Anatomy of a Psycho

"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