BERSERK (1967), aka BERSERK!

Director: Jim O’Connolly

Writers: Herman Cohen, Aben Kandel

Producer: Herman Cohen

Cast: Joan Crawford, Ty Hardin, Judy Geeson, Diana Dors, Michael Gough, Robert Hardy, Geoffrey Keen, George Claydon, Philip Madoc, Sydney Taffler, Ambrosine Philpotts, Thomas Cimarro, Milton Reid, Ted Lune, Golda Casimir, Peter Burton, Marianne Stone, Miki Iveria, Howard Goorney, Reginald Marsh, Bryan Pringle

During a performance at The Great Rivers Circus in England, tightrope walker Gaspar the Great (Thomas Cimarro) is killed in a gruesome accident. As a result, circus attendance soars. The steel-willed co-owner and ringmistress of the circus, Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford), appreciates the increase in revenue that the morbid publicity generates. But as more deaths to circus personnel occur, suspicion and fear spread among the circus performers.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Once again the team of producer Herman Cohen and his writing partner, Aben Kandel, provide more thrills and chills in 1967’s Berserk. During the 1960s, American filmmaker Cohen’s productions had settled in England, but they were still punching the audience’s panic buttons. The horror Cohen is pitching this time around has a circus setting. Many circus acts serve to pad out the film’s running time and add a lot of production value to make this B-film seem quite lavish. It is the Billy Smart Circus that provides many of the acts we see performed under the big top. Two other British-backed movies were also filmed in this famous venue: Circus of Horrors (1960) and Circus of Fear (1967).

Cohen’s Berserk provides even more spectacle with his chosen star: Joan Crawford. The Oscar-winning actress was entering the twilight of her career, but during the 1960s she had already appeared in a few successful shockers. In 1962’s What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Crawford co-starred with another aging Hollywood legend, Bette Davis. That hit film led to the “psycho-biddy” trend of thrillers starring older, established actresses usually playing against type. For horror-meister William Castle, Crawford starred in Straight-Jacket (1964) and I Saw What You Did (1965).

Supposedly, Joan Crawford’s clout prompted a title change for this film. Originally, it was called Circus of Blood, but Crawford suggested Berserk. That was certainly a memorable title that I’ll bet Crawford thought sounded a bit less exploitational. Her title would also keep this film from being confused with the previously made circus-based thrillers. What remains unknown is did Crawford suggest the title with or without an exclamation mark? The onscreen title has no punctuation, yet the posters for the film usually add an exclamation mark. Which is it?! It’s enough to drive this anal-retentive film fanatic berserk!

It seems that no matter what stage her career was at, or the intent of the material she was performing in, Joan Crawford always gave it her all. She did not think that headlining a lurid thriller made her any less of a star. In fact, Crawford quite rightly must have felt that her name was lending these productions a lot of prestige. She also thought that her fans must always perceive her as a star. Therefore, she had to give them a performance worthy of a star. In addition to her ballyhoo as the ringmistress announcing the acts and her take-charge demeanor with circus employees, Crawford deftly delivers a few saucy one-liners and subtle expressions that display her character’s worldly confidence.

Joan Crawford seems simpatico with her role in Berserk. Crawford was determined and relentless in achieving and maintaining her stardom. She channels that same resolve into her performance as the head of the circus that is the story’s setting. Her Monica Rivers is rather opportunistic about the bizarre death of her tightrope performer that has resulted in very profitable notoriety for her circus. Monica also demands that the show must go on, and it seems that her commanding presence is all that keeps the circus folk in line despite their paranoia. There are not a lot of shadings to her character or any others in this film, yet there is some ambiguity about them, which is appropriate in a mystery yarn.

