Berserk! (1967)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Jim O'Connolly

Writers:

Herman Cohen (writer)
Aben Kandel (writer)

Release Date:

11 January 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Screen Screams out at a Hundred Horrors!

Plot:

Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford), is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus and who'll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences...

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Impalement | Remake | Camel | Electrocution

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Oct. 18

10:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Monica Rivers
Ty Hardin	...	Frank Hawkins
Diana Dors	...	Matilda
Michael Gough	...	Dorando
Judy Geeson	...	Angela Rivers
Robert Hardy	...	Supt. Brooks
Geoffrey Keen	...	Commissioner Dalby
Sydney Tafler	...	Harrison Liston
George Claydon	...	Bruno
Philip Madoc	...	Lazlo
Ambrosine Phillpotts	...	Miss Burrows
Thomas Cimarro	...	Gaspar
Peter Burton	...	Gustavo
Golda Casimir	...	Bearded Lady
Ted Lune	...	Skeleton Man

Also Known As:

Circus of Blood (UK) (working title)
Circus of Terror

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Company:

Herman Cohen Productions

Trivia:

As indicated in the goofs section, the elephants were wearing headdress with the incorrect initials of BS on them. That stands for Billy Smart’s Circus which is listed in the credits at the end.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Although the film takes place at The Great Rivers Circus, all the elephants' headdresses bear different initials - probably those of the real circus they performed in.

Quotes:

Monica Rivers: [after Matilda is thrown out of Frank's trailer] Quite a party.
Frank Hawkins: Don't get the wrong idea.
Monica Rivers: What? That you've been entertaining a woman in your caravan dressed like that?
Frank Hawkins: She came in and I threw her out
Monica Rivers: After two hours?
Frank Hawkins: Right away!
Monica Rivers: But why?
Frank Hawkins: What do you mean?
Monica Rivers: Well, you're no saint and she's attractive in a common sort of way. Why did you throw her out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in W.R. - Misterije organizma (1971)

Circus nonsense made palatable by its cast.

This is a stylish-looking thriller shot beautifully in color and well performed by a great cast, but the pencil-thin plot almost ruins everything. Joan Cawford(still looking chic at 63) is the owner of a small traveling British circus that is besieged by a series of brutal and bizarre murders. Naturally, put-upon Joan comes immediately under suspicion. Crawford bitches it up in the grandest style possible, and she's aided by a capable supporting cast that includes Ty Hardin as her handsome younger lover, Judy Geeson as her beautiful young daughter, Michael Gough as her former business partner who gets a spike through the head, Diana Dors as a sexy trouble-making performer, and Robert Hardy as a smug Scotland Yard detective. It's pure camp, and the ending won't shock anyone who remembers the denouement from STRAIT-JACKET, but Crawford fans should watch it anyway.