Hysteria (1965)

I LOVE HYSTERIA,MADE BY HAMMER FILMS IT STARS ROBERT WEBBER A MAN WITH AMNESIA BROUGHT ON BY AN INCIDENT WHICH I WANT TELL YOU ABOUT,BUT SOMEHOW HE IS BEING TAKEN CARE OF BY AN UNKNOWN PERSON WHO PAYS HIS BILLS PUTS HIM UP IN A NICE APARTMENT WITH NO ONE ELSE LIVIMG IN THE BUILDING AMD OTHER THINGS SO MYSTERY ABOUNDS.IT WAS WRITTEN BY JIMMY SANGSTER WHO WROTE SOME OF THE BEST STUFF FOR HAMMER,I WAY BACK WHEN HAD IT ON VHS BUT LOST IT GLAD TO SEE IT OUT ON WARNER ARCHIVE REMASTERED SO IT LOOKS BETTER THAN EVER,SO ENJOY.

I purchased this movie because I understood it was part of the trilogy of Hammer "Mini Hitchcocks" from 1964 including Nightmare and Paranoiac. Boy, was I wrong. The other two are melodramatic Gothic-mystery pot boilers. This one is more like a swinging-sixties sex comedy wanna be. The first half hour crawls by at a snails pace. The music was a pseudo-sleazy bachelor pad mambo jazz score and was my first clue that I was in the wrong movie. I suppose the movie can be appreciated on some level, but I was horribly disappointed and for me it was a complete waste of $20 USD. Buyer beware.

Ok mid-60s black-and-white British-made mystery. An American, while in England suffers an accident and ends up with amnesia. While recovering he's offered a luxurious apartment and support by anonymous benefactors. Why? Meanwhile he's left strange clues and hears sounds of scuffle and screams of mayhem. He goes to investigate and finds bloody evidence which later disappears when he tries to show possible witnesses. The guy's a bit of a cad and jerk when it comes to women. Great crisp photography. Though the Warner Archive DVD-R is excellent quality and includes the trailer, it would be nice to see a regular DVD or Blu-ray released.

not Hammer's best, but a good film

Hammer's 1965 "Hysteria" is supposedly the last of three Hitchcock-like productions directed by Freddie Francis and written by Jimmy Sangster. (The first two were "Paranoiac" and "Nightmare"). This one is the oddball. First off, they cast Robert Webber in the lead, who has little star power except that he was a figure in the Hollywood machine in the sixties mostly in secondary roles. I guess they figured they would settle for that, as Hammer I think, due to its budgetary restraints, which I greatly admire, has repeatedly settled for second choices. (Remember Cary Grant and Joan Crawford were some stars that were considering Hammer and the parts went to Hammer staples like Edward De Souza and Margarita Scott.) He totally has no charisma. Frederick Stafford would probably have been a better choice. Apparently, too, Hammer must have been thinking of the coming age by using a predominantly jazz/lounge-style soundtrack music by Don Banks making it sound pretty far-out. The script by Sangster is not one of his best. Francis does an admirable job with what he is working with. Robert Webber's character is rather despicable, too, he lies at the drop of a hat, and is aggressively pushy, but really wimpy but mostly without charm. Others in the cast are Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne and Lelia Goldoni and especially nice to see Maurice Denham get a really good part for a change as the detective who, in his persistence, solves/saves the day. A good thing for Hammer completists who might be interested, Warner Archive has provided a great transfer for this M-G-M release. It comes with a trailer. It is worthwhile to look into now, but it fails in comparison to much of Hammer's previous output. Like much of Hammer's sixties thrillers, it is in black-and-white and highly recommended, if you can forgive the wrong decisions.

Just a warning, a UK buyer of this MOD disc has said there are multiple disc errors making the film unplayable as it skips and freezes. Maybe just a one-off problem, but could this be the same as NIGHT THE BRIDGE FELL DOWN which also had problems from Warner Archive.

Never heard of this movie before and was both surprised and happy to see Webber in the starring role. One of those Hammer movies that's more "thriller" or "suspense" than horror, it isn't bad; however, it doesn't come close to The Snorkel, which I highly recommend.

Alfred Hitchcock's sleeper hit 'PSYCHO'- 1960 spawned countless imitations but Hammer Films of England released some of the best Psycho Thrillers of the sixties all written and some produced by steroid screen writer Jimmy Sangster. This one 'HYSTERIA' -1964 presented by Warner Archive is the last of them released to DVD and completes the trilogy of titles including 'PARANOIAC'- 1962 and 'NIGHTMARE'- 1963 written by Sangster and Directed by cinematographer Freddie Francis. Here we have amnesiac Robert Webber who pieces together his life with the aid of a private detective played by Maurice Denham and suddenly being thrust into the middle of a murder tryst. There is a bumpy 85 minute ride leading to the surprise denouement led by many familiar genre faces: Beautiful Jennifer Jayne who played the voluptuous vampire in Francis's 'DR. TERROR"S HOUSE OF HORRORS the same year and also the psychic medium of Director Quentin Lawrence's 'THE CRAWLING EYE' aka 'THE TROLLENBERG TERROR'-1960; Peter Woodthorpe who overacted as the mesmerist and Kiwi Kingston who played the monster in Francis's 'THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN' the same year, Lelia Goldoni who would shine in Director Samuel Gallu's 'THEATRE OF DEATH'-1966 , and in a surprise cameo, gorgeous Sue Lloyd as a red herring call girl. The script however is strictly on auto pilot with a jazzy score by Don Banks and crisp photography by John Wilcox to inhance the proceedings. Warner Archive releases it in a beautiful full screen transfer which actually makes it look like it was made yesterday if not for the fashions and locations but no extras. Not one of Sangster's best, my favorite is Director Seth Holt's 'SCREAM OF FEAR' aka 'TASTE OF FEAR'- 1960, it does hold up quite well considering its age but its strictly for Hammer completists only and for those striving for convoluted murder mysteries.

A great and interesting film. A man suffering from memory loss from tragic accident or who is supposed to have, is be treated regularly for it by a doctor, and has a woman who is in love with him has no idea who he is. Going round, searching from place to place, trying to find the truth of his identity, to wach from start to finish.

Nice movie.

This inept little film shows Hammer storyteller guru Jimmy Sangster hitting a new trough (you thought "Paranoiac" was bad? - wait until you watch this!).An uninteresting plot line (that for once could be figured out quite early on) is compounded by an absolutely ABOMINABLE casting.Robert Webber uses grotesque mimics to hide an irrepressible lack of talent, Anthony Newlands passes by without making any impression while Lelia Goldoni is just cute.Freddie Francis directs this on autopilot.The only two redeeming factors are Jennifer Jayne (bless her) and the hilarious Maurice Denham (the only actor with a genuine expression on screen).Had I not paid for "hysteria", I probably would have become hysterical watching this...As it is, just bored senseless really...Instead of losing time with this, Hammer fans should watch "Nightmare", "Taste of Fear" and "Fanatic" over and over and over again...