Berserker (1987) User Reviews

Boring

[Tikkin · 3/10 · 28 May 2006]

Berserker starts off looking like it will be a fairly decent backwoods slasher but it soon becomes apparent that it's another bore-fest. It's a shame because it could have been so much better, and backwoods slashers like this just aren't made any more. The only good points are that there is a nice creepy atmosphere in the woods. The fog that seems to be everywhere seems a bit silly and unrealistic, yet at the same time adds to the atmosphere. The main reason Berserker is so boring is that there is a serious lack of lighting. Whenever someone gets killed, you can't even see it because of the darkness.

Only recommended for slasher completists - everyone else should avoid this bore-fest.

Worked Better For Me At The Time

[Steve_Nyland · 5/10 · 24 September 2006]

Sure, this movie sucks, but it is a deliberate exercise in bad taste that revels in it's awfulness. Six unlikeable dimwits go up to a secluded camping lodge in the north country for a beer, pot and sex fueled romp at a vacation resort one of them had visited as a kid. Now he is all grown up into an obnoxious, beer-swilling jerk who's lack of personal charm is only matched by the sheer crappiness of the music he blasts on his boom box while everyone else is trying to sleep. People ask me why I have no interest in attending high school or college reunions, the answer is that from my recollection they were all jerks just like him, which also explains why I have developed a taste for low-rent 80s teen horror: Watching the bastards get killed in horrible ways that don't actually require me to do anything that might result in a prison term.

This weekend it was Viking Horror, and by god if BERSERKER with it's stupid, rampaging Viking bear wasn't the more enjoyable of the two, primarily because it had no greater aspirations than to deprive it's female cast members of their clothing, kill the cast off in reverse order of likability and provide a couple of belly-laughs at it's empty headed, vacuous and mercifully quick runtime. The fun is in using our belladonic hazed imaginations to establish how the characters in the film embody traits of those we have left behind us in our journey through time since school: The Jerk, Mr. Popular, his girlfriend Ms. Popular, the Ditz, the Simpering Queer Guy and the Snooty Bitch getting prominent attention in this one. Oh yeah, we knew them all, and waited twenty years to finally get to see them die in a horror movie. "Pass the snack mix, please."

For some reason the lead jerk in the film decides to trick everyone into staying at the exact cabin he bunked at as a kid, thumbing his nose at the kindly old Swedish guy who runs the place and annoying everyone within earshot with his crummy synth metal arena rock. This naturally causes the re-incarnated spirit of a long dead viking warrior to issue forth from his grave in the form of a giant bear -- played convincingly by a giant bear -- who then proceeds to stalk down and tear the girls limb from limb when they venture away from their boyfriends to take potty breaks out in the woods. The bear creeps up on them, startles them, chases them for an arbitrary period of time and then mauls them to death, repeat and rinse. For variety in addition to the Jerk and his buddy Mr. Popular we get the class closeted Simpering Queer Guy complete with his lisp and pink button up shirt. He still gets to score with one of the girls but that's OK, just as long as the Jerk doesn't get any we are happy.

If none of this sounds original or inspired you are absolutely correct and probably touching on the main reason why these movies can be so much fun -- It is reassuring to know that things will pretty much work out the same over the course of 90 odd minutes of the familiar garbage, which of course is endearing now in the age of truly annoying populist junk like CHAOS, WOLF CREEK and HOSTEL who's sole purpose seems to be to mortify those who's remaining pustules of humanity have not already been punctured by five years of the War on Terror. BERSERKER by contrast was made at a time when horror movies were still made to titillate and provoke, and the film's most provocative imagery involves Beth Toussaint (who played Tasha's absolutely gorgeous hot nerd goddess babe sister on STAR TREK: TNG) doing full frontal nudity and screwing like a cowgirl out in the woods under the full moon as her friend is torn apart by the bear during cross cutting editing.

