Product Details

• Actors: Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris
• Directors: Curtis Harrington
• Format: NTSC
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: Synergy Ent
• DVD Release Date: May 15, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000QTD6F6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #342,530 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "How Awful About Allan (1970)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gets 4 stars because of players, director, and relative obscurity., March 13, 2007

By 

johnnybeyond "johnnybeyond" (Suwon, South Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Awful About Allan (DVD)

I saw this film once on ABC over 30 years ago, before VCRs or DVDs were available... and I've wanted another viewing ever since. It holds up quite well with the other Curtis Harrington and Robert Aldrich CHARACTER/QUESTION horror films that featured a characters name, and often a question, in the title, specifically, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?; HUSH,HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE; WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?; WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO?; and my favorite, WHAT HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE?. Many of these were based on novels by Henry Farrell. This one holds up pretty well because of Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris, Joan Hackett and Kent Smith... 4 very recognizable and talented performers. Smith's career goes all the way back to the Lewton/Wise CAT PEOPLE pictures; Joan Hackett cut a wide swath through Sixties and Seventies movies before cancer cut her down; and Harris and Perkins are well remembered for many great films, although PSYCHO forever trapped Perkins as an emotionally impaired victim/predator. The budget is strictly "movie of the week," and the plot here is so thin that the few red herrings are VERY transparent and the villain is VERY easily spotted. The main attractions are the performances and the persistant sense of dread that characterizes all Curtis Harrington movies. If you want to see good performers in one that slipped past you the first time, this one is a fairly good bet.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars HOW AWFUL ABOUT THIS TRANSFER, April 28, 2005

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Awful About Allan (DVD)

This review is of the notrious Madacy version. Madacy has been known over the years to release extremely poor copies of movies that almost look like they were taped from a VHS. The colors are grainy, the sound is muted, and the overall enjoyment is hampered. For instance, in this version, a key scene at the end is overpowered by the musical score so we don't really know what the character was saying. As for the movie itself, one can only respect Anthony Perkins, Julie Harris and Joan Hackett for rising above their lame material. Scripted by Henry Farrell and directed by Curtis Harrington, HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLAN is an Aaron Spelling television movie made in 1970. As typical of that time frame, the movie is slow and tries to build suspense with endless shots of Perkins' view of the world through his psychologically blinded eyes. After his release from a mental hospital following the burning death of his father, Perkins returns home to live with his scarred sister Harris, whose face was disfigured when she tried to rescue her father. Harris' relationship with the father is veiled with suggestive innuendo and an unnatural desire to please "this great man." Hackett is the neighbor Olive who obviously has her own desires for Perkins, and why we don't ever really know. He's obviously Norman Bates-ish, and what woman in her right mind would want to spend her life with him. Anyway, the movie plods along with the chance that Perkins is seeing and hearng things, a mysterious roomer who never shows up, an old boyfriend of Harris' who does show up, and an ending whose ambiguity is frustrating.
Not a total dud; it's always nice to see the three stars work, but it's not that suspenseful and the transfer is criminal.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Anthony plays a psycho again, February 26, 2005

By 

Beth "bethiejw2" (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Awful About Allan (DVD)

After burning down his house, Anthony Perkins spends some time in a mental instiution. (Deja vu? This same scenario was used in his 1968 movie Pretty Poison.) His sister Julie Harris takes him in reluctantly. Her father died in the fire and the two had an unusual relationship. Pretty soon Anthony is starting to go mad again. Or is someone just playing with him? For a tv movie this is pretty good. Anthony Perkins and Julie Harris both give nice laid back performances. Running time says 90 but actually it's 70 minutes. 2.5 rounded to 3