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12 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Clever little mystery flick from Hammer studios!, 1 June 2006 Author: The_Void from Beverley Hills, England
Hammer studios are best known for their campy horror efforts such as the Frankenstein and Dracula series', but in the mid-sixties they also produced a number of satisfying little thrillers (mostly directed by Freddie Francis) and this film belongs to that side of the studio's output. The film is not as appealing as Francis' earlier Paranoiac, but Hysteria works primarily because of the swinging sixties atmosphere and the mysterious plot, which is played to the maximum and finishes with a great twisted climax. It's amazing that this film was produced by Hammer studios, as it feels much more like a Hitchcockian mystery/film noir than anything else that the studio produced. The plot follows an American who wakes up in an English hospital, unable to recall what has happened to him and how he got there. All we know about the man is that he was involved in a car accident, and he has a mysterious benefactor who's paying all of his hospital bills and has paid for a penthouse suite for him to stay in upon his release. His only real link to his past is a newspaper cut-out of a mysterious French model...It's obvious that this film was an attempt to mimic the successful American mystery movies of the sixties. Robert Webber's suave performance isn't a world away from Cary Grant, while Lelia Goldoni does her best Audrey Hepburn impression, and actually does rather well with it. Hammer films are distinctly English, but despite being set in the home nation; this one feels more like an American film overall. Of course, the lead character's accent helps this greatly. The film may be a disappointment to die-hard Hammer fans who prefer the colourful imagery of their most successful horror films, but Hysteria is good because it shows that the studio have some diversity. Freddie Francis was certainly one of Hammer's most capable directors, and in his hands this story is allowed to show some characterisation and present a good mystery. Hysteria keeps its audience on the edge of their seat throughout, and manages to deliver just the right amount of humour to be funny, without taking anything away from the mystery. The conclusion is well worked and makes sense, and overall; although this isn't a classic Hammer film, it's certainly a very good one!
8 out of 8 people found the following review useful: More like Hitchcock than Hammer, 19 January 2004 Author: carlin4737 from Merseyside England
I really liked this film, lots of suspense with an interesting story line full of twists and turns as the plot unfolds.I quickly recorded this on late night TV in the UK without knowing anything about it just because i seen it listed as a hammer film and seen it stared Robert Webber who i knew from "12 Angry Men". I thought that would make a interesting combination but when you think of the kind of films that Hammer are more well known for this dose`nt quite fit in now that i`ve seen it. But i`m glad i did record it.What i like about it is Robert Webber seems to be going mad but is he? is he going mad or are we being made to think he is going mad? more to the point is someone trying to make him think he is mad ..... try and find a copy and find out, fans of psychological mysteries will love this one.
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: "Gripping psycho-thriller from Hammer", 28 August 2003 Author: jamesraeburn2003 from Poole, Dorset
Hysteria concluded the trilogy of psychological thrillers that Freddie Francis directed for Hammer. The series began with Paranoiac (1963) and Nightmare (1964). The plot concerns an American amnesia victim Chris Smith (Robert Webber), whom is being used as a tool by the ruthless Dr Keller (Anthony Newlands) and his beautiful mistress (Lelia Goldoni). Between them they plan to frame Chris for the murder of Keller's wife, but their clever plan proves to be their own outdoing. In 1965, it was poorly received by critics and the public, but it's a gripping thriller and Freddie Francis directs the somewhat far fetched script by Jimmy Sangster with pace, building it neatly to it's climax. The black and white Cinematography by John Wilcox manages some decent compositions of a gray and dank 1960's London. The only criticism is the somewhat unsuitable music score by Don Banks, which is too jazzy for this type of film.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Unusual Hammer film but definitely worth checking out!, 5 April 2004 Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
Hammer studios gained fame and fortune by producing tons of eerie horror films, filled with monsters, madmen or classic gothic influences. In short, films high on adrenalin and action. Hysteria is one of their least known films just because it's the exact opposite. It's a mysterious, slow-moving thriller that requires a little more thinking and involvement from the viewer. An American (Robert Webber, known from cinema classics like `12 Angry Men' and `Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia') wakes up in a British hospital after a car-accident. He suffers from a bad case of amnesia and he has to start digging into his own past and personality. The only thing he was carrying at the time of the accident was a picture of a stunningly beautiful, mysterious girl! Also, someone is paying for his hospital bills and arranged an apartment for him but he has no idea who that is.Hysteria contains a few nice and unpredictable twists and the screenplay is overall solid and realistic. Alfred Hitchcock influences are never far away. Jimmy Sangster, who delivered many decent scripts for Hammer productions in his career, wrote the film and co-produced. There's a compelling atmosphere to detect and the cheap black and white photography helps increasing the suspense. Too bad about the constant guiding Jazz music which isn't really appropriate for this type of film. Judging by modern standards, the film is now pretty dated and heavily flawed, but with the right state of mind, you'll be enjoying this old-fashioned, low budgeted film. Freddie Francis is a professional director, not afraid to bring a little diversity in his career. He directed famous Hammer stories (Dracula has Risen from the Grave, the Creeping Flesh) as well as modest, more story driven tales like this one but also `Paranoiac' and `Nightmare'. Good acting as well! Robert Webber is very convincing and the gorgeous beauty Lelia Goldina (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) portrays a terrific muse. Recommended!