So sex and violence mixed with violence and sex, edited together into some sick montage of orgasms and suffering in case you are too thick skulled to get the point on your own. We watched this as a double bill with the genuinely unremarkable Viking HIGHLANDER ripoff horror opus THE RUNESTONE, which was a better made, classier production that did not have one memorable scene in it's overlong 97 minute runtime. This one clocked in at about 85 minutes and generated belly-laughs all around: It was cheap, sleazy, lurid, entertaining, hilarious, stupid, unassuming, fast and worthy of a second viewing once the hangover had departed to find out just how the movie ended, because like any good party I could not remember how things worked out in the end other than I still had my shoes on when regaining consciousness. Always a prime indicator that you may not have accomplished anything but can rest assured that you had a good time, and in a town like this that is the more important consideration.

A bare-faced cop-out.

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 9 May 2009]

Boasting an insane, bear-mask wearing, cannibalistic Viking for a killer, Berserker promises to be a cut above its mid-80s slasher contemporaries. Unfortunately, director Jefferson Richard does nothing to capitalise on this cool concept, instead preferring to travel down a path already well-worn by countless other stereotypical horrors.

Dumb, horny, pot-smoking teens vacationing at a remote cabin in the woods; a country cop with no patience for city kids; a creepy campfire tale to set the scene; alfresco sex followed by death: this one packs in the clichés whilst neglecting to make the most of the one thing that could possibly have saved it from mediocrity—its bad-ass-sounding Norwegian nut-job.

For most of the film, all that is shown of the titular berserker are fleeting shots of a clawed paw; frequent shots of a grizzly bear wandering in the woods even go to mislead viewers into thinking that the killer has somehow taken on ursine form (although a fight between the berserker and the meandering grizzly eventually clears up this confusion). In the film's closing moments, we finally get to see the killer, and it soon becomes patently obvious why Richard decided to keep him hidden for so long: he looks crap!

Also serving to make the production look super cheap and unconvincing are the terrible lighting and smoke effects designed to create a creepy atmosphere, but which just look plain daft, and the crap gore effects which consist of a few naff claw scratches and a smattering of fake blood.

Thanks heavens for the fact that the film has a half decent cast (including a turn from prolific genre legend George 'Buck' Flower) and that gratuitous outdoor shagging scene—otherwise it would be a complete waste of time.

Below average with a few redeeming moments!

[Maciste_Brother · 4/10 · 7 August 2003]

BERSERKER is not the worst backwoods slasher ever made. Films like DON'T GO IN THE WOODS make BERSERKER look like a work of genius. The script is really terrible though and whatever they tried to do was, in the end, completely nullified by the badly written story. The idea of having a Viking mythical being behind the killings is original BUT when the killer wrestles with a bear during the end of the film, and the bear wins, well, how scary does the Viking monster look like? (the Viking killer looks like a WWE wrestler, btw).

The folks behind BERSERKER tried to do something slightly different and that part is commendable. For example, the ending happens in daytime, which is different than the 99.9% of slashers made up to now. And the best part of the movie happens when the killing starts, which is intercut with sex scenes. That whole moment, until the two girls are found dead, is pretty good and creepy. It's the film's best moment. But like I've said before, all attempts by the filmmakers of trying to do something different were rendered useless because the conclusion of the story is a howler, the acting is sometimes poor (even if the cast is game), and some scenes just don't make any sense, like when the girl leaves the cabin (it's night time) to take a pee and she seemingly walks miles away from the cabin to do this and can't find her way back. How stupid!

As a fan of slashers, I had to see BERSERKER. But those who aren't die-hard fans of slashers should stay away from it.

Only for the most undemanding horror fans.

[gridoon · 4/10 · 15 November 2002]

The berserkers, we learn, were a special breed of cannibalistic Viking warriors that used to wear bear masks and skins and attack their enemies with a primal rage. The premise of six kids being hunted by one such "creature" in the middle of the woods on a dark night may sound scary, but this film is too much like so many others to make it so. It does feature the requisite amounts of blood and sex, and also more-than-requisite amounts of wandering around, while the persistently ominous score keeps on playing and playing. (*1/2)

Another mediocre slasher flick.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 4/10 · 3 June 2005]

A group of teenagers head out for an adventure into the woods,trying to spook each other with stories of fabled Viking warriors who used to wear the skins and snouts of bears and go berserk in order to frighten their enemies.Soon,the teens are disappearing,being dragged away to gory deaths by a hairy,half-seen being."Berserker" by Jefferson Richard is an average slasher flick.It offers some bloody deaths and lots of boring bumbling in the woods.The funniest thing is that whenever there's a kill scene,we see the bear.The pace is slow,the editing is bad and the final fifteen minutes are completely laughable.There is a pretty steamy sex scene in the woods but it is inter-cut with a death scene to make both scenes look tacky.There is very little gore,so I was slightly disappointed.Overall,"Berserker" is one to avoid unless you want to see every 80s slasher film.4 out of 10 and that's being kind.

