Chet attacks Mickey (Burns) because his dad helped convict the brother. Moe (Don Devlin) comes to Chet's defense after Mickey wins the fight. He grabs a table knife, Mickey wrestles it away then Moe accidentally walks right into it! Mickey runs away. As Moe lies seriously wounded and pleads for help, Chet plunges the knife into the boy's gut right up to its hilt.

Mickey is charged with murder and because of Chet's courtroom testimony he's found guilty. But Lt. Mac (Michael Granger knows the truth and he's determined that Chet will to confess to Moe's killing.


Related ALPHA item:
HIGH SCHOOL CAESAR (1960), John Ashley stars as a small-time shakedown artist who sells test answers to his fellow students and rigs school elections.

"Anatomy Of A Psycho" is rumored to be based on a story written by Ed Wood, using the pseudonym Larry Lee. It's a juvenile delinquent film, a genre in which Ed excelled. The character being executed for murder is named Duke Marco. Duke Moore appeared in several Ed Wood movies, and Paul Marco played Kelton the cop in "Bride Of The Monster," "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Night Of The Ghouls." Some of the background music in this film was used in "Plan 9 From Outer Space." "Anatomy Of A Psycho" was a very low budget production, the black and white print is of a very poor quality, and the acting is abysmal. There's a lot of action in the film, including several fights, a house fire and someone being stabbed to death. Unfortunately, just as the main character is about to meet a violent death, the movie wimps out with a happy ending. Whether or not Ed Wood actually wrote the screenplay, this movie has many of the characteristics of Wood's work.

"Hatchet For The Honeymoon" is one of Mario Bava's lesser efforts. His usual visual style and effective use of colors are lacking when compared to his earlier movies. There's never any question as to the identity of the killer. While some of the scenes are shocking, the gore is tame by today's movie standards. Many beautiful models are killed throughout the course of the film. The last intended victim's character name is Helen Wood! Is that a coincidence or another clue as to the true identity of the first film's writer? My advice is to watch both movies and draw your own conclusions!

Anatomy of a Psycho. Good title wasted on totaly boring movie with actors you know you'll never see again. no stars.Hatchet for Honeymoon stylish Italian horror thriller by Mario Bava makes more of old wheeze about mad killer wondering why he kills that you expect. Actors good too. Fashion scenes a real blast from the past. Cartoon is excllentBetty Boop Snow White. Nice format but why does company put on a dud like Anatomy? Even their FBI warning is more entertaining. Previews include Creature From Haunted Sea worth watching for Creature. Hatchet holds interest throughout. Just as eye candy the Bava cinematography is worth the price of the movie.

I read a few of the other reviews and was surprised. The movie is black and white and made in 1961 - a gentler time - when everyone knew that morals are not something that hangs on a museum wall. Horror movies of that era didn't tend to lean towards rape, foul language, and hacking/axing people producing lots of blood. I enjoyed the movie because I appreciated the lack of mayhem. The body language of the actors was typical of that time and so is the script. Next time you feel the need for what qualifies as a horror movie in this day and age, rent or buy one that aired in the 21st century. But if you want a movie that doesn't make you wish you hadn't eaten dinner right before watching it, check out "Anatomy of a Psycho." I can't imagine it would give you nightmares, but view it for what it is and what it was meant to be - don't compare it to the movies of today. I liked it and enjoyed it and didn't feel sick to my stomach not even once ... and that's a good thing!

I bought this dvd, expecting to watch both movies. However, my DVD contained only Anatomy of a Psycho. It was an Alpha video dvd (aka Nina's Golden Oldies from Narberth PA), so I was definitely disappointed to receive one movie instead of two. I already knew what kind of movies to expect, I was disappointed in the product itself.