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Dated but appealing psychological mystery, 4 December 1999 Author: Eva Ionesco from Sydney, Australia
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.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: I thought it was alright but not brilliant., 17 January 2008 Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
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.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Not that bad suspense film, 15 December 2008 Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca
"Hysteria" is a decent and enjoyable thriller that serves it's purpose well.**SPOILERS**Awakening in an English hospital, American Chris Smith, (Robert Webber) confides in Dr Keller, (Anthony Newlands) about his inability to remember anything before a recent car accident. Released from the hospital after finally healed, he finds that all of his accommodations are being met by a mysterious benefactor, including a nice apartment. Determined to solve the mysteries surrounding him, he hires Hemmings, (Maurice Denham) a private detective, to help unlock his history, only for more revelations to come up that make the case even weirder. When he starts to piece together the events of the past, all it does is manage to make it even harder to figure out. Finally unlocking the key piece of evidence to make the whole thing fit together, he is soon on the run for his life from a mysterious figure in his life trying to frame him for several murders as he tries to clear his name of the crimes.The Good News: This is actually much better than expected, and has some good points to it. The most telling aspect to this one is the fact that the story to it is so strong. This one has a lot of rather intriguing questions that keep it going along, from who his mysterious benefactor is to why the rest of the apartment building is empty except for him that are dealt with earlier on in the film, which make these parts of the film highly enjoyable. The questions that come from the later half, the mysterious, arguing voices he hears emanating nightly from the empty apartment next door to the bloodied knives to the photograph and the model's death are all nicely tied together with the amnesia angle, creating an effective mystery that must be solved which does it's job well. That the amnesia angle is so well-played as well makes it fun, since it's a normal plot-element that here is taken to rather fun extremes with the name-mishap and more coming to light to produce a really nice mystery that moves the film along. The film also manages to get a little excitement going along when they feature these aspects, specifically the arguing-neighbors subplot as that one tends to elicit the most exciting scenes from the film, making for some fun times in here. Of special note is the walk-through with the running shower and the bloody knife on the floor and a later one where he tears through the apartment looking for the cause of the noises. Both are the best bits of injecting some energy into the proceedings and are quite enjoyable. The last plus here is the fact that the film has an incredibly enjoyable ending that gets a lot right. From the revelations about the whole scenario to the reasons and motivations for it, which are nicely spelled out and get a couple of good points out of it, and it ends the film on a high-note. These are the film's good points.The Bad News: There wasn't too much really wrong with this one, yet those flaws are pretty big. One of the biggest flaws is that it's just not that fast-paced a film, leading many scenes to be slow-going and quite dull. The film is quite the opposite of those looking for some excitement in their films, tending to take the mostly-through-talking approach, preferring to spell everything out through dialog than anything else that could've helped this one, which is really where most of the problems with it come from. These are the film's biggest revelation scenes, yet here it does nothing for the film except draw out the boredom by not doing anything all that exciting or interesting, and that doesn't make for very enjoyable times. This one really could've moved along much faster and not been as dialog-heavy. The other flaw to this is the fact that the middle of the film is a lengthy flashback scene that doesn't really do much of anything. It is supposedly put there to explain what's been going on at the time, but instead of clarifying the confusion, it doesn't do anything other than show how the accident happened at the end of a scene where he meets up with an unknown woman and manages to sneak into the country in order to be able to have the whole situation happen to him. It's not unnecessary, but it doesn't do what it should've done by clearing away the confusion. These here are the film's biggest flaws, although the pacing one will be the hardest to overcome.The Final Verdict: Not exactly the most energetic of horror films, but as a thriller it's not that bad and actually quite entertaining. Give it a chance if you're into these kinds of films, a fan of Hammer horror or are in the mood for something different, while those looking for straight-up horror should look at the company's other output.Today's Rating-PG: Violence
