Film
Berserk!
Other titles called Berserk!: the 1997 series (NTV).
A circus ringmaster, played with theatrical menace by Joan Crawford, finds opportunity in catastrophe when murders begin among her performers. This is a deliberately trashy 1967 thriller that leans into exploitation and Crawford's formidable screen presence, half-horror film, half-murder mystery. It's for viewers who love camp horror and don't mind their entertainment gleefully amoral.
If you liked this
Psycho1960
The definitive blueprint for psychological thrillers, with Hitchcock's surgical direction and Anthony Perkins' unforgettable performance. Every murder mystery made after owes something to this.
But It's technically perfect in a way that can feel cold. Some find it slow, especially if you know the twist already.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?1962
Joan Crawford's contemporary, Bette Davis, in a similar tale of old Hollywood menace and psychological torture. Cruel, funny, and genuinely unsettling. The template for whatever *Berserk!* was trying to be.
But It's a one-room psychological drama dressed in melodrama. If you want plot momentum, you'll find it slow.
Carnival of Souls1962
Low-budget carnival-set horror with genuine dread underneath the exploitation. Atmospheric, strange, and absolutely convinced of its own mythology. Vastly superior to its budget suggests.
But Shot on 16mm with amateurish performances. The technical limitations are visible and sometimes distracting.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Berserk!
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Peeping Tom1960
Both are circus mirrors: they examine how we become complicit in spectacle, how violence becomes entertainment, how the ringmaster profits from horror.
A killer films his murders; a cameraman documents death. Michael Powell's masterpiece is structurally obsessed with perspective, voyeurism, and the complicity of the viewer—the same question *Berserk!* poses accidentally.
But It's technically about a serial killer murdering women, and the film's perspective is deeply disturbing. It was banned for years and remains genuinely hard to watch.
More like this (7)
Strait-Jacket1964
Crawford again, swinging an axe, in a slightly unhinged thriller about violence, publicity, and whether we ever really recover. Funny and nasty in equal measure.
But The plot takes hard left turns that strain credibility. You have to surrender to the melodrama entirely.
Homicidal1961
William Castle's lurid, breakneck murder mystery with a genuinely shocking twist. Trashy, clever, and made with real style on no money. Castle understood exploitation better than almost anyone.
But The twist relies on racial and sexual stereotypes that read poorly now, though the film isn't endorsing them.
The Manchurian Candidate1962
Political thriller that moves like a rocket, with Angela Lansbury giving the performance of her life. Paranoid, stylish, and genuinely frightening about corruption and control.
But The plot is complex and moves fast. You need to pay close attention or you'll lose the thread.
Marnie1964
Hitchcock's psychological thriller about a compulsive thief and her mysterious past. Tippi Hedren is extraordinary, and the exploration of trauma is unusually serious for its era.
But The romance subplot hasn't aged well and feels uncomfortable by modern standards. Some find the pacing deliberate.
The Ipcress File1965
Spy thriller that brought cool, pragmatic realism to the genre. Michael Caine's everyman charm and the film's refusal to be flashy make it endure far better than more famous espionage films.
But It's deliberately unglamorous and understated. If you want exotic locations and villain monologues, look elsewhere.
Freaks1932
Both films are circuses where the normal rules don't apply, where the marginal have power, where morality gets theatrical. But *Freaks* finds grace and community where *Berserk!* finds only exploitation.
Tod Browning's forbidden masterpiece about circus performers who exact revenge. Genuinely strange, genuinely funny, and it actually cares about its characters in ways mainstream cinema didn't. Astonishing craftsmanship.
But Uses real sideshow performers, which is fascinating and also uncomfortable. The plot takes a genuinely grotesque turn. The 1932 pacing will test you.
The Killing1956
Both are about how spectacle—the circus, the racetrack—creates opportunity for crime. Both understand that the real show is watching people fail in public.
Kubrick's racetrack crime film told in fractured, circling time. A masterclass in structure, suspense, and the mechanics of how plans fail. Every crime film since is in its debt.
But Black-and-white, 1950s crime procedural. No glamour, no speed, just cigarettes and desperation. If you want style over substance, this is substance all the way down.
People
Cast
Joan CrawfordMonica Rivers
Ty HardinFrank Hawkins
Diana DorsMatilda
Michael GoughAlbert Dorando
Judy GeesonAngela Rivers
Robert HardyDetective Superintendent Brooks
Geoffrey KeenCommissioner Dalby
Sydney TaflerHarrison Liston- George ClaydonBruno Fontana
Philip MadocLazlo
Ambrosine PhillpottsMiss Burrows- Thomas CimarroGaspar
Directing
- Jim O'ConnollyDirector
Writing
- Aben KandelScreenplay
- Herman CohenScreenplay
- Aben KandelStory
- Herman CohenStory
Production
- Robert SterneAssociate Producer
- Maude SpectorCasting
- Herman CohenProducer
- Vicki DeasonProduction Secretary
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What's the Matter with Helen?, The Sorcerers, The Comeback, The Witch Who Came from the Sea, Wolf