Touches You

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A fun, campy murder mystery, from exploitation king Herman Cohen (he made I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF ten years previously. Due to the relaxed censorship laws (brought on, no doubt, by public demand for the bloodthirsty horrors of Hammer), Cohen delighted in pushing the boundaries of taste and inserting quite a few bloody sequences into this morbid little exercise in fear. While the murder mystery plot is relatively simple, interest is added by having a great ensemble cast of actors and actresses who go through all the motions. We also get all the old tried and trusted circus clichés, from the dwarf (not evil this time) to the dangerous stunts. I think circuses are a great place to set suspenseful films, seeing as many of the situations rely on danger and excitement as their ingredients anyway...Joan Crawford (STRAIT-JACKET) plays her typical character - hard, ruthless and ambitious. She's totally unlikable in this film and her ego must have been huge, seeing as she walks around in revealing clothes for much of the film. And how old was she? 60? It's just not natural. The American import, Ty Hardin, is pretty bland and unlikeable...I definitely could have done without his presence as he added nothing to the movie for me.But I'll forgive Cohen, as he brings Michael Gough (KONGA) out of the wardrobe for another outing, Gough being another ruthless and cold character - a perfect match for Crawford, come to think of it. My only complaint is that he's given far too little screen time. Judy Geeson (FEAR IN THE NIGHT) is the pretty girl caught up in the horrific acts, Geoffrey Keen (HORRORS OF THE BLACK MUSEUM) cameos as a policeman (seriously, what else?), and Diana Dors (THEATRE OF BLOOD) adds some glamour to the proceedings. Robert Hardy, familiar to British audiences from his turn in ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL, makes a suitably charismatic policeman and bears an uncanny resemblance to Leslie Phillips.Most of the fun comes from the deaths, and they are staged with appropriate relish by exploitation king Cohen. The opening scene where the body is hanged and swings across the screen, revealing the title, is sheer brilliance. A cheesy moment from a fun packed film, BERSERK is the kind of movie they just don't make anymore!

Murders are taking place at a circus, and people are suspecting that Joan Crawford's character Monica Rivers (owner of the circus) is going "Berserk!". We see one of the circus performers murdered right at the film starts, but most people think it's just an accident. It's after a second man is viciously killed that everyone realizes there is a killer among them. Monica is suspected right away. People believe she's killing people in order to gain a larger audience.We get some circus acts in the film too, pretty lengthy as well. We see circus animals (elephants, lions) perform, cute puppies do tricks, high- wire acts, the bearded lady, etc. Sometimes during these acts, murders are committed. For example, a woman is cut in half in which should've been a routine act after the killer fiddles with the box she lies in. It was around the middle frame that I figured out who the murderer was. Probably the weakest part of "Berserk!" was the writing around the suspects. There aren't that many, and the one's which the film try to lead us to suspecting don't really have great motives. Even the killer's identity was pretty weak.Overall, "Berserk!" is one of Joan Crawford's weaker films. When put up against 'Baby Jane' and 'Strait Jacket', it doesn't have the same excitement or sparkling performance to it. Crawford's character Monica was sort of bland. I'd still check this out though, it's worth at least one viewing. The murder scenes are pretty gruesome for it's time (1967) and the circus acts are very well done.6/10

The circus. Bodies are beginning to pile up and Joan Crawford owns the joint! Crawford must have thought that it's about 20 years earlier and she is back on "Flamingo Road." Unfortunately, for her she wasn't.Crawford leads a very much unknown cast with the exception of Judy Geeson, who became popular thanks to To Sir, With Love vehicle around the same time.The film does start off intriguing enough with horrendous deaths at the circus. These accidents are an absolute horror. Perhaps, it would have been better if the British police had thrown their hands up and called in Jessica Fletcher to solve the mystery.The ending is abrupt and very quickly done. It did not tie all loose ends together. How could the murderer have been in two places at one time?

When I was a kid I used to look at the photos in my mother's old cookbooks: aged pastries in front of dated backdrops... still, they looked delicious..."Berserk!" is a classic slice of rich, frosted, sugary cake... it is wonderful, enjoyable trash, impossible to deny. First off, any movie that includes an exclamation point in the title is too obnoxious to miss. Secondly, this was Joan Crawford at her campy best... having long since turned to the Dark Side she lovably chews the scenery and fearlessly juggles midgets, murders & tightrope walkers with melodramatic grace.It's the same, familiar plot you've seen a thousand times: A psychotic killer is loose at the circus and begins to murder performers one-by-one in grisly ways, during the show! I saw this movie with my sister & my 80 year-old grandmother, and even though we were all rolling our eyes we were also all laughing and enjoying a movie that was genuinely fun.Don't miss this if it's on late-night TV... I promise it's worth staying up! GRADE: B+