The Hypnotic Eye

Last updated
The Hypnotic Eye
The Hypnotic Eye.jpg
Theatrical poster to The Hypnotic Eye
Directed by George Blair
Written byGitta Woodfield
William Read Woodfield
Produced byCharles B. Bloch
Ben Schwalb Birchwood
Starring Jacques Bergerac
Allison Hayes
Cinematography Archie R. Dalzell
Edited by William Austin
Music by Marlin Skiles
Production
company
Distributed byAllied Artists Pictures
Release date
  • February 27, 1960 (1960-02-27)
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$365,000

The Hypnotic Eye is a 1960 [1] [2] horror film, released by Allied Artists on February 27, 1960, starring Jacques Bergerac, Allison Hayes, Merry Anders, Eric "Big Daddy" Nord, and Ferdinand Demara, billed as "Fred Demara". [3]

Contents

Plot

A young woman enters her kitchen rubbing shampoo into her hair, lights a gas burner on her stove and bends over it as if it were the sink, and sets her hair on fire. Later, doctors and police tend her, and Detective Dave Kennedy asks why she did it. She does not remember and soon dies. In the next months, ten more women mutilate their faces. Dave consults his psychiatrist friend Dr. Philip Hecht, who is an expert on hypnosis and disapproves of its use on the stage.

Dave, his girlfriend Marcia Blaine and her friend Dodie Wilson go to see the stage show of hypnotist Desmond. Dave, however, does not believe in hypnotism. Desmond calls for three women volunteers, and his assistant Justine chooses two of them, including Dodie. Desmond hypnotizes Dodie into becoming rigid as a board and levitates her. Before bringing Dodie out of it, he whispers something in her ear. Dave tries to get Dodie to say she was faking; she denies this, will not accompany them for coffee and returns to the theater when they leave. Later, at home, she pours acid instead of lotion into her washbasin, and applies it to her face. Dave and Marcia question her in the hospital, and find that she forgot how her burns happened. Marcia begins to wonder if hypnotic suggestion from Desmond is the common cause of the mutilations. She returns to the theater to investigate, and is chosen by Justine as a volunteer for Desmond. When beginning to hypnotize her, he uses a device with concentric circles of flashing light. Marcia closes her eyes before he tells her to and is not hypnotized.

Martia reports to Dave and Dr. Hecht that she thinks Desmond is guilty. She mentions Desmond's post-hypnotic command to come to his dressing room at midnight. When she does, Martia opens a box in which the device is flashing, and this time is genuinely hypnotized. Dave and Dr. Hecht follow in Dave's car as Desmond takes her to a restaurant, to a beatnik coffee-house to hear poetry and dance, and back to her apartment. He starts to make out with her, while the two men sit outside, Dave thinking that she is a willing participant and Dr. Hecht wanting more information. Desmond is interrupted by the entrance of Justine, who dismisses him and keeps Marcia under hypnosis herself. Resentful, he asks “How many more?” and Justine replies “As long as there are faces like this.” She turns on Marcia's shower with scalding hot water and tells her to step into the "cool refreshment." Dave and Dr. Hecht enter the apartment and stop this; Justine instructs Marcia to present her as an old school roommate and leaves. Dave sees through this story, knowing Marcia never went to school. The two men become convinced that Marcia was really hypnotized.

They interview past victims, who all deny ever going to Desmond's show or hearing of Justine. Dave eventually finds a balloon with Desmond's hypnotic eye design on it which is given out at the show, in the purse of a woman who blinded herself. Even Dodie denies ever seeing Desmond's show or knowing Justine, but her doctor says that she was terrified of that name when she was brought in.

Marcia, still hypnotized, returns to the show, where Desmond makes demonstrations of mass hypnosis and the power of suggestion. The balloons are for the purpose of a suggestion that they are too heavy to lift. Dave and Dr. Hecht break in, trying to save Marcia, but Desmond tries to stop them with the hypnotic eye. Dave breaks through its power, and the two men get onto the stage. Justine drags Marcia up onto a swinging catwalk and threatens to jump and drag her down. She eventually tears off her mask and shows that she has a mutilated face like Dodie's. Desmond overpowers Dr. Hecht, but is shot by Dave. Justine then jumps to her death beside him. Dave pulls Marcia up and she comes out of her trance. Dr. Hecht addresses the audience, telling them never to let themselves be hypnotized except under medical supervision.

Cast

Production background

Some scenes showing Nord playing bongo drums and Lawrence Lipton as "King of the Beatniks" were supposedly filmed at Nord's beatnik cafe, The Gas House, in Venice, California. But it was done in a studio.

