Espetáculo de Sangue

The makings for a good thriller are here: a series of bizarre murders plagues a traveling circus as it journeys across England. Unfortunately, the film's pacing is slow and unimaginative. Scenes tend to run long and they've not been shaped to create any real suspense or urgency. Occasionally the film simply stops for footage of circus acts which, though mildly interesting, do little to advance the plot. Even the revelation of the killer's identity proves disappointing since this revelation doesn't seem to grow out of past events but has simply been "tacked on."

Despite these faults, there's a curiously likable quality to "Berserk," and Joan Crawford's damn-the-torpedoes performance as the circus owner lends it a certain "campy" charm. Especially amusing are her romantic scenes with Ty Hardin who was about 26 years her junior at the time of the filming.

Ty may have been a bit past his "beefcake" prime which he reached in his "Chapman Report" appearance some five years earlier, but he still looks good here with his shirt off, even though there's a curious reluctance to show his navel.

Rounding out the cast are Michael Gough, Diana Dors, and Judy Geeson. Robert Hardy plays the policeman sent to investigate the murders but his part proves to be superfluous.

Berserk is not as dreadful as I had anticipated. It's a straightforward and reasonably entertaining whodunit set in a traveling circus in Britain. Overall I wouldn't call the pacing slow, as others have, but it is odd. At the beginning the story moves along briskly, as the plot quickly thickens. Then periodically it breaks for extended circus acts that have no bearing on the story, though it could be argued that since we are half expecting a new murder to occur at any moment, we have no choice but to be attentive. Certainly this wouldn't be much of a film without the centerpiece, Joan Crawford, who delivers a forceful performance as the hardboiled boss of the circus. Over sixty, her hair is dyed pinkish blonde and worn tightly pulled back to emphasize her still attractive facial features (and possibly to lift the face) and in half her scenes she is wearing a mistress-of-ceremonies outfit with bare legs. She could still pull it off. But one notices several instances of "Joan Crawford lighting" that started in the 50s if not earlier: in these instances the upper part of her face is high lit but there is a convenient shadow under the chin to de-emphasize the sagging jawline. (These days the average actress of 60-plus has had surgical facelifts.) The tone of her acting here is very much like the performance she gave around the same period on the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm in which she subbed for her ailing daughter who was a regular cast member of the show: full throttle whether necessary or not – but you got your money's worth or at least felt you were being generously served by the performer.

Ty Hardin as a high wire performer who sort of has the hots for Joan (we really can't tell because the script coyly dances around the issue) was on a career downturn at the time this was made and doesn't make much of an impression here. Diana Dors as an abrasive member of Crawford's troupe of performers enlivens every scene she's in. Just when you think she is stealing the film, in steps Crawford to show everyone who's the Star.

The production values are cheap but so well presented that they almost look expensive. Shooting actual circus acts lends an air of plausibility to the film as a whole that the script itself lacks, and one can understand the logic of approaching the production from this angle. If you cut out all of the genuinely interesting circus material this would be very thin gruel indeed. The scoring is also peculiar. Usually it's par-for-the-course sinister/suspenseful. But sometimes it veers off into a lush studio orchestra sound of the kind you'd expect to hear as underscoring to a scene of a limo gliding to a stop in front of a Beverly Hills mansion wherein Lana Turner is longing for love. This disconcerting shift occurs right after the dandy opening scene and credits.

Crawford seems in her element here as a tough lady with responsibilities and she is the main reason to see the film.

In BERSERK, circus owner, Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford) finds a novel way to drum up business when a series of "accidents" prove to be profitable. The action starts right away when the high-wire act turns deadly. While Monica enjoys her windfall, and Scotland Yard snoops about, more performers come to their abrupt, grisly end.

Though thrillers set in circuses have been made before, none have had Ms. Crawford! She smokes! She glares! She romances the musclebound daredevil! Doesn't this guy own a shirt?

While some of the deaths are memorable, like the spiked noggin sequence, the actual circus acts aren't bad either. Especially, those adorable poodles, and the elephant stepping over the prone women! Yikes! One wrong move and your head is oatmeal!

Co-stars Michael Gough (KONGA, HORROR HOSPITAL) and the heavenly Diana Dors...

This is a strange movie on a lot of different levels. The basic premise is Monica Rivers owns a traveling circus, and in the first few moments of the flick her high wire star is murdered (inexplicably by the tightwire snapping and then hanging him-unbelievable). This gruesome death increases business so Monica is needless to say not to upset her star has gone to the big tent in the sky. There are several other wildly amusing murders and no one in the circus is safe. Is Monica the murderer or is she just an innocent victim, next on the list? The one and only Joan Crawford wildly overacts as the circus owner Monica Rivers. She chews up the scenery as she torments the poor, frightened circus performers. She looks pretty great in her Ringmaster's Costume, even at 63 she had fantastic legs, but it is stomach churning to see her love scenes with the hunky Ty Hardin who was young enough to be her son for God's sake!!!! The idea that any man would pick the aging Monica over the young and beautiful Matilda (sluttily played to perfection by Diana Dors)is just too hard to fathom. Joan was just too old to pull this off, yet somehow we are to believe that she has so much allure she can get any man she wants.

The circus scenes go on WAAAAAAAAAAY too long, endless scenes of leaping poodles and llamas running, etc. They should have spent the time used on these pointless scenes developing the storyline more. There could have been a great movie here, but it never quite comes together. Poor Joan had been reduced in her later years to playing the "Grand Guignol" and she does a fair job of it, but the material is just too weak. The color of the film is vibrant, and there are some creepy moments of Monica being stalked as she walks through the circus late at night, but the ending is just too sudden and too abrupt. It left me wanting to know more of why the killer did what they did. There are some great campy scenes as well, 2 women catfighting, Joan making out with the young lover, etc., but overall I would say this movie is for die hard Joan Crawford fans only.

Joan Crawford's fans will appreciate her foray into yet another horror show, this time as the feisty, hard-edged manager of a traveling circus show suddenly burdened with murders of several circus members. The careful photography cannot hide the fact that Crawford has aged considerably--and consequently, although her figure is still trim, her scenes with hunky Ty Hardin have an unpleasant and unbelievable quality about them.

The plot is strictly standard fare--who is responsible for the series of gruesome murders? For awhile, it looks like Joan herself is probably the wicked one--and there are a few other red herrings to make you think you know who did it. When the ending is revealed, in a climactic thunderstorm, it comes as a distinct letdown although a surprise, the reason being the guilty one is given no substance in the plot. The killer's identity seems highly implausible which makes the ending seem as though it has been merely tacked on to provide a final scene.

As these sort of things go, BERSERK isn't a bad way to pass the time on a low-budget mystery. The technicolor is good, Joan's costumes are fantastic, her shapely legs are on almost constant display and she uses her haughty manner to great effect. The details of circus life are smoothly integrated into the story and some of the animal acts are amusing--but none of the characters have any depth. Ty Hardin makes a handsome and arrogant stud whose daredevil highwire act provides some high moments of suspense as he performs over a row of spikes below. Like Crawford, he's given ample opportunities to show off his handsome physique.

Diana Dors makes the most of her role as an outspoken tart and all of the supporting performances are competent enough--Michael Gough, Judy Geeson and Robert Hardy. Certainly worth a view if you're a Crawford fan. The dialogue is ripe with campy one-liners.

Trivia note: The plot is slightly reminiscent of Barbara Stanwyck's LADY OF BURLESQUE where a series of backstage murders takes place with a slim plot involving a jealous performer.