Hysteria

‘Terrifying suspense… it will shock you out of your seat!’

Hysteria is a 1964 British psychological thriller directed by Freddie Francis (Nightmare; The Skull; The Creeping Flesh) from a screenplay by producer Jimmy Sangster, for Hammer Films and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the US in April 1965. It was released in the UK 27 June 1965.

The film stars Robert Webber, Jennifer Jayne (The Trollenberg Terror; Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors; The Doctor and the Devils), Maurice Denham (Paranoiac; The Night Caller; Countess Dracula), Lelia Goldoni (Theatre of Death; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; The Devil Inside) and Anthony Newlands (Circus of Fear; Scream and Scream Again). The bombastic jazzy score was provided by Don Banks (Monster of Terror; The Reptile; Torture Garden).

Plot teaser:

An American wakes up in an English hospital unable to remember anything of his life before a recent car accident. With only a photograph torn from a newspaper to guide him, and an unknown benefactor, he attempts to unravel what looks increasingly like a bizarre murder…

Reviews:

“By all accounts this was not a very happy production with Francis subsequently saying that his heart just wasn’t really in it, though it is all shot with his customary ingenuity and elegance. Indeed, despite some lacklustre sets by Edward Carrick (Hammer regular Bernard Robinson was on another assignment), Francis and his faithful cinematographer John Wilcox once again make good use of the filters the director used on The Innocents (1961) as well as his previous Sangster thrillers Paranoiac and Nightmare.” Tipping My Fedora

“Hammer fans generally regard Hysteria (1965) as the weakest of Sangster’s thrillers: “the last – and least – of Hammer’s series of Psycho clones,” wrote Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio in their recommended Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography. But Maniac (1963) and Crescendo (1970) are much worse overall, and Val Guest’s The Full Treatment (released in the U.S. as Stop Me Before I Kill!, 1961), which Hysteria all but remakes, is downright terrible by comparison. No, Hysteria is perfectly respectable with many fine ideas. It’s interesting and genuinely suspenseful and unsettling at times, and though it doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny, is highly satisfying.” Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk

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“If Chris Smith’s journey took him on a journey through London’s seamy underbelly, we might have a late-noir classic here, but Sangster does, eventually, move back to the more familiar, comfortable territory of red herrings and absurdly elaborate conspiracies that were his trademark contributions to Hammer’s suspense thrillers. Still, sharp dialogue is maintained to the very end, with appealing performances from the supporting cast, particularly Denham’s private detective, who proves to be tougher than he looks. Don Banks provides a jazzy score, and Freddie Francis directs, with his gift for drawing out every ounce of the eerie with eye-popping black-and-white photography.” Jeff Kuykendall, Midnight Only