How Awful About Allan

How Awful About Allan

Year: 1970

Runtime: 74 mins

Language: English

Director: Curtis Harrington

HorrorThriller

A tense psychological thriller that follows a tormented man released after an eight‑month stint in a mental hospital. He returns to live with his sister, only to discover a mysterious boarder has moved in. As unsettling events unfold, he begins to suspect the newcomer may be plotting his murder.

How Awful About Allan (1970) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at How Awful About Allan (1970) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In a dimly lit house perched on the edge of a quiet town, a fragile sense of normalcy trembles beneath layers of suppressed trauma. Allan has just been released from a mental hospital after an eight‑month stay, still haunted by the aftermath of a fire that left him without sight and his family forever scarred. Returning to the familiar yet strange world of his sister’s home, he hopes to rebuild a shattered life, but the walls seem to echo whispers of the past he cannot quite place.

The house is shared with Katherine, his sister, whose own face bears the lingering mark of the blaze. Their strained bond is a quiet undercurrent, each carrying the weight of unspoken grievances and memories of a demanding father. Into this uneasy equilibrium drifts a new boarder, a silent presence who claims a throat injury and communicates only in hushed tones. The stranger’s arrival injects a subtle, unsettling tension that ripples through the household, turning routine moments into shadows of doubt.

Against this backdrop, Olive—the woman who once meant so much to Allan—re‑enters his life, offering a tentative bridge between his inner turmoil and the outside world. Their tentative reconnection is tinged with careful observation, as both try to discern what is real and what might be a product of Allan’s fragile psyche. The lingering scent of incense, the faint rustle of newspaper pages, and the occasional, almost imperceptible whisper create a suffocating atmosphere that blurs the line between perception and paranoia.

The film moves with a deliberate, claustrophobic pace, heightening the sense that every creak and whispered name could be a warning or merely the echo of a mind in distress. The tone is one of quiet dread, inviting the audience to share Allan’s uncertainty as he navigates a world where safety feels as fragile as his broken vision, and every familiar face may hide a hidden motive.

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 23:10

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators like How Awful About Allan

Thrillers where the protagonist's fractured perception traps you in their fear.If you liked the paranoid perspective and psychological dread of How Awful About Allan, you'll find more movies like it here. These stories use unreliable narrators to create intense, claustrophobic thrillers where the line between real danger and mental anguish is blurred, keeping viewers in a state of anxious uncertainty.

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Narrative Summary

Narratives in this thread typically follow a psychologically vulnerable protagonist who perceives a threat that may or may not be real. The plot unfolds from their limited or distorted point of view, creating a deep sense of ambiguity. The central conflict is often internal as much as external, as the character battles their own mind while facing a potential external danger.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here because they share a core narrative device: trapping the audience within an unreliable protagonist's subjective experience. This creates a specific, intense viewing experience defined by psychological unease, constant doubt, and a feeling of being as lost and paranoid as the main character.

Slow burn thrillers where home turns sinister like How Awful About Allan

Stories where a familiar setting turns into a source of creeping terror.For viewers who enjoyed the oppressive atmosphere and domestic unease of How Awful About Allan, this section collects similar movies. These slow burn thrillers focus on a home or family setting that gradually becomes a source of fear, blending psychological horror with a tangible sense of encroaching danger within a confined space.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a character returning to or residing in a home that becomes increasingly threatening. The threat often stems from a new presence (a person, a secret, or a past trauma resurfacing) within the household. The story builds tension not with jump scares, but with a growing, oppressive sense that the sanctuary of home has been violated, leading to an eruption of psychological or physical violence.

Why These Movies?

These movies are grouped together because they master the art of slow-burning tension within a domestic context. They share a specific mood of oppressive dread, a pacing that lets fear simmer, and a central theme of the home as a psychological battleground, making the familiar feel deeply unfamiliar and dangerous.

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Characters, Settings & Themes in How Awful About Allan

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