I'll be doing you a big favor by saying: SKIP IT!

[Coventry · 1/10 · 24 February 2004]

The ancient Northern mythology COULD be the most marvelous source for fascinating epics, adventures or breath-taking horror.but instead of this, some idiots decided to turn it into a slasher. I'm not even sure it's worth to be called a 'film' because it's a completely uninspired, lame and annoying mess. The legend of the Berserkers - a tribe of aggressive Viking Warriors during the 10th century - forms a weak base to show one of the crappiest 80's horror films I've ever seen..And I've seen a lot of junk in my days. Except for the slightly different plot-point, all other routine slasher elements are present. Meaning: horny boys, sexy girls, loud and inappropriate rock music, stupidity and a lot of bad acting. I'm convinced that this film will disappoint even diehard slasher-fans because there are too many survivors at the end! What the hell is that about? The body-count in this pile of garbage lies far below the normal standards. Add to this a bit of cheesy make-up effects and an incredibly stupid end-twist, then you've got one of the silliest and unnecessary movies ever made. Skip this one and keep your eyes open for REAL Viking fables.

Berserker!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 1 October 2020]

We've had every holiday and nearly every kind of killer by 1987, so why not bring a Norseman in to wipe out campers? It can happen, right? They say it's a wild bear, but we all know it's the Berserker, right? The kind of killer that can never rest, that can only subsist on human flesh and will never die. Yeah. Berserker!

Just like all the finest slashers, a wizened elder - in this case, Pappy Nyquist (George "Buck'"Flowers) - tries to warn these kids. Yet before you can say Ragnarok, they're all ransacking one another in the woods and that can never go well.

You have to love the gumption of the film's producers to just outright steal the art from Pink Floyd's The Wall to sell this.

This is a movie that really demands more Vikings and doesn't deliver. It's close - so close - to giving you the unholy face painted body destroying epic that you want it to be. It's oh-so-close and fun at times, but what it could be overshadows what it is

An hidden 80s slasher gem

[rivertam26 · 7/10 · 16 April 2020]

Ever since I was a kid I remember seeing this at the video store and wanting to see it but for some odd reason I never did. I think the reason why is because my dad was obsessed with Vikings which kinda turned me off from it. But now that Vikings turn me on (lol) I'm happy that it was given the blu ray treatment. And was it worth the wait? Well mostly it's not amazing but it's a fun flick. The setup is pretty standard as a bunch of pretty young things head up to a campsite for ths normal sex and partying. Unfortunately they encounter a viking slasher/demonic bear. The kills are fun and the sex scene is surprisingly graphic. The boys are hunky and the girls are pretty. Sadly none of them are given much character development, they are however dispatched in a surprisingly gruesome fashion. All in all it's a fun 80s slasher gem.

3.5/5

Cliches All In

[Tweetienator · 4/10 · 11 February 2022]

Berserker fulfills every obligatory cliche of an 80s slasher: some kids having fun in the woods, some naked boobs, some blood running, on top we get epic haircut 80s style and easy to the ears rock music tunes. Berserker is in my humble opinion not that bad but nothing really exciting or remarkable. Anyway, if you are heavy invested in the backwoods slashing business you may dare to give this one a try.

Nice campy 80's horror

[tvcarsd · 8/10 · 26 October 2021]

Anyone that can not get with the cheese in this movie is way too salty for camp horror. It's got more than what you get from modern horror. Synth music scores, t&a, kewl rock, reckless nightime teenagers, awesome fog effects, running around screaming, cool lighting, under-rated actors, oh the list goes on. But don't expect the modern critics to get it, they are all too busy writing 100 movie reviews a day for movies they never watched. This is a good horror movie from the eighties.