Bergerac was the former husband of Ginger Rogers [6] and Hayes had just starred in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958).[ citation needed ]

The consultant for the hypnosis used in the film was Gil Boyne. Gil Boyne founded the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners and the Hypnotism Training Institute in Glendale, California. Gil also performed live shows between screenings of the film at the opening at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco and went on a press tour to promote the movie appearing on numerous TV news and talk shows performing live hypnosis demonstrations. [7]

The "Hypnomagic" [8] part of the film although somewhat implied was not a filming process like 3D. [9] "Hypnomagic" was advertised on the posters as an "Amazing New Audience Thrill" and although new to film was a much more organic and time tested approach than 3D. "Hypnomagic" featured the Bergerac character performing segments in the film where he looks directly into the camera and as such at the movie theater audience and performs some hypnotic suggestibility tests with them. One suggestibility test presented in the film involved the use of a balloon with an eye printed on it, when the film was in its original run in theaters each theater goer received an eye balloon to use during the demonstration.

There is a scene in the film where a lady while in the trance state thinks her stove is her sink and washes her hair in the stove, receiving horrific burns and disfigurement. In the 1960s the Kodak film company took that scene and using a then cutting edge process made a lenticular photograph out of it. When moving the photo up and down the girls head would catch on fire. The photograph was a little larger than a business card and used as a giveaway to buyers, to spotlight the new photo process that the Kodak company was promoting at the time.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypnosis</span> State of increased suggestibility

Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.

Suggestibility is the quality of being inclined to accept and act on the suggestions of others. One may fill in gaps in certain memories with false information given by another when recalling a scenario or moment. Suggestibility uses cues to distort recollection: when the subject has been persistently told something about a past event, his or her memory of the event conforms to the repeated message.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erotic hypnosis</span> Use of hypnosis in erotic practices and fetishism

Erotic hypnosis is a broad term for a variety of erotic activities involving hypnosis. Some erotic hypnosis is practiced in the context of BDSM relationships and communities. In addition, for some people hypnosis is inherently erotic, making it an example of a sexual fetish or paraphilia.

<i>Whirlpool</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Otto Preminger

Whirlpool is a 1950 American film noir thriller directed by Otto Preminger and written by Ben Hecht and Andrew Solt, adapted from the 1946 novel Methinks the Lady... by Guy Endore. The film stars Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, José Ferrer and Charles Bickford, and features Constance Collier in her final film role. Its plot follows the kleptomaniac wife of a wealthy Los Angeles psychoanalyst who, after a chance meeting with a hypnotist, is charged with a violent murder.

<i>Molly Moons Incredible Book of Hypnotism</i> 2002 novel by Georgia Byng

Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism is a 2002 children's novel by British author Georgia Byng. It is the first instalment in the Molly Moon six-book series. Amber Entertainment and Lipsync Productions produced a film adaptation, Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism, which was released on April 11, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy School</span> French hypnosis-centered school of psychotherapy

The Nancy School was a French hypnosis-centered school of psychotherapy. The origins of the thoughts were brought about by Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault in 1866, in Nancy, France. Through his publications and therapy sessions he was able to gain the attention/support from Hippolyte Bernheim: another Nancy Doctor that further evolved Liébeault's thoughts and practices to form what is known as the Nancy School.

<i>Dr. Mabuse the Gambler</i> 1922 film

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler is the first film in the Dr. Mabuse series about the character Doctor Mabuse who featured in the novels of Norbert Jacques. It was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1922. The film is silent and would be followed by the sound sequels The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960).

Covert hypnosis is an attempt to communicate with another person's unconscious mind without informing the subject that they will be hypnotized. It is also known as conversational hypnosis or sleight of mouth.. It is a term largely used by proponents of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a pseudoscientific approach to communication and interaction.

<i>Devil Doll</i> (film) 1964 British film by Lindsay Shonteff

Devil Doll is a 1964 British horror film directed and produced by Lindsay Shonteff and starring Bryant Haliday, William Sylvester and Yvonne Romain. The screenplay was by George Barclay and Lance Z. Hargreaves from a story by Frederick Escreet Smith. The story is about an evil stage hypnotist and his dummy Hugo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Bergerac</span> French actor, businessman and executive (1927–2014)

Jacques Bergerac was a French actor and businessman.

Forensic hypnosis is the use of hypnosis in the investigative process and as evidence in court which became increasingly popular from the 1950s to the early 1980s with its use being debated into the 1990s when its popular use mostly diminished. Forensic hypnosis's uses are hindered by concerns with its reliability and accuracy. The United States Department of Justice states that hypnosis may be occasionally used in investigation, but that the method faces "serious objections" and that information from hypnosis may be considered inadmissible. Forensic hypnosis has been considered for several uses including: hypnotic memory enhancement, evaluating a defendant's mental state, determining if a subject is telling the truth, preparing a witness for trial, determining if one is feigning trauma or a mental injury, and supporting the defense in a criminal case. Some of these uses have found more support than others as academic psychologists have reviewed these. While psychologists may find it appropriate to use memory enhancement to help in finding leads in the investigation process which should lead to uncovering more concrete evidence, its use in determining if a subject is telling the truth has been widely criticized.

