How Awful About Alan (1970)

Cast:

Anthony "Norman Bates runs the Bates Motel by himself..." Perkins is Allan
Julie Harris is Katherine
Joan "I Support Your Local Sheriff!" Hackett is Olive
Kent Smith is Raymond
Robert H. Harris is Dr. Ellins

What the DVD says:

A man s unable to save his father from a fire that kills him and disfigures his sister. Sent away to a mental institution for evaluation, the man returns later to take up residence at his sister's home. Psychosomatically blinded by the incident, the man struggles with his life daily but finds things harder for him, when strange incidents begin to happen that has people doubting his sanity. Is it someone with a vendetta against him or is it something far more sinister?

Plot:

The house catches on fire, and Allan barely struggles out but cannot see afterwards. Months later, the psychiatrist cannot convince him that he is psychologically blinded by the death of his father and the disfigurement on his sister, Katherine, in the fire. Well, Allan is going to return to the family house to live with Katherine. She has decided to bring in a renter, Harold Dennis, to use the house a boarding house when Allan returns.

Allan is getting nerved by the appearances of the renter, but no one sees the guy. The strange noises don't help in the middle of the night either.

The neighbor lady, Olive, stops by to visist Allan and tries talking him into leaving the house. He goes on an errand with her. While she runs out for a minute, Allan hears something in the car that creeps him so much he tries to drive off and manages to wreck the car.

Allan is positive that he hears the renter mocking him and is sure that the renter is actually Katherine's boyfriend, Eric, in disguise. He's sure that he needs some kind of proof that the renter is trying to get him. Later, he convinces Olive to help him get evidence.

That night, Allan tries to sneak out while it's storming. He's found and checked by the local doctor. Allan is having fevered dreams as a kid when his father and Katherine humilitiated him.

The next day, he' recovers enough to escape again. He calls the state hospital trying to get ahold of his psychiatrist and even wants to hire a cab to drive him there.

Hiding from Olive, eventually, he tells her about the voices, room, etc...Olive finally tells her that the renter never came back which of course causes him to rage and rant...

The next morning, Allan hears something and is tossed into a burning room. Barely able to escape and struggle with the blurry vision, he realizes that it's Katherine. This magically causes him to regain his vision.

Later, he reads a letter that Katherine blames him for the scarring and their father's death. Well, Allan is returning to college and his siter is spending good quality time at the state hospital.

What I say:

Take Aaron Spelling producing a TV-movie in the 1970s, have it directed by Curtis Harrington who may be more known for Zoltan, Devil Dog, Hound of Hell or Night Tide, and have it starred by Anthony Perkins from Psycho, you'll have something that sounds almost like a genetically fused movie or a bizarre joke. Between Gaslight, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, and even a few of Hitchcock's movies including Psycho and Rear Window, we get siblings, craziness, murder, etc...

Anthony Perkins was permanently typecast as Norman Bates in every other movie after Psycho even when he didn't return to the Bates Motel. Well, in this movie, he is psychosomatically half-blind and only sees blobs which is better than nothing at all. With not being able to get around, it has the Rear Window and even the Fright Night feel of no one believing your wild-haired ranting.

The ending gives off the Scooby Doo ending that makes absolutely no sense. The sister wanted to get back at her brother for everything by trying to make him crazy before murderering him. Yes, she blames him for scarring her and their father's death in the fire.

Quotable Dialogue
"You'll be back soon..."
"Your labors in his behalf are never done."
"Then we'll have our afflictions in common."
"Allan, come forward..."
Morals of the Story
Always use expressions with vision and sight to blinded brothers.
Blind men don't need to take vision tests before driving off on in cars.
Better to wear cap and gowns to chase after people you want to knuckle-tap with rulers.