Monthly Archives: May 2026

1968 Films, British, British Horror, Hag Horror, Horror, Thriller

Berserk! -1968

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Berserk! -1968

Director Jim O’Connolly

Starring Joan Crawford

Scott’s Review #1,534

Reviewed May 25, 2026

Grade: B

Joan Crawford, legendary Hollywood screen star, appears in Berserk! (1968), a British horror-thriller vehicle that was one of her last roles.

Trog (1970) was her final film role.

She portrays Monica Rivers, a ringmistress of a traveling circus in the London area. Monica is no-nonsense and man-hungry, known to bed some of the talent as she confidently hunts her prey.

As the co-owner of the circus, Monica is always preoccupied with filling seats and making money, a bottom-line gal.

Following the suspicious ‘accidental’ death of a tightrope walker, Rivers is pleased to see her profits increase because of the drama. She soon hires handsome Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin) to replace him.

But when performers start to meet gruesome deaths, it becomes apparent that a killer is on the loose. Monica must juggle pesky detectives lurking around with accusations that she may be the killer.

While I enjoyed the film, which serves as a compelling whodunit first and foremost, not to mention Crawford’s appeal, it is only moderately above mediocre.

As expected, Crawford leads the charge and gives the project her best effort. Deliciously callous and self-serving, the role of Monica is one Crawford can sink her teeth into as unsympathetic as she is.

Her many outfits are glamorous, especially given the circus setting, and her cigarette smoking, nearly a trademark, makes her look powerful.

An aging star, her romantic pairing with Hardin, young and muscular, is borderline silly since she could easily be his grandmother. Weirdly, in a couple of scenes with him, Crawford looks much older and more ragged than in other scenes, while Hardin is bare-chested and buff.

There is little chemistry between the two.

The whodunit works well, as a myriad of suspects have both the cause and the motivation for the killings.

Monica, Frank, performer Matilda (Diana Dors), and others are suspects.

A colorful yet dark circus setting is wonderful in any horror film. The peculiar yet stereotypical characters, such as the strongman, the bearded lady, and others, are incorporated, as are scenes of characters following one another or lurking in the shadows.

The mostly nighttime scenes work well.

The final reveal of the killer is startling and surprising, which greatly improves the film. There is satisfaction when a viewer is genuinely surprised by a whodunit rather than having guessed the killer from the start.

However, the killer’s motivations are lackluster and hard to believe. The sequence is also very rushed and wrapped within five minutes of screentime.

Rather than systematically kill victims off one by one, the killer might have had a sit-down conversation over tea to flesh out the issues that are the motivation for the murders.

Another perplexity is Crawford’s lack of a British accent. Having grown up in England and with the circus in her family for 50 years, Monica wouldn’t be American.

While a real circus was used for the myriad scenes involving elephants, dog performers, and others, director Jim O’Connell overdoes it to the detriment of the action.

The scenes are cute, but they slow down the plot.

Berserk! (1968) is a watchable effort largely due to Crawford’s stunning screen presence and a solid whodunit. It is hardly on her greatest-hits film reel, but it is not disastrous either.

2026 Films, Comedy, Drama

The Devil Wears Prada 2-2026

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The Devil Wears Prada 2-2026

Director David Frankel

Starring Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep

Scott’s Review #1,533

Reviewed May 11, 2026

Grade: B+

Twenty years after the box-office smash The Devil Wears Prada (2006), an entertaining and satisfying follow-up, The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026), will please fans of the original and even garner a fresh audience.

The experience is fun and largely what one would expect from a sequel. Besides a light plot twist or two, there is nothing too surprising about the film. One could almost accuse it of being a money grab or a nostalgic throwback, and they’d be right in a way.

But with the return of the original cast, and with director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna at the helm, the formula works well, and consistency and truth to the characters are maintained.

And film audiences can rest easy with legendary icon Meryl Streep leading the pack of quality actors.

Doubtful if Streep would accept a role merely for a paycheck and without a good script at hand. This lends to security for cinema fans looking for more than a mediocre sequel. As I settled into my seat, I felt confident I would enjoy the film.

It’s delightful to see Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci back at the helm.

Miranda (Streep), Andy (Hathaway), Emily (Blunt), and Nigel (Tucci) return to the fashionable streets of New York City and the sleek offices of Runway Magazine.

Stalwarts Miranda and Nigel remain at the company, while former assistants Andy and Emily, now in their 40s, have branched out into other industries (Andy) or an advertising company (Emily).

When Andy loses her job, she is offered a role with Runway, uniting with the others, much to the bitchy Miranda’s chagrin. The women playfully spar while an obvious respect is showcased.

Mixed with the humor is a dramatic storyline involving corporate takeovers, backstabbing, a struggle for control, and an interesting generational age angle.

Hathaway and Streep, in particular, have lost none of their original chemistry despite Andy now being a grown woman and an equal and no longer a minion to be chewed up and spit out.

The most fun is the knowledge that the women don’t really hate each other but share mutual admiration. They have their unique way of expressing that.