For over a century, hypnosis has been a popular theme in fiction – literature, film, and television. It features in movies almost from their inception and more recently has been depicted in television and online media. As Harvard hypnotherapist Deirdre Barrett points out in 'Hypnosis in Popular Media', the vast majority of these depictions are negative stereotypes of either control for criminal profit and murder or as a method of seduction. Others depict hypnosis as all-powerful or even a path to supernatural powers.

Perspectives on the abduction phenomenon are explanations that are intended to explain claims of abduction and examination by apparently otherworldly beings. The main differences between these perspectives lie in the credence ascribed to the claims. Perspectives range from the assertion that all abductions are hoaxes to the belief that the claims are of objective happenings and separate from the consciousness of the claimants.

Stage hypnosis is hypnosis performed in front of an audience for the purposes of entertainment, usually in a theater or club. A modern stage hypnosis performance typically delivers a comedic show rather than simply a demonstration to impress an audience with powers of persuasion. Apparent effects of amnesia, mood altering and hallucination may be demonstrated in a normal presentation. Stage hypnosis performances often encourage audience members to look further into the benefits of hypnotism.

<i>Amaravathi</i> (2009 film) 2009 Telugu film directed by Ravi Babu

Amaravathi is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language thriller film written and directed by Ravi Babu. The film's lead actors included himself, Taraka Ratna, Sneha, Bhumika Chawla and Sindhura Gadde. The film was released on 3 December 2009 to positive reviews. It is a remake of the 2002 South Korean film H.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypnotic induction</span> Hypnotic process

Hypnotic induction is the process undertaken by a hypnotist to establish the state or conditions required for hypnosis to occur.

Post-hypnotic amnesia is the inability in hypnotic subjects to recall events that took place while under hypnosis. This can be achieved by giving individuals a suggestion during hypnosis to forget certain material that they have learned, either before or during hypnosis. Individuals who are experiencing post-hypnotic amnesia cannot have their memories recovered once put back under hypnosis; it is therefore not state-dependent. Nevertheless, memories may return when presented with a pre-arranged cue. This makes post-hypnotic amnesia similar to psychogenic amnesia, as it disrupts the retrieval process of memory. It has been suggested that inconsistencies in methodologies used to study post-hypnotic amnesia cause varying results.

<i>Killer Eye: Halloween Haunt</i> 2011 film by Charles Band

The Killer Eye 2: Halloween Haunt is a 2011 comedy horror film by Full Moon Features and is a sequel to the 1999 The Killer Eye.

<i>Dracula Reborn</i> 2012 American film

Dracula Reborn is a 2012 vampire-themed direct-to-video horror film, directed and written by Patrick McManus, making his feature film directorial debut. Produced by Ray Haboush, the film stars Corey Landis, Victoria Summer, Krash Miller, Stuart Rigby and Keith Reay. It is a modernized, loosely based take on Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, taking place in Los Angeles, California, where a wealthy Count Dracula looks to purchase an abandoned building and pursue the wife of his realtor, Jonathan Harker.

<i>Murderous Trance</i> 2018 Finnish film

Murderous Trance is a 2018 psychological thriller film written and directed by Arto Halonen and starring Pilou Asbæk, Josh Lucas, Rade Šerbedžija, Cyron Melville and Sara Soulié. It is based on a true story about the astonishing hypnosis murders that took place in Denmark in the 1950s. The hypnosis murders is the only known case where the court has been able to prove a hypnotizer guilty and sentence him for hypnotizing someone else to commit a crime.

References

  1. ↑ Lim, Dennis (2010-09-17). "Turn on, Tune in to a Trippy Afterlife". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  2. ↑ "Wednesday, April 27: 'The Survivor' is Incredible True Story of Holocaust Survivor Harry Haft". 27 April 2022.
  3. ↑ "LIFE". 28 January 1952.
  4. ↑ "French Actor Jacques Bergerac Dies at 87". The Hollywood Reporter . 25 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "HOLLYWOOD: Who's Been Had?". Time. 1959-10-05. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. ↑ "French Actor Jacques Bergerac, 'Hypnotic Eye' Star, Dies at 87". 26 June 2014.
  7. ↑ Weaver, Tom (21 June 2010). I Was a Monster Movie Maker: Conversations with 22 SF and Horror Filmmakers. ISBN   9780786462650.
  8. ↑ "AFI|Catalog".
  9. ↑ Heffernan, Kevin (2002). "The Hypnosis Horror Films of the 1950s: Genre Texts and Industrial Context". Journal of Film and Video. 54 (2/3): 56–70. JSTOR   20688380.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.