When Psycho proved to be a huge success for Hitchcock, gothic horror experts Hammer Studios clearly saw pound signs and turned their attention to the psychological thriller genre, giving viewers a series of films with similar one word titles: Maniac, Paranoiac, Nightmare, and this film, Hysteria, in which an American with amnesia (Robert Webber) finds himself caught in a web of intrigue and murder.
Written by Jimmy Sangster and directed by Freddie Francis, the film builds an atmosphere of suspense and utter bewilderment, side-stepping logic for much of the time, leaving the viewer wondering how the hell matters will be resolved satisfactorily before the end credits roll. Short answer: they're not. In the final act, Sangster and Francis reveal what is really going on, and it is so utterly ridiculous (even more silly than being able to sneak into the UK in the trunk of a car) that one has to admire the film-makers for actually trying to pull it off.
Noirish, with a hint of the giallo about it, Hysteria might not make a whole lot of sense, but commendable performances (especially Maurice Denham as private detective Hemmings) and a willingness to carry on regardless of how daft it gets makes me like this film more than I probably should.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.