Berserk (1967) - Region 2 PAL, plays in English without subtitles

Joan Crawford stars as a circus owner whose acts keep getting murdered. It's a similar set up to Circus of Horrors. It's lurid and schlocky, but it has its moments, not least Crawford and Diana Dors exchanging insults. The problem with the film is that the action stops every ten minutes or so in order for us to see a complete circus act. By the end of the film, we've seen complete elephant, lion, horse, trapeze, high wire and knife-throwing acts. And performing poodles - I bet Crawford never thought she'd be introducing "intelligent poodles" in one of her final films. There's even a song and dance routine performed by a quartet consisting of a strong man, a "bag of bones," a dwarf, and a bearded lady. This all makes for about a third of the film, and, towards the end my hand reached for the fast forward button each time an act started. There's a good British supporting cast including Diana Dors, Robert Hardy, and Michael Gough, but neither they nor Crawford can save the film from it protracted running time due to the endless circus footage. It's more bloated than Berserk. Alas, Crawford would just make one more film, which would see her teamed up again with Michael Gough. That was the infamous "Trog." The less said of that, the better.

As I said in my review of SNOWBOUND - There are some films that a film lover, for no logical reason, just loves and will watch many times. No explanation to hand, or required. BERSERK is one of those films. Here we have a BLURAY released in Dec 2018 from INDICATOR/POWERHOUSE FILMS in a good clear picture 16.9 ratio (fills whole screen), good sound and Optional English subtitles. Extras as listed here on the Amazon site (not watched). To be perfectly honest I am not sure why this particular film deserves such an excellent treatment, but who am I?? The booklet is good reading with very full cast list. By today's standards the film has no gore at all, which may disapoint some...but it does have a 12 Cert and I think, an X back in the day! Do be warned that there is a lot of footage of Billy Smart's Circius acts, which is part of the appeal for me, but some may find performing horses, elephants, lions and "incredibly intelligent poodles" a scene too far. There is also a truly awful song performed in full by of all people Milton Reid, Ted Lune, Golda Casimir, and one other. It really should have ended up on the floor of the editing suite. Without said song and the circus acts the film would probably come in under and hour. So, what is there to enjoy? The circus acts and atmosphere (subject to your feelings), Joan Crawford at full throttle, Di Dors ditto, and looking very Di sexy, Judy Geeson in tights and looking good, Michael Cough (sic) Robert Hardy, the wonderful Marianne Stone in a good part (even fighting with Di!), and many other good British characters. Haven't mentioned Mr Ty Hardin... If you like Ty...then he is a good foil for Joan...I leave that up to you, but nhe was very good looking). A fair mystery plot, red herrings and a rushed ending all combine with the talent on show to make for an entertaing 97 mins. Recomended with reservations as to whether it will still appeal to a wide audience other than fans of Crawford/Br Horror of the period/and a bit of nostalgic Circus fun.

Gripping and edge of seat

With horror prominent during her final filmmaking days, Joan Crawford signed up with producer Herman Cohen to play the owner of a circus where several of the performers have met grisly deaths.Unfortunately “Berserk!” is not one of Cohen’s better horror productions and, in spite of its star and a strong supporting cast giving their best, the movie is slow paced with a screenplay that’s none too exciting. It’s even padded out with actual circus performances, an unnecessary musical number and a quick ending with another death, the murderer revealed and several plot holes unfilled. Nevertheless the film has been beautifully restored and, among the generous amount of Special Features, there’s a really entertaining overview by genre historian Jonathan Rigby.