This weekend I wrote an article debating whether or not Joan Crawford can be inducted as a scream queen. Towards the end of her career she starred in a number of successful horror films including Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Strait-Jacket, I Saw What You Did and Jim O’Connolly’s Berserk. The last movie is probably her most under-rated horror work in The United States, though it fared well overseas and actually became O’Connolly’s highest grossing film. This is why I chose to watch and review this golden oldie, but don’t let the title confuse you – this is a mild slasher whodunnit more than it’s a crazed lunatic going on a spree killing. No, Berserk follows a popular traveling circus that sees a boom in ticket sales following the death of one of its performers. Shortly there-after, other stars fall victim to deadly mishaps as an unseen intruder is determined to keep the box office sales sky high. Joan Crawford stars as Monica Rivers, a tough as nails show host who opts to keep the circus going despite the body count, but she’s not the only suspect in this 1967 murder mystery.
It’s interesting to see what was passable to audiences in the 1960’s and what material was deemed inappropriate. Berserk has no nudity, not even a love scene, and I can’t remember any swearing or drug use. I fully expected the deaths to be off-camera or cut-aways, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were quite gory. Psycho was released just seven years prior and Janet Leigh’s infamous shower scene was almost considered too much for cinema, but less than a decade later it was OK to show a guy getting hung, a railroad spike going through a guy’s head, and a guy falling onto a bed of spikes. The practical effects in place here are either fantastic for the time period or borderline laughable. Either way, they’re bloody good! This goes to show that over-looked classics and under-rated pictures can still hold some sort of cinematic value, especially if you’re on a mission to educate yourself on pre-Black Christmas slasher flicks. The kill count isn’t very high – four, if I remember correctly – but it’s there!
Another aspect of Berserk that I loved was that classic Hollywood vibe, a vibe that proved me wrong again. For whatever reason, I expected this movie to be filled with boring story and cheap sets, but I got just the opposite. While the dialogue is campy and hokey at points, there’s a fair level of drama, mystery and romance to be found among the sleuthing and bickering. The traveling circus sets were elaborate and I’m pretty sure all the action inside of the circus tent was real; real seats, real ropes, real performers, real elephants. Again, completely blowing away my expectations in terms of the allure a “golden oldie” can have. While it wasn’t filled with the shock and awe and grime of current horror flicks or the overwhelming suspense of other movies in its category, I wasn’t bored at all while watching Berserk. It was a side show freak infested time capsule that furthered me into the later years in the career of Joan Crawford.
Crawford stars alongside a lead and supporting cast comprised of Riptide‘s Ty Harding, Queen Castle‘s Diana Dors, Sleepy Hollow‘s Michael Gough, Lords of Salem‘s Judy Geeson, Harry Potter‘s Robert Hardy, The Spy Who Loved Me‘s Geoffrey Keen, Sunday Night Theater‘s Sydney Tafler, Willy Wonka‘s George Claydon and Doctor Who‘s Philip Madoc. It’s a who’s who of talent and it was interesting to see who maintained a career further than the 70’s and who disappeared into obscurity. Berserk won’t be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed a look into classic Hollywood mixed with horror. And we even got a chase scene! How about that! Final Score: 6.5 out of 10.