Bear Man Attacks

[DavyDissonance · 6/10 · 5 November 2019]

Some people go to a forest to camp for the weekend to only be stalked by a weiny in a bear costume. What prevents Berserker from being a..... uh.... good enough Slasher movie is a lack of kills. Usually, in a Slasher, you want at least 8 victims so us weirdos can play with ourselves under gratifying circumstances but sadly only 5 get it. But at least the kills were brutal and bloody so happy happy joy joy. Also the first half is slow caca weiny but does eventually pick up the pace when the horror and killings commence. In the end, it's a Slasher, the acting sucks and I love it so lick my nuts.

Good concept..but ...

[sean-conner-1 · 4/10 · 11 July 2007]

The concept of the film is interesting.Based on the true Berserker warriors who were part of the Viking invaders. However the movies spoiled by plot holes eg..why would the door be used when the girls hiding in the cabin,when there's a Window with no cover of any sort!?Also, how could they not here the girls(Chris) screams when the couple were quietly making love!? The acting was fairly overacted in parts.The police Officer gives the best performance.

The fog gives the film a creepy feel and the atmosphere is probably one of the best aspects of this rather cheesy film.Josh's character has some good levels.We get to see a bit of a back story on what he'se been through and why he's such a jerk.

The best part of the movie is Greg Dawsons(Josh)backside!!

Expect long scenes of idiots stumbling through the woods...

[BillyBC · 20 September 2002]

(* out of *****) Here's a bad idea for a slasher movie: Get the audience all stoked and build their expectations by setting up a terrifying, Viking warrior killer called a `berserker' who tears apart and cannibalizes his victims, but then don't even reveal him until the last fifteen minutes. Instead, have half the cast (and the best-looking half on top of that) get killed off by a stupid, boring bear. Seriously, this frustrating movie doesn't know whether it wants to be "Friday the 13th" or "Grizzly 2," and the bear attacks are drawn out and laughably fake looking. Even though it clocks in well under an hour and a half, much of this turkey is still padded with long, tedious scenes of old men playing chess and making fun of each other's hearing and frightened doofuses walking through the woods or limping and falling through creek beds. When the berserker is killed, his mask disappears off of his face for some reason, as if he's a werewolf. Curiously, of the six main characters, only two of them are killed (and the violence is minimal), so I'm wondering just to whom the heck this supposed `slasher' film is targeted. B-movie veteran George `Buck' Flower is the only actor of note in this mess, but I'm sure even he would like to forget it. The Blockbuster Video Guide gave this movie three stars -- I seriously want to meet the person who sat down, watched this entire movie, and said to him/herself, `Now that's three-star entertainment!'

Lowlight: The `climactic' fight between the berserker and the bear. Most of the time, it looks like they're just hugging each other.

One of the worst film i have ever seen

[surrealist25 · 1/10 · 27 April 2002]

I have wasted 1,5 hours from my life and 2$ from my wallet. Completely disgusting movie! This is a bad and funny movie because the director tried to make a serious one. In the first 50 minutes, i thought the killer was a bear but at the end of the film, i shocked. Not because of the real killer but the silly of the final.

A really crummy & dissatisfying late 80's backwoods slasher dud

[Woodyanders · 2/10 · 28 May 2006]