For this horror fan, and a devotee of producer Herman Cohen’s flicks in particular, another name in this cast that gets my attention is Michael Gough. With Joan Crawford’s star power taking center stage, Gough is left with a supporting role instead of the villainous main attraction he had provided to distinguish Cohen’s previous Horrors of the Black Museum (1959), Konga (1961), and Black Zoo (1963). I find it quite interesting that Gough’s usual dominant and heartless role in a movie relationship is reversed in Berserk. Here his Albert Dorando is the subordinate and lovelorn business partner to Crawford’s Monica Rivers. Actor Gough performs an amusing about-face having the decency to criticize Crawford’s character for being cold-blooded about the tragedy that took the life of a circus performer. But fear not, Gough fans! The great Michael Gough’s vile villainy would be redeemed in the next Joan Crawford-starring Herman Cohen fright flick, Trog (1970).

Ty Hardin had starred as the hero on the ABC television network Western series Bronco (1959-62). Here Hardin plays hot-tempered Frank Hawkins, the handsome replacement for the deceased Gaspar the Great. Hawkins is suspect for not only conveniently showing up to replace the just-killed high-wire artist, he also is pretty deliberate about putting the moves on Monica Rivers. His proposition to become her business partner in the circus makes him appear up front about his ambitions, yet he still seems rather suspicious. While Hawkins acts frustrated with Monica’s reserve in their potential romance, we wonder if his urges are driven more by profit than passion.

The sexy standout in Berserk is Diana Dors. Once groomed to be the British alternative to Marilyn Monroe, Dors provides plenty of sparks to justify her blonde bombshell status. As Matilda, the assistant to the magician Lazlo (Philip Madoc), she is the circus sexpot and troublemaker. Whether she is trying to seduce the Magnificent Hawkins, badmouthing the magician she lives with, spreading malicious gossip, or getting into catfights, Matilda is probably my favorite character in Berserk. Any bodacious babe who drops by with notions of nookie in her noggin and brings her own booze is still a class act in my book.

Judy Geeson shows up as Angela Rivers, Monica’s just-booted-from-boarding school daughter. Angela’s reunion with her mother serves to soften the edges of the Monica Rivers character, making the hard-nosed circus owner a bit more sympathetic. This also seems to be following the Herman Cohen formula for having youthful characters prominent in his horror films.

Like many giallo films, or the slasher films that they would inspire, Berserk has us playing the whodunit guessing game. The oh so dapper Detective Supt. Brooks makes sure that we are mulling over the various suspects. As was often the case in Cohen’s films and horror movies in general, the officers of the law are diligent but largely ineffectual. Nevertheless, I enjoy Robert Hardy’s smooth assurance as Brooks. He convinces us that having him tag along with the Rivers Circus should reveal the killer. In the meantime, Brooks displays the smoothest fast draw I’ve ever seen when lighting Monica’s cigarettes. Although some may regard the police procedural antics as just padding, I appreciate that the authorities dealing with fright flick atrocities are often out of their depth. This lends a lasting sense of chaos and unease to the proceedings.

Ultimately, Berserk is simply a showcase for Joan Crawford that kills time with circus acts and squabbles between the murders. Fully enjoying the film requires one to appreciate being part of that circus lifestyle for an hour and a half. I am all too happy to settle for this vicarious video experience. Although my immaturity means that I am never too old to consider running away to join the circus, unless I could land a sideshow gig as the Great Couch Potato, I would probably end up pounding tent stakes and shoveling up elephant droppings.

This post was contributed to The Third 'Favorite Stars in B Movies' Blogathon hosted at Films From Beyond the Time Barrier.

BLACK ZOO (1963), aka HORRORS OF THE BLACK ZOO

Director: Robert Gordon

Writers: Aben Kandel, Herman Cohen

Producer: Herman Cohen

Cast: Michael Gough, Jeanne Cooper, Rod Lauren, Jerome Cowan, Virginia Grey, Elisha Cook, Jr., Edward Platt, Douglas Henderson, Marianna Hill, Warrene Ott, Oren Curtis, Byron Morrow, Eilene Janssen, Joseph Mell, Jerry Douglas, Eric Stone, Zamba (the lion), (and uncredited cast members) Claudia Brack, George Barrows, Dani Lynn, Susan Slavin, Herman Cohen, Daniel Kurlick, Michael St. Angel 