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Enjoyable Hammer Film, 3 June 2008 Author: whpratt1 from United States
Always enjoy the acting of Robert Webber, (Chris Smith),"Twelve Angry Men" who gets himself in a car accident and is unable to remember anything about himself or where he came from. Chris is an American in England and finds himself in a hospital being treated by a British Doctor, named Dr. Keller, (Anthony Newlands). Dr. Keller does everything he can for Chris and informs Chris he has a penthouse to go to and can live there until he gets well with all expenses paid by the person who caused the accident. Chris enjoys his new surroundings, but he has no one to visit him except his nurse who is a good looker and she has fallen in love with Chris, which he is not aware of. The story has many twists and turns and Chris begins to think he is crazy or has lost his mind. Gina McConnell, (Jennifer Jayne) plays the sexy nurse and there is another gal who keeps Chris quite busy. Enjoy.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Excellent thriller, 1 June 2008 Author: blanche-2 from United States
Robert Webber is "Christopher Smith," an amnesiac accused of "Hysteria" in this 1965 low budget film directed by Freddie Francis, known mostly for his fine cinematography work. An American wakes up with amnesia in a British hospital after a car accident in which the driver was killed. After working with a psychiatrist (Anthony Newlands) on staff at the hospital, he's released, the doctor unable to do any more for him to regain his memory. His hospital bills have been paid by an unknown benefactor who pays in postal drafts, and this same benefactor has provided him with a place to live. It turns out to be the penthouse of a high-rise. As he tries to sleep, he hears the people next door having terrible fights... except there isn't anyone next door. He also finds a bloody knife in his apartment.The only clue Chris has to his identity is a magazine photo of a model that was found in the car. He hires a detective (Maurice Denham) to find out who paid his hospital bills and who the woman is but also embarks on his own investigation. He tracks down the photographer of the photo, who tells him the woman is dead from multiple stab wounds. Then he sees the woman drive by him in a car, and she finally shows up at his apartment. She's the wife of the driver and Chris' benefactor. She sets out to help him find out what happened and who he is.Though this is a low-budget film with very little in the way of production values, it is a completely absorbing film with some fascinating twists and turns. The actors are all good. Robert Webber was a good-looking character actor who died of Lou Gehrig's disease in 1989 and is probably best-remembered now for playing Cybill Shepherd's father on Moonlighting, though he had a very prolific career. He's very effective in the lead. Maurice Denham is appropriately down and out looking as the detective, and Leila Goldoni is quite beautiful as the model.Highly recommended for a great story.
OK psychological thriller from Hammer, 10 June 2008 Author: Wayne Malin (wwaayynnee51@hotmail.com) from United States
This is one of the low-budget black & white thrillers Hammer Studio in England made in the early 1960s. Chris Smith (Robert Webber) is an American in London and has complete amnesia after a car crash. An anonymous person pays for his medical treatment and buys him a penthouse in a deserted high rise. Almost immediately he starts hearing voices and sees hints of a murder--but is it real or is he imaging things? There are a few major problems with this movie--there's a pointlessly loud jazz score that was totally at odds with the subject matter, Webber smirks his way through his performance, the plot was needlessly convoluted and it was pretty easy to guess who was doing what. Still this is an OK thriller. It was beautifully shot in moody black and white and well-directed by talented cinematographer Freddie Francis. The first half of the movie is also very good when Webber tries to figure out what's going on. When everything is revealed this starts to really unravel. Ultimately the plot is just too unbelievable to take seriously. This (understandably) got a bad reaction when released in 1965 and disappeared quickly. Still, there are far worse movies out there and this is fun in a turn off your brain kind of way. I give it a 6.
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