Laugh-out-loud moments occur mostly at Miranda’s expense as the rigid superstar is forced to endure an international flight in crowded coach seating and eating lunch in the building’s cafeteria, where she has never set foot.

Even though all the principal actors are wonderful, Streep is unsurprisingly the best part. The actor has a gift for flawlessly making any scene she is in something special.

As Miranda, she uses her eyes to her advantage, meshing wickedness, humor, and a burgeoning sentimentality. She’s a character audiences have previously loved to hate and now love to love.

Thankfully, since the setting is the fashion world, New York City is prominently featured and oozes sophistication, style, and a coolness. Many scenes of the characters walking down the crowded streets occur, enhancing a fresh, metropolitan Big Apple.

Impressively, the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, Hudson Yards, and the former McGraw-Hill building are used.

Gorgeous locales in Milan, Italy, the fashion capital of the world, are featured at a swanky gala and as the film’s high point. da Vinci’s The Last Supper, The Palazzo Parigi & Grand Spa Milano, and Lake Como are featured, which provides a sizzling, sophisticated feeling.

We even get to see Lady Gaga perform!

The film has laughs, heart, and a timely message about technology, journalism, and the treatment of people as aging, disposable objects rather than human beings.

In a 2026 world filled with corruption, lies, and coldness, the film gives a much-needed slice of escapism and an uplifting message of unity.

A box office hit, it also reaffirms the importance of audience connection, and I happily enjoyed the film in a full theatre.

The consensus about The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) is that while not as good as the original, it’s a quality slice of popcorn nostalgia with a terrific message.

I agree 100% with this sentiment.

2025 Films, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, Slasher

Dolly-2025

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Dolly-2025

Director Rod Blackhurst

Starring Max the Impaler, Fabianne Therese, Seann William Scott

Scott’s Review #1,532

Reviewed May 3, 2026

Grade: B+

Dolly (2025) is a disturbing yet effective slasher film patterned after the 1974 horror masterpiece The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. With grainy filmmaking, a remote, woodsy locale, and hints of inbred country folk living a secret, macabre existence, the parallels are clear.

Following the film’s viewing, it’s almost a necessity that a prequel is in the works, as many questions remain, especially among the family.

While following a standard slasher film in terms of a masked, unknown assailant, jump out of your seat scares, and characters making inane decisions, Dolly has a uniqueness all its own.

Since Dolly is an independent horror film, the low-budget nature works in its favor.

The opening sequence features a hulking woman wearing a porcelain doll mask, clutching a decapitated body. In her bedroom, she sobs with grief and appears emotionally wounded as she utters wounded, animalistic sounds.

The room is infested with buzzing flies, creating a hot summer atmosphere.

The plot then follows Macy (Fabianne Therese) and Chase (Seann William Scott), a happy couple on their way to a remote mountain-top getaway where Chase nervously intends to propose marriage.

A silly and superfluous add-on about Chase having a young daughter from a previous relationship and Macy’s uncertainty about being a stepmother, since her own mother was a shitty parent, is discussed via FaceTime with her sister.

This has nothing to do with the main story.

Chase and Macy briefly hike and enjoy the picturesque views before noticing an array of doll figures strewn across the forest and an eerie music box lullaby barely within earshot.

Naturally, since Dolly is a horror film, the couple separates as Chase goes to figure out what the mystery is all about, leaving Macy alone and both of them vulnerable.

Why they don’t go together is beyond me.

Eventually, Macy is abducted by the hulking mask-clad woman and dragged to a dilapidated house in the woods. She fights for survival after she realizes the woman intends to raise her as her infantile child.

Dolly is never a boring experience; it is divided into six chapters aptly named Mother, Father, Daughter, and so on. While the film is ambiguous, the chapters at least help the viewer ascertain that something weird is going on in the house, involving a family.

But is the hulking woman, assumed to be named ‘Dolly’, a victim herself? Why does she put Macy in a baby dress and give her a pacifier? Did she kill the decapitated body or did someone else?

Dolly is certainly nuts, but why is she nuts?

Eventually, another character is introduced who provides a shred of clarity but also raises even more questions. Why is the character bound and tied, and can they be trusted?

To offset the gruesome physical suffering and emotional trauma the characters endure, the audience can have some good, clean, slasher fun. Macy, in particular, makes one dumb decision after another, which may make the viewer scream out to the screen in comical frustration.

Seemingly countless times, Macy foregoes escape to either pause and ponder the situation, wasting precious time, or merely wounds her assailant instead of decapitating them to ensure she is safe.

There are also clichés like a character wearing headphones and blasting music, not hearing a victim’s pleas for help, a barricaded door, tripping and falling in the forest, curiously yelling out ‘hello?’, and various other devices to keep the character trapped and in peril.

It also makes Dolly seem predictable, especially as the conclusion draws near.

I wouldn’t say I was glad Dolly ended when it did, but it felt like it went as far as it could with what might be ‘Act 1’ of a multiple-film experience.

Dolly (2025) has an excellent horror vibe, great elements, and decent acting, but provides few answers to a myriad of questions.

While riddled with clichés from many past horror films, the setup is there, and the film successfully intrigues its audience enough, prompting a follow-up.