Michael Conrad (Michael Gough) is the proprietor of the Conrad’s Animal Kingdom zoo in Los Angeles. Conrad is absolutely devoted to his animals and treats them with kindness and reverence. The wild animals are so docile in Conrad’s care that he can control them. Whenever anyone threatens to disrupt his life or his zoo, Conrad uses the most dangerous of his animals to kill the offender. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

Producer Herman Cohen was on quite a roll of youth-oriented horror films in the 1950s beginning with such attention-getters as I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957). The titled monsters may have been teenagers, but they were made into killers by the schemes of the evil adults that controlled them. Cohen would continue with his teen-angst terrors into the next decade. However, those ’60s productions were more focused on the middle-aged antagonists responsible for all of the villainy. The youths were no longer the title subject or the main drivers of the plot. While those later films seemed to fixate almost exclusively on the petty ambitions and egos of their middle-aged fiends, they still depicted young people being exploited, traumatized, or victimized by their elders. 

In 1963’s Black Zoo, Cohen had once again concocted a crazy scenario that let actor Michael Gough off his leash to chew the scenery as only one of my favorite movie madmen can. As in two previous Cohen productions, Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) and Konga (1961), Michael Gough’s lead performance as another obsessive and amoral asshole provides most of the entertainment value. That’s plenty for this fan of actors you love to hate. 

Cohen and co-writer Aben Kandel usually reworked premises from previous classic horror films for their own victimized-youth productions. 1933’s Murders in the Zoo seems to be the probable inspiration for Black Zoo. Both films feature a maniacal zookeeper killing his enemies with wild animals. The novelty of those beasts sharing a lot of screen time with the actors was something to distinguish each film from its competition in the genre. 

That is not to say that Black Zoo is a remake of the earlier film. Like all of the other Cohen-Kandel stories, Black Zoo is a variation on a horror trope that goes its own demented way. In the case of this film, the villain does not just use wild animals to dispose of his enemies; he actually controls the beasts. At first it seems that this ability is just the unlikely result of zookeeper Michael Conrad’s love and care of the animals. There is a later suggestion of some mysticism involved. Conrad is a member of an eccentric animal-worshipping cult. There is no direct correlation stated between Conrad’s cult activity and his uncanny control of his beasts. However, being the Michael Gough fan that I am, I can explain almost any antics his despicable characters perpetrate. 

Although I can contrive some credibility for the feats a Michael Gough villain performs, I certainly can’t justify his absolute assholery. (That damned spell-check is even more anal than I am. Assholery is a word, dammit!) It’s bad enough that Gough’s Michael Conrad makes assassins out of his zoo animals. Conrad also treats Carl (Rod Lauren), his mute, teenaged zoo attendant, like a slave. He gets totally pissy about his wife, Edna (Jeanne Cooper), having a few drinks with dinner, and then he flies into a rage when she shows any concern for the sad, mute Carl. Control freak Conrad finally stoops to get his own hands dirty with domestic violence. Amazingly, this abuse turns out to be some very effective foreplay. One murdered casserole and a vicious backhand later, Conrad and Edna are lip-locked in the kitchen. Where’s the justice? This is just another fine example of why we all love to hate Michael Gough villains. 

That kitchen scene leaves us wondering what the hell Jeanne Cooper’s Edna ever saw in the selfish Michael Conrad. Dysfunction between the featured couple is another mainstay of earlier Cohen-Kandel horror films. Like the male heel in the other stories, this film’s Michael Conrad can turn on the charm when he wants to put up a good front. I expected him to start hitting on the cute art students that are sketching animals at his zoo. Gough’s Dr. Decker in Konga would have probably been making the moves here on young Audrey (Marianna Hill). Yet this movie’s Michael Conrad seems devoted only to his zoo animals. 

Rather surprisingly, when Audrey tries to flirt with the handsome, mute Carl, this never leads to anything more than giving Conrad another opportunity to be the belligerent boss. It would have seemed like the perfect opening for more character conflict by having the lonely Carl wanting more out of life than being Conrad’s bullied henchman. This story focuses almost entirely on the “family” of Michael Conrad, wife Edna, young Carl, and the zoo animals.

