Hysteria (1965)

Just perfect...

It is a performances centric movie

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Hysteria is directed by Freddie Francis and written by Jimmy Sangster. It stars Robert Webber, Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne, Maurice Denham and Lelia Gordon. Music is by Don Banks and cinematography by John Wilcox.From the long line of Hammer Thrillers with one word titles that followed in the wake of Psycho, Hysteria is a decent addition to the roster. Plot in simple terms finds Webber as Chris Smith, a survivor of a car crash who is suffering with amnesia. Upon finding out some mysterious benefactor has been footing the hospital bills for him, he is naturally intrigued as to who it is. Following the bare minimum of clues, while struggling with angry voices he hears in his head, Smith finds himself in a vortex of mystery and shifty shenanigans.What follows is a monochrome murder mystery laced with psychopathic tendencies, paranoia, dangerous attractions, twists and extended flashbacks. It's all a bit flimsy if you wanted to dissect it as a viable story, but Sangster comes up with some good ideas in the name of entertainment, and Francis is able to eek out suspense at regular intervals. Cast are fine, including the sometimes maligned Webber who sits the role well, while Denham offers up a good one as the detective who is not to be taken lightly.Good solid twisty thriller from Hammer. 7/10

Hysteria starts in London where car accident victim Chris Smith (Robert Webber) is about to leave hospital after four months of recovering, he has total amnesia & cannot remember anything about himself not even his proper name. When brought into the hospital Chris had no wallet or form of identification & had no possessions other than a photo of a woman. While in hospital someone has been paying his medical bills & has sent the keys to a penthouse flat for him to live in rent free, Chris decides to accept his mysterious benefactor's hospitality & moves into the flat. There he sets about discovering who he was before he lost his memory although everything that he remembers might not be pleasant as several strange occurrences begin to happen...This English production was a link up between Hammer studios & MGM, directed by Freddie Francis this is a unusual little thriller although you shouldn't read too much into the fact it's a Hammer film as it's not the sort of thing you would typically associate with them. The script by producer Jimmy Sangster is a mysterious psychological thriller that builds up the plot about someone who can't remember anything about himself & has all these strange & peculiar things happen to him before everything is turned upside down where just about everyone is revealed to not be who you originally thought they were in a contrived & silly multiple twist ending that is only partially successful in my opinion. At only 85 minutes in length it moves along at a decent pace, the story is quite intriguing at times although I have to say I wasn't really ever gripped & that ending really is rather far fetched & hard to swallow. The character's are alright even if some are a bit optimistic in terms of what they think they can get away with! It's watchable enough I suppose but nothing brilliant & the ending just didn't surprise or impress me enough.Director Francis does alright here, the black and white photography is nice enough. I personally don't think Hysteria gains anything from being shot in black and white & it was almost certainly a decision made for financial rather than artistic reasons. There's no blood or gore & little horror in Hysteria which is a surprise since the 50's & 60's was when Hammer studios was having so much success with their horror films & I don't really understand why they would try to deviate from a successful & proved formula. The film reminds of Hictchcock's Psycho (1960) the way it's shot & the constant unsubtle references to dead women in shower's.Technically the film is good, it's well made on location in England & in the studio. The acting is solid although I doubt anyone is going to win any awards for it.Hysteria is a decent time waster, I didn't think it was outstanding & I didn't think the twist endings were all that great either, I certainly think the twists in more recent films like The Sixth Sense (1999) & Fight Club (1999) are much more effective.

This is an unusual little surprise from the Hammer Studio's and horror director Freddie Francis. It's a thriller in the style of Hitchcock.The movie and story are well constructed and there are quite some plot twists and mysterious elements in the movie. It truly leaves you guessing till the end so fans of the genre will be absolutely delighted.However the movie notably tries to create a film-noir kind of atmosphere and story and characters. It fails in it mainly because the backdrop of this movie, London, simply is no New York, Chicago or San Fransisco. Also director's Freddie Francis inexperience with this genre doesn't help much. It's too bad because the movie and certainly story were already good enough on it's own, it didn't needed extra style and atmosphere.The actors do their jobs well and they are believable enough in their roles. The cinematography by John Wilcox is also truly great at times. Director Freddie Francis himself of course also was a much famed director of photography and later did some well known movies such as; "The Elephant Man", "Glory" and "Cape Fear (1991)". So his skill almost certainly had something to do with the at times great cinematography in this movie.The Jazzy musical score of the movie however was awful. There are only two things I hate in this world; hospital clowns and Jazz. So, yes obviously I'm biased of course.A very surprising, watchable thriller.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Those who love the psychological twisters of the sixties will find this one of the best, with its masterful twists and turns of the plot. The question in this film is: Is our hero (played with aplomb by Robert Webber) really going mad, or is someone trying to convince him he's mad? Is he seeing things and hearing voices or is someone playing ghastly tricks on him? If so, for what purpose?The ending leaves no strings untied, which in this case is a feat Hitchcock would be proud of, and in fact, you can see the influence of the Hitchcock films throughout this one. It especially reminds me of "Dial M for Murder". The film does seem very dated by today's standards, but is well worth a screening.