Hypnotised ...

IPNOSI (HYPNOSIS) 1962 (or DUMMY OF DEATH). An ingenious little thriller (directed by Eugenio Martin) which is a nice discovery and also showcases that young Jean Sorel ...(lots more on him at Jean Sorel label)

As usual my pal Melvelvit summarises it nicely over at IMDB: "Hypnotist's assistant Eric Stein (Jean Sorel) is in love with his boss Han's (Massimo Serrato) fiancée Marta (Eleanora Rossi Drago) and secretly sends her roses every opening night. Chris (Götz George), the guy delivering the flowers, is also an amateur boxer down on his luck and takes advantage of an empty dressing room to steal the trio's bankroll but he's caught by Hans who gets knocked out during a brief struggle. Eric finds the unconscious Hans and bashes his head in with a cane before calling for help as the act's ventriloquist dummy, Grog, seems to look on. The police track Chris to his sister Carmen and chase him out onto a ledge where he saves a detective from falling before fleeing into the night. Now hiding out with his boxing buddies, Chris asks Carmen to help him find the real killer while Marta has a breakdown and the only witness to the crime, Grog, disappears...

The next murder comes as a surprise and what follows is reminiscent of PSYCHO with one sibling searching for another who's already dead in a surprisingly suspenseful black & white crime thriller with some supernatural touches. The film's also a forerunner of the Italian horror sub-genre later known as Giallo, some of which even starred that handsome devil Jean Sorel, a little league Alain Delon".

There is also a VERTIGO touch as the tough police guy (Heinz Drach) on the case follows Chris out on to a high window ledge and is left dangling by his fingers as the fugitive goes to rescue him - who will fall? In this case neither as the cop is saved, then knocked out by the fugitive who flees into the night, giving the cop another reason to find him before the real killer does - thats just the first of many thrills and spills here, Sorel shines as another villain, as in his CHAIR DE POULE the next year - Sorel/French labels.