Those featured animals are usually shown sharing scenes with the actors. Aside from our old friend, the homicidal gorilla suit (George Barrows this time) from Konga, the other dangerous beasts are big cats. We are not only treated to tiger and lion attacks, we also get to see assorted huge felines lounging on the furniture in Conrad’s living room as he serenades them with his pipe organ. They are even allowed to attend a funeral rite Conrad conducts for his deceased tiger in a foggy forest. There are also a couple scenes where the lion is walking right past Michael Gough without the benefit of any trick photography. Maybe it helped the lion to keep his cool sensing that Michael Gough himself was actually very fond of animals. That took a helluva lot more nerve on Gough's part than petting a baby chimp back in Konga! 

Michael Gough’s co-star, Jeanne Cooper, is required to play a character almost as offbeat as the crazed Conrad. As Edna, she had a trained chimp act that she was developing before she married Conrad and devoted her show solely to appearing in Conrad’s zoo. Jeanne Cooper’s acting chops are given quite a workout against Michael Gough in the aforementioned dinner demolition scene. This squabble is mostly covered in a few long takes that show how veteran performers can keep things moving with the spirited back and forth of their performance. That ability to handle long dialogue exchanges must have been a great asset to Jeanne Cooper for her later soap opera career in her forty-year-long role of Katherine Chancellor from 1973 to 2013 on the CBS television series The Young and the Restless (1973 — present). 

Two other familiar television faces appearing here are Edward Platt as Chief Detective Rivers and Elisha Cook, Jr., as zoo attendant Joe. Platt was immortalized later in the decade playing another frustrated authority figure, The Chief, on the spy-spoof series Get Smart (1965-70). Cook had already established himself as mild-mannered or victimized film characters since the 1930s. From the mid-1950s through the mid-1980s, Cook was also a familiar guest star in a multitude of television series. 

While producer Herman Cohen’s earlier Gough-starring films, Horrors of the Black Museum and Konga, get more attention, this 1963 production really delivers the villainy seasoned fright flick fans can relish: zookeeping zealotry inspiring animal attacks and casserole carnage. Black Zoo is yet another cockeyed horror premise valiantly legitimized by the great Michael Gough at his beastly best.

HORROR HOSPITAL (1973), aka COMPUTER KILLERS

Director: Antony Balch

Writers: Antony Balch, Alan Watson

Producer: Richard Gordon

Cast: Robin Askwith, Michael Gough, Phoebe Shaw (as Vanessa Shaw), Skip Martin, Kurt Christian, Dennis Price, Ellen Pollock, Barbara Wendy, Kenneth Benda, Martin Grace, Colin Skeaping, Susan Murphy, George Herbert, members of the band Mystic (James Boris IV, Allan “The River” Hudson, Simon Lust) as themselves, and uncredited cast members Alan Watson, Antony Balch, Ray Corbett, Richard Gordon 

Stressed, young songwriter Jason Jones (Robin Askwith) decides to split the London scene for a while. He visits Hairy Holidays, the travel agency advertising trips for the under 30s crowd. Pollock (Dennis Price), the agency’s proprietor, suggests a stay in Dr. Storm’s Health Hotel at Brittlehurst Manor in the country. On the train ride out of London, Jason befriends sexy, fellow passenger Judy Peters (Vannessa Shaw), who is also on her way to the same resort to visit her Aunt Harris (Ellen Pollock). Unfortunately, Dr. Christian Storm (Michael Gough) is also residing there. The young people that are least likely to be missed are sent to the resort for their holiday retreats to become subjects in Dr. Storm’s medical experiments that turn them into his mindless slaves. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

The British film industry was entering tough times in the 1970s. As that stalwart producer of horror movies, Hammer Films, was beginning to flounder trying to keep up with the changing times and finding it harder to get capital from the US to co-finance their films, other British filmmakers seemed to respond by giving the public something edgier and crasser than the class that was Hammer’s specialty. A graphic example of the lurid extremes some movies would resort to is Horror Hospital. 