When one ponders how truly terrible a handful of 80's "wackos-in-the-woods" fright features tend to be (e.g., "The Forest," "The Prey," and "Don't Go in the Woods"), claiming that "Berserker" qualifies as an especially abysmal example of this horror sub-genre speaks volumes about its exceptionally abominable lack of quality. The plot's strictly by-the-numbers -- and from hunger to boot: Six bland, witless jerky teens (three guys and three gals) go camping in the Wisconsin wilderness, only to wind up getting bagged by a claw-and-bear snout wearing modern-day descendant of an ancient fabled Norwegian warrior known as a -- big, portentous drum roll please -- BERSERKER! This flat, flaccid stinker misses the boat in practically every respect; it's a cheap, overly familiar and grindingly predictable time-waster brought down by horrid acting from the talentless, irritating teens (only the lovely Beth Toussaint, who bears a passing resemblance to Linda Hamilton, manages to make a favorable impression because she not surprisingly bares all in a thoroughly gratuitous, yet still much-appreciated sex scene), insipid cardboard characters, an unbearably poky pace, extremely bogus gore (the Norwegian nutcase rubs what looks like sodden raspberry jelly all over its victims' faces), a trite, meandering narrative, a blatantly telegraphed "surprise" ending, and dire, uninspired direction. The sole source of faint entertainment is the always refreshing and uplifting presence of late, great, sorely missed fat guy character actor favorite George "Buck" Flower, who delivers a funny, spirited performance as Pappy Nyquist, the choleric, doddering, eccentric camp caretaker whose land the kids trespass on. Flower's frequent co-star John Goff appears as an ineffective sheriff. Goff and Flower collaborated on the scripts for such choice 70's drive-in cheese as "Joyride to Nowhere," "C.B. Hustlers," and the immortal "Drive-In Massacre." Among the many movies Goff and Flower appear in together are "The Witch Who Came from the Sea," "The Alpha Incident," "The Fog," the indispensable Pia Zadora classic "Butterfly," "The Night Stalker," "Maniac Cop," "They Live," "Relentless," "Skeeter," both "Ilsa" flicks, and "Tammy and the T-Rex." And I believe I'm going off on a little extraneous tangent here. But hey, when you're reviewing a flick as lame and unremarkable as "Berserker" the urge to embark on an utterly incongruous tangent is downright impossible to resist. I think that says plenty about this baby's lowly status as an undeniably dismal dud.

Surreal terror in the Utah woods

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 18 December 2022]

Three teen couples camp out in the remote Utah wilderness where a bear is loose and an old couple is missing. The area was settled by Scandinavian immigrants and there are spooky legends of a berserker demon who possesses Viking descendants. Who's doing the killing?

"Berserker" (1987), aka "Berserker: The Nordic Curse," is a low-budget slasher in the tradition of "Friday the 13th" (1980) albeit with a set-up reminiscent of "Without Warning" (1980). While this is technically a slasher, the gore isn't over-the-top, and anyone who appreciates forest creature features like "Day of the Animals" (1977) and "Into the Grizzly Maze" (2015) should find something to like, assuming you don't mind low-budget Indies or fog machines.

Beth Toussaint stands out in the female department; she's a Linda Hamilton lookalike, just more alluring. Look for her as Tasha Yar's sister in the 1990 Next Generation episode "Legacy."

While there's too much padding and therefore the story is sometimes tedious, the actors are convincing and the mundane situation is believable (except for one element). Bart the Bear is a highlight in his younger age. He was featured in numerous movies that required a dangerous bruin throughout the 80s-90s, including "The Edge" (1997). I also like the eerie music and surreal sylvan ambiance in the second half.

The film runs 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot at Flying Birddog Ranch, Hailstone Junction, Utah, which is east of Salt Lake City in the mountains (around Big Cottonwood Canyon, I think).

GRADE: C+/B-

Bottom of the bear-rel backwoods slasher

[yourmotheratemydog715 · 4/10 · 3 September 2017]

This late-80s stinker tries to carve out a Nordic-mythology niche in the rapidly-declining slasher genre, but fails to do literally anything else of note.

A group of teenagers, personality-free even by '80s horror standards, goes for a weekend camping trip, but unfortunately, there's a "berserker" about -- a cannibalistic Nordic hunter who wears a bear snout on his face. Not to mention a giant brown bear! And a kindly old man with a bad Swedish accent named Pappy! So much to be scared of! Actually, I'm genuinely confused who is actually killing these teenagers. By the title, it's assumed the Berserker is the one at fault, but there's also endless footage of the bear stalking the teenagers and running away after kill scenes. These scenes are all incompetently filmed and lit and give no clue to the mystery, either.

Not that it really matters: both killers seem incompetent at their job and the flick has a pitifully low body count. Instead, you're treated to overlong chess scenes, horrid rock songs ("HE'S A COOOOOOOL DUDE!"), and endless shots of people walking through the forest. It's 82 minutes long and feels like it should be half that.

