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" 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

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.

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!