The whole premise of Horror Hospital is quite simple. It serves as a situation to feature some exploitation gimmicks: lobotomizing brain operations, mindless motorcycle-riding henchman, a Rolls-Royce outfitted with a decapitation accessory, naked zombies, a misshapen monster, and tantalizing glimpses of Vanessa Shaw’s fine form. 

This is a story about the older generation exploiting the young. That was a sentiment that some movies were fixating on since the late ’60s, but this was not a new aspect in horror films. Since 1957, producer Herman Cohen’s fright flicks (some of which also starred Michael Gough as the villain) often dealt with the same generational conflict. 

Horror Hospital is an absolutely insane mix of nastiness and absurdity that seems ready to try almost anything to get a rise from its audience. Horror always had a hard time with the critics. Horror Hospital seems hell-bent on giving the critics something to really get bent out of shape about as it revels in its own brazen excess. It has moments of humor and odd behavior from almost every character. It also indulges in grisly acts and sleazy deeds perpetrated by Dr. Storm. These incidents are meant to shock the audience, yet they often seem so unjustified that they play out as morbid comedy. 

Michael Gough is a fiendish delight in many of his horror film roles. He is at his most cold and unpleasant in Horror Hospital. In a movie this mad, there is no question that Gough’s Dr. Christian Storm is a truly mad scientist. Dr. Storm’s sole ambition is to wield his medical prowess to subjugate his younger fellow men and, especially, women to his power mad whims. All of his diabolical dabbling seems to serve no cause beyond what will gratify him. Once we learn how utterly messed up this bastard is, we understand why turning off the brains of people is a fixation of his; zombies don’t pass judgment and even the sexiest ones can’t say no.

 

Our hero Jason Jones is almost as offbeat as our mad scientist. He is played by frequent British sex-comedy star Robin Askwith appearing in his third horror film. Here he is a rock songwriter dropping out for a tad, hooking up with a sweet dolly bird, and ending up in a medical madhouse. He is inept, tactless, funny, and oddly likable. When he drops the F-bomb at dinner, he strikes comedy gold. However, I suspect that for every member in the audience that is rooting for Jason there are just as many who think Dr. Storm lobotomizing him would be no great loss. Jason is such an unlikely hero that when he rises to the occasion for anything beyond getting laid it just adds to the absurdity. 

Vanessa (Phoebe) Shaw is a dream come true. As Judy Peters, she is a tender beauty that understandably is a little apprehensive with our hero Jason as a total stranger, but she takes no offense and actually seems to warm up to the guy when he exclaims, “I’m not going to rape you!” Now, that’s a pick-up line I’ve got to remember.

In a flick this warped, it almost makes sense that Dr. Storm’s dwarf accomplice Frederick, who assists in some of the gruesome mayhem, would end up becoming sympathetic and heroic. In fact, this twisted character arc makes him the only character of any depth in this mad movie. Initially, Frederick seems cheerfully evil, but he has a change of heart after abuse from his master, Dr. Storm. As Frederick, Skip Martin contributes plenty of oddball humor that further distinguishes this film. Martin is probably best remembered as Hop-Toad in Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe film adaptation The Masque of the Red Death (1964).

Horror Hospital is charged with a reckless energy that makes it seem like a waking nightmare. There are moments of gruesomeness that exist for no reason other than to feel inappropriate, and the final act of the film is full of wild abandon; Jason and his fellow prisoner Abraham (Kurt Christian) suddenly display great ass kicking ability after they spent much of their screen time getting the shit kicked out of them, there is a perverse reveal of the disfigured being lurking in the shadows of Brittlehurst Manor, more Rolls-Royce decapitation action, and a WTF finale that is just a creepy capper to all of the craziness. 

Director Antony Balch spent most of his career arranging distribution for arthouse and exploitation films. Horror Hospital was only the second and last feature film he directed. Balch’s previous movie was an odd anthology film with some horror elements called Secrets of Sex (1970). The independent horror film production veteran Richard Gordon was a producer on both of Balch’s quite successful films. Unfortunately, Balch died much too early, but checking into his Horror Hospital provides a sure cure for any boredom that ails this flashback fanatic.

