Berserk!

Monica Rivers, Joan Crawford, runs a traveling circus across England with her business manager, Albert Dorando, Michael Gough. The show blends spectacle with danger, and the local authorities, including Commissioner Dalby Geoffrey Keen and Detective Superintendent Brooks Robert Hardy, watch the operation closely. During a late performance, Gaspar the Great, Thomas Cimarro, dies when his rope snaps. The police suspect foul play, but no culprit can be named. Monica senses that Gaspar’s death will bring sensational publicity and bigger crowds, a calculation that shocks Albert as he processes the personal ugliness behind such a stance.

Not long after, Albert is found murdered. The company, and especially Frank Hawkins, Ty Hardin, suspect Monica; Hawkins had seen her leaving Albert’s trailer shortly before the body was discovered. He attempts a crude form of blackmail, promising his silence in exchange for a share of the circus, and Monica agrees to the deal. The show continues, and the troupe enjoys a string of successful performances that draw larger audiences than before. Into this mix comes Monica’s daughter Angela Rivers, Judy Geeson, who reappears after being expelled from school. Monica hires her to perform a knife-throwing act, adding a personal strain to the already tense atmosphere.

Matilda, Diana Dors, another performer, tries to lure Hawkins, fueling Monica’s jealousy and insecurity. The jealousy intensifies when Matilda is killed during a magician’s trick—sawing a woman in half goes tragically wrong, sending shockwaves through the circus. A few evenings later, during Hawkins’ high-wire performance, Angela is seen throwing a knife toward him. Hawkins plummets onto the bayonets and dies in a fatal, brutal moment.

Angela makes a chilling confession: she was responsible for the circus murders, claiming they stemmed from Monica’s absence and neglect during her childhood. She asserts the deaths were deliberate attempts to remove anyone who consumed Monica’s attention and time. In a final, desperate bid to escape capture, Angela turns on her mother, but the plan is foiled. As rain lashes the tent, she is electrocuted by a live wire outside the circus, and Monica collapses in tears over her daughter’s lifeless body.

Last Updated: October 07, 2025 at 08:20