Synopsis
It's too late to run. There's no time to scream... Just close your eyes and pray to die.
Six young adults in the woods run afoul of a berserker, a viking warrior who dons the fur and snout of a bear, and are slain in turn by him.
1987 Directed by Jefferson Richard
Six young adults in the woods run afoul of a berserker, a viking warrior who dons the fur and snout of a bear, and are slain in turn by him.
O Vale Assassino, Berserker: The Nordic Curse
Fun 80's slasher film that Vinegar Syndrome just put back into the world. Highlights for me are the On Golden Pond wink in the opening and Beth Toussaint. Toussaint resembles Linda Hamilton and is quite nekkid in this film. My inner 15-year-old was getting all hot and bothered.
Great extras:
- Reversible cover
- Interview with Joseph Alan Johnson titled Beware of Bears
- Interview with actress Shannon Engemann titled Valley Girl
- Interview with director Jefferson Richard titled A Family Affair
- Audio commentary with Justin Kerswell & Joseph Henson of The Hysteria Continues!
Watched the Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray
Campers get more than they bargained for in this Viking caveman/survival slasher/killer bear jam.
I love the Nordic curse angle mixed in with a typical 80’s camping out slasher style movie... but way to boring for me to recommend. There’s a few solid gory bear attacks, decent atmos, and the caveman bear skin wearing villain was cool looking, but Unfortunately there’s pacing issues related to the numerous wondering around the woods padding scenes and that knocked off a few points for me on this revisit. Not really whacky or over the top, but more like a backwoods campsite nightmare drone transmission. One of those movies.
Also it’s worth pointing out... George Buck Flower makes every movie better, even he won’t be able to erase the memory of the atrocious song in this movie lol.
Very solid restoration.
Quite a fun and silly little “camping gone bad” horror movie. I’ve always loved that poster, but never actually got around to seeing the movie until now and that’s all thanks to Vin Syn and their beautiful restored release!
Highlights include plenty of cheesy shenanigans, a killer that resembles a caveman in a bear costume, an actual bear fight where the bear is being a very good boy and just butting his head against the human “attacking” him, and an absolutely terrible original song! It’s good times!
As usual, there’s not nearly enough male nudity compared to female and I was really hoping Joseph Alan Johnson would get naked after seeing him shed his clothes continuously in Iced, but he doesn’t. He does however spend a decent amount of time in some tightly whities so you take what you can get.
George “Buck” Flower with a thick accent was something I was not ready for and I loved it.
A hazy campy nightmare Berserker is pure nonsensical magic. Finally cleaned up and much more visible Vinegar Syndrome brings Berserker back to life as it explodes with bloody viking madness and goofy teenager sex romps! Anytime an 80s slasher is given the blu ray treatment it's a monumental occasion amirite?? BERZERKKAAAA!
A bunch of doofuses go camping in the woods where a giant bear has been terrorizing the locals. But is it just a bear or is there a more deadly presence responsible? Perhaps a Berserker?? Ahhh shit!! It isn't long before the romantic sexcapades turn into a bloody rampage!
The Beserker has an 80s Wrestler look and it totally warmed my soul. Guy is always wiling out in his…
Berserker gone and berserked my brain with their berszuka full of awful clunky gunk I tells ya what! Its nothing too ground breaking and pretty dang slow but theres a certain charm to it. Once that first cheesy rock tune kicked in and we are introduced to some mega dork teens I was totally sold. Wouldn't be surprised if the songs were performed by the mega dorks themselves...lyrics talking about attitude and teenage life and shit. LalalalaLAMEEEE! but also catchy as helll...
So a bunch of doofuses venture into the wilderness to camp. Little do they know a killer Berserker is on the loose! And a giant bear! And the Berserker fights the bear! Berserker is an extra crazy Viking…
🎵 You’re such a coool dude 🎵
That artwork will always remind me of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ MGM vhs cover.
“The Vikings were ferocious warriors, the most feared of these ancient pirates were those who not only fought with the blood lusting frenzy but were also known to eat the flesh of their human victims. They were called...Berserkers!”
Watched the vhs rip on YouTube, sorry Vinegar Syndrome!
Starts off like your typical backwoods slasher then add a bear, a Viking berserker thing, horny stupid people, screaming, excessive fog, more screaming while running , & that’s about it!
Could have been alot better but it also could have been alot worse.
Claw deaths for the win!
Goddammit. I really thought I had found something special with this one. It actually showed a fair amount of promise in the first half, goofy song choices aside. The scenic Utah wilderness is absolutely gorgeous and there were some beautifully shot scenes. I particularly loved all the atmospheric shots of fog-blanketed woods. Honestly, Friday the 13th wishes it looked this good. And there was actually some pretty decent acting here, particularly from George "Buck" Flower. But, sadly, all that stuff is wasted on this film. Too much of the runtime is padded with people wandering through the beautiful, fog-blanketed woods, or shots of a bear that are only there to mislead you. Furthermore, as a result of trying to hide…
February Horror Hunt, Day 1, challenge #2 - A movie released by Vinegar Syndrome in 2019
I was really looking forward to this one. Viking... ghost... bear vs campers? God yes, I'm ready! I kinda lowkey loved this movie. 1987 was the best. We get a music montage to a song whose only lyric is "cause you're a coooool dude, yeah!" with perms and mullets blowing in the wind camping shenanigans! Bliss. A lot of this movie is people lost in the woods and idiots screaming and flailing off and random shots of a bear, but it's foggy and kinda cool and just weird enough to hold your attention. There is an EPIC fight at the end that is 100%…
Daily Horror Hunt 19 – January Horror 2020 Day 6: pick any horror title involving a word at least 8 letters long.
So yeah, there were a lot of shots of a bear walking around in the forest. And almost as many of people lost in the woods. When the attacks happen, all you see is a bear paw. I was honestly almost believing this was an animal attack movie. If I didn't know the title and the plot of the movie, I probably could've convinced myself that it was. There's also a lot of the "kids going up to the woods to party" tropes. Which I always enjoy. Even if the main dude is a total dick to his…
If someone had told me this was mostly people walking through a fog-enshrouded forest as cool synth winds played in the background, I would have watched it sooner!
There isn't much incident, and every kill is a claw mauling, but this thing drips mood with every frame. There's even some pleasant character development from a guy who starts off as nothing but an annoying asshole. Hats off to the script for trying something slashers rarely do: Make you care about the victims before they get slaughtered. Don't filmmakers understand that suspense is heightened when you don't want to see characters get offed?
I have a soft spot for arty regional slasher films, especially when can tell that the entire cast and crew took this thing seriously, even when the end result is half-baked. For slasher featuring a muscle-bound Viking man in a bear costume, there isn't enough of him!
cool song for a cool dude. a shit slasher is better than a good movie sorry i dont make the rules!
A group of young people go camping in the woods and...that's pretty much the start of every 80's horror movie, really. At least this one has the class to cut together a death scene with a sex scene...oh wait, that's nearly every 80's horror movie too. But at least this one has an insane Viking bear ghost or whatever doing all the killings. Points for originality there. Except the bear is played by a giant muppet-looking arm.
Cringe to the god-awful songs on the soundtrack! Hysterically bad!
So bad it's good, but also too bad to be great, typical 80's horror product. Luckily, I enjoy this sort of thing.