THE SKULL (1965)

Director: Freddie Francis

Writers: Milton Subotsky, based on Robert Bloch’s story “The Skull of the Marquis de Sade”

Producers: Max J. Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky

Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Patrick Wymark, Peter Woodthorpe, Jill Bennett, April Olrich, Maurice Good, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Michael Gough, George Coulouris, Frank Forsyth, Anna Palk, Paul Stockman, George Hilsdon, Jack Silk 

In London, England, author Christopher Maitland (Peter Cushing) collects strange artifacts used for research in his writings about the occult. Anthony Marco (Peter Wymark), the rather shady procurer of many of Maitland’s curios, presents the writer with the opportunity to own something really special: the skull of the notorious 19th century French author and nobleman the Marquis de Sade. Maitland soon falls under the skull’s frightening influence. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

The Skull is not only a change of pace from the anthology horror films that Britain’s Amicus Productions are best known for, it remains a unique tale of possession. The story is simple and the main cast is small. A lot of time is spent in the head game that the skull is playing with Peter Cushing’s character Christopher Maitland. This results in many dialogue-free stretches of surreal and eerie events that confuse and terrify Maitland as he is being brought under the skull’s evil control.

This was the first of the Amicus Productions fright flicks based on the writings of Robert Bloch. Of course, Bloch will always be best known as the writer of the novel Psycho that was adapted into Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1960 film. Bloch would adapt many of his short horror stories for the scripts of three later Amicus anthology films. This time around, one of his tales is the basis for an entire film. Oddly, he did not write the script himself. 

Perhaps the lack of Robert Bloch’s further involvement resulted in a rather troubled production. It seems that the original short story‘s adaptation did not provide enough incidents for a feature-length film. Director Freddie Francis is supposed to have reworked co-producer Milton Subotsky’s script. Then there had been a lot of rearranging of scenes in the editing room as Subotsky was second-guessing just how to put the final narrative together. 

Fortunately, the final product resulted in a stylized descent into possession told almost entirely from the perspective of Christopher Maitland. This is almost a one-man show with the great Peter Cushing. Although he may have an ethical lapse ignoring Marco’s means of providing occult artifacts, Cushing’s Maitland appears to be a decent person, so his fate seems undeservedly tragic and that makes the skull all the more diabolical. 

Joining Cushing is Christopher Lee in a featured role as fellow artifact collector Sir Matthew Phillips. He tries to warn Maitland about the evil threat the skull of the Marquis de Sade poses. The often aloof and commanding Lee seems rather vulnerable here and earns our sympathy while always appearing dignified. 

The Skull is a casting delight for fans of British horror films. Beyond the teaming of Cushing and Lee, there are many other familiar faces from the genre such as Michael Gough, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee, Patrick Wymark, and George Coulouris. Of special notice is Peter Woodthorpe as the seedy landlord Bert Travers. Besides Peter Cushing, he is my favorite performer in the film. He is immediately unlikable and seems almost as disreputable as his sleazy hypnotist Zoltan in The Evil of Frankenstein (1964), another Freddie Francis-directed/Peter Cushing-starring production. 

Director Freddie Francis dealt with horror quite a bit for both Amicus and their rival Hammer Films. He brings a lot of inventive visual style to the intimate terror experienced by Cushing’s character. Francis manages to make the skull as much of a personality as the characters portrayed by the flesh-and-blood actors.

As in “The Man Who Collected Poe,” another of Robert Bloch’s stories featured in the later Amicus anthology film Torture Garden (1967), the message here seems to be a warning about the dangers of collecting mania. Although I am a devil-may-care chap, I am certain that my film fetishism is perfectly harmless. I only acquire evermore movies and memorabilia to rouse my cinema enthusiasm and share it with others. Now, what’s the harm in that? However, I will admit that I would kill to get a print of The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) with the long-missing topless Hazel Court footage.