For Odin's sake, they even make a fist-fight between a Viking and a brown bear dull to watch! All but the most ardent slasher completists will find BERSERKER damn near unBEARable. Skip it!

Worse than I anticipated

[marcusclarson · 3/10 · 28 March 2020]

Berserker promises the standard backwoods slasher package: a group of teens played by middle aged adults go camping and are subsequently murdered. That was all I really needed from this, as I am an extreme fan of the genre. I was even expecting more, as this movie claims to be about a cannibalistic Viking warrior killing of the young adults. But what I got from this was absolute boredom. First of all, it's horribly lit, so you can't see a thing that's going on. Second, I find myself very easily entertained. I love these types of movies. I love just seeing the teens getting killed off one by one. I think these movies can be really fun and entertaining, and despite lacking a plot or good film making, I find myself entertained by these films. For Berserker, that was not the case. Let me just save you some time. It's boring. All they do is wander around the woods that you can't even see. Plus, the killer looks like an idiot. Not cool at all. So in conclusion, the film is very, very boring. The deaths aren't special, the killer is stupid looking, and you can't see any of it. The only entertainment here is in the end where the killer and the bear get in a fight.

Berserker (1987)

[jonahstewartvaughan · 6/10 · 26 February 2023]

Vinegar Syndrome Cuts Marathon #4

Berserker (1987)

(6/10):Back onto their horror offerings and to somewhat lacking results, I mean I still like it but of all the slashers they've released under their label it's my least favourite.

Berserker is a late eighties camp slasher that is just overall kinda meh, the kills don't really do much of anything to stand out, it's got okay enough gore effects and while it seems like a bit much, the fog in the night does make it have a very atmospheric feel.

The acting is very bad and the kills take their time to even start.

I also really think it was a poor decision for it to continue into the day as it ruins the whole atmosphere it had going for it, which when paired with the whole norse Viking kind of vibe it has with it's local legends, which by the way a regular bear kills a fair bit of them once they start getting picked off so it isn't even the slasher killer.

Speaking of the killer himself, he looks somewhat cool and somewhat ridiculous.

It's a bit of a squandered opportunity for a cool slasher film but it still does make for some dumb fun.

Oh yeah and by the way the music is actually pretty rocking.

Wtf did I just watch!

[treakle_1978 · 2/10 · 22 March 2020]

Quite possibly the worst slasher I've seen. I stopped caring for the characters 20 minutes in. There's nothing about this movie that's any good. Skip it

Hidden gem

[belmontjack · 8/10 · 27 December 2021]

Great movie. Went in with low expectations and came out impressed, actually did a lot of things decently, overall enjoyable. Don't go in expecting much (you can't go in expecting much for 90% of low budget 80's movies) and you will probably enjoy it.

This movie was a waste of money

[Huntress-2 · 5/10 · 1 February 1999]

I rented this movie along with some other b-flicks to watch with my friends. All I can say, is I wasted my $1.99. It was confusing, the film quality was bad, not to mention a total lack of a plot. The cover was kind of cool and that's about it...

I was warned of wild animals and littering, but not a Berserker.

[lost-in-limbo · 4 May 2007]

Six college friends camping in the woods for a week-out retreat, learn the history of the area where they're staying at. Supposedly an old Nordic legend tells of a blood-thirsty warrior known as a berserker, which they would be dressed up in bears' fur and wear their snouts as a mask. Vikings used them for raids. Well, it's only a story, but the young adults find out it might be reality when they start being killed off one by one, by an unknown figure, but maybe it's the grizzly bear that seems to be wandering the area.

