Hypnotic is a mildly engrossing thriller with shades of Hitchcock, Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, and Adrien Lyne's Jacob's Ladder.

It features Goran Visnjic (from TV's E.R.) as a telepathic hypnotherapist suffering from amnesia (yes, you read that description correctly), who becomes involved in a bizarre mystery involving a kidnapped girl. With the aid of a police detective (played by Shirley Henderson), Visnjic puts his own life in jeopardy to find the missing youngster.

There is some really horrific stuff in Hypnotic and it's the dark tone of the picture that is worth mentioning. Gore in movies is very scarce these days but Hypnotic isn't afraid to throw some truly unsettling images in your face.

The performances in Hypnotic are merely passable. Visnjic has an interesting look, but he doesn't bring much energy to this part. The mousy Henderson isn't very believable in the role of the police officer, but her little advances towards Visnjic are somewhat amusing.

Hypnotic is a movie that tries to grab it's audience and hold on, and for some of the time, it managed to keep me within it's grasp. At some point, however, I started to lose interest, and by the end, I found the proceedings more silly than frightening. In fact, some of Hypnotic reminded of the Roman Polanski dud, The Ninth Gate.

In the end, Hypnotic has an interesting visual style and a fair share of gore, but ultimately, it isn't a very memorable experience. While some of the build-up was engrossing, the end of the journey was rather weak. This was a trance I easily came out of.