Awful, awful, awful. Sure I read nothing but damaging opinions on it, but I'm a sucker for backwoods horror films, so I just couldn't pass it up. In all, it was mostly a weakly done and very tatty cheap third-rate woodland slasher item with the usual textbook plot slanted within its tiredly predictable stalk and slash structure. Sometimes being an inept production can raise some unintentional fun (like "Don't Go In the Woods"), but "Berserker" was a incoherently lifeless drag. Sex (a rather hot and heavy scene) and blood runs freely, but these attack scenes are plain insipid. The killer basically rubs the blood on its victims and delicately scratches them to death with its claws and teeth. Oh, it's laughable! Something even more eye-boggling was that we had in one corner a caring grizzly bear and in the other the Berserker, which they came to blows in one oddly interesting, if senseless clash. The bear (maybe on its search for a picnic basket) does get plenty of screen time (more than the Berserker) thanks to the questionable editing, but it goes on to feel redundant to the story. What we get of the berserker is disappointing, and lacking with more talk of it than action. The grimy look of the film can get sinisterly atmospheric, but they indeed went overboard in letting the fog creep into all of the night sequences. Sullen lighting works at times, the open locations standout, a brooding score keeps right at it and so does the louring sound effects. Too bad that the stringy direction fills up the plodding running time with stuffy shenanigans, aimless strolls in the woods, moronically exasperating collage twits and numbingly old-hat jump scares. It's pretty empty on the suspense front, because were lampooned by a ghastly terrible rock soundtrack and bland photography telegraphs everything in an straight-forward fashion. This lazily amateurish handling, really lets slip of an more than decent and fascinating folklore belief. Instead of working something good from this inspired premise, it goes up the same worn-out path and falls into ridiculous patterns with a mundane script. I didn't think the performances were overly cruddy, but Beth Toussaint stands out for a particular reason and a cocky Greg Dawson. The versatile veteran actor George 'Buck' Flower's fervent performance was a breath of fresh air and a modest John Goff's plays a concerned, washed-up sheriff.

A sloppy, grubby and daggy bottom-barrel slasher exercise, which no wonder why it's pretty much a forgotten staple of its sub-genre.

Not nearly as much fun as it should have been

[I_Ailurophile · 4/10 · 25 September 2023]

One of the neat things about horror is that the genre invites the most wild of ideas, and nothing is too outrageous to make into a movie. "Viking berserker slasher" sounds like something that The Asylum surely must have cooked up in the past few years - but nay! This comes to us from the 1980s! And we should be glad that it does, because otherwise we wouldn't be treated to the soundtrack of very 80s music, nor the very 80s hair styles, and we wouldn't be assured of the presence of George Buck Flower in the cast. The 80s were unquestionably the hey-day of the slasher, with loving use of fog machines, and production values that are instantly recognizable in retrospect. Just as much to the point, where more recent slashers come across as seeking violence and brutality for their own sake, in the 80s the genre largely bore atmosphere that allowed titles to be violent, creepy, silly, and fun all at once. Happily, 'Berserker' carries all these qualities and more, down to the ambient score.

Of course, none of this speaks directly to the overall value of this feature - and that's the bad news, for in some crucial ways this is rather lacking. True, anyone familiar even in passing with slashers knows generally what they're in for. Yet I would note that in this case we see less of the killer than we do in some other fare, and mostly it's just a lot of the characters meandering through the woods. The violence notably falls on the less robust and visceral side of the spectrum as we see it, and for those tracking the body count, it's distinctly lower. Whatever your particular fix is when it comes to horror, you may not get your kicks here, and if you do, they'll be lesser. Worse: the biggest failing is indisputably that the picture doesn't remotely meet the promise of the premise. In other ways this is well done, including the blood and gore (albeit modest by most any point of comparison), and the cast give able performances commensurate with the material. The filming locations are gorgeous, and the production design is swell. But we can get these things anywhere. We can't get a Viking berserker killer Just Anywhere. And, well, as it turns out, we can't really get it here, either.

I think I got my hopes up too high with this one. I like Flower, and I remember Beth Toussaint very well from that one episode of 'Star Trek: The next generation.' The concept sounds great, and once we start watching, 'Berserker' definitely has all the right vibes of 80s slashers. What it doesn't have, unfortunately, is meaningful fulfillment of its concept. In turn, not only is the end result pretty weak as a slasher, but it falters even more disastrously in not making use of those ideas that from the outside looking in are what drew us in, and which could have been employed in imaginative and delightful ways. There are a lot worse ways to spend one's time, but the simple fact of the matter is that there's not much reason to spend time with this, either. It's best suggested for those who are fans of the cast, but otherwise, 'Berserker' is a lackluster horror flick you can safely pass on by.