Berserker (1987 film)

Berserker
Directed by	Jefferson Richard
Written by	Joseph Kaufman Jefferson Richard
Produced by	Jules Rivera
Cinematography	Henning Schellerup
Edited by	Marcus Manton
Music by	Chuck Francour Gary Griffin
Distributed by	Shapiro Entertainment
Release date	July 1987 (1987-07)
Running time	80-85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Berserker (a.k.a. Berserker: The Nordic Curse) is a 1987 horror film in the "slasher film" genre, in which a Viking berserker serves as the killer. It was written and directed by Jefferson Richard.

Plot

According to an old Nordic legend, a Berserker was a bloodthirsty warrior who ate human flesh, forbidden a restful death and fated to be reincarnated in their blood kin. A summer camp accidentally stumbles across the Berserker legend when it arises in Rainbow Valley, an area settled by Norwegian immigrants. The camp is abuzz with rumours of a wild bear killing people in the area, including speculation about an old couple who get lost. But is it really a bear?

First, after counselors Bobby and Linda have sex, a man dressed as a Viking (and wearing an animal skin mask) roasts Linda alive on a fire. When Bobby returns, the Berserker stabs him in the head with a skewer. After Bobby and Linda go missing, the camp becomes filled with theories about who killed them. Counselors Monica and Kate advise the owners, Steven and Nancy, to close down the camp. Monica is especially concerned for her younger sister, Allie. However, they do not listen. Meanwhile, camp counselors Lesle and Shaun take their campers, Mack, Rod, Jen, Lara and Carmen into the woods. The Berserker first impales Lesle and Shaun with tent spikes before bludgeoning Mack with a mace, ripping apart Jen with hooks, crushing Carmen with a log, and choking Lara with charcoal. Rod finds the bodies and tries to flee back to camp, but the Berserker murders him with a bear trap.

Allie starts going out with Jerry, a boy in her cabin. One night, the Berserker attacks Alexis and Jack, Allie and Jerry's counselors. He hangs Alexis with a chain and pierces Jack's skull with a lawn dart. Steven and Nancy finally decide to close down the camp, but before they can announce their decision, the Berserker beheads Steven with an axe and strangles Nancy with a tape measure. The other campers in Allie and Jerry's cabin, Daisy, Alex and Nolan, bully Allie and Jerry and throw them in a mud hole. Nolan returns to help them as he detests Daisy and Alex. Meanwhile, while Daisy and Alex are having sex in a canoe, the Berserker rides up to them and beheads Alex with a paddle. An intense chase then ensues, which ends with the killer catching Daisy and crushing her head with several canoes.

Allie and Jerry tell Monica about the bullying while the killer shoots Nolan with a rifle and castrates another counselor, Billy. Monica finds the dead bodies of Steven and Nancy and she and Kate round up the remaining counselors, Karen and Emma. They tell them to find the other campers. However, the killer runs over campers Sara, Wesley, and Kevin before shooting Karen and another camper, Carla, dead with a crossbow. Emma collects campers Michelle, Amy, John, and Carlos, but the killer murders them all with a fishing spear except for Michelle, who is caught in a net and stabbed to death. Monica, Allie, Jerry, and several other campers search for the others, but find the dead bodies of campers Ashley and Shannon.

The Berserker is then finally revealed as Kate, who is a descendant of the original Berserker. Monica battles Kate and manages to impale her with a machete, seemingly killing her. Monica takes the remaining campers, Allie, Jerry, Calvin, Amanda, Nate and Nina, to safety and calls for help. Meanwhile, Kate is shown to have survived, but she is beheaded by an actual Berserker, who roasts her dead body over a fire before seeing a police car, presumably called in by Monica, and is seen grabbing his crossbow. However, it is then revealed that this was just a dream that Monica had while in the hospital, and Allie enters Monica's room. The two sisters embrace as the film ends.

Cast

• Valerie Sheldonas as Monica
• Beth Toussaint as Kate
• Sami Ruben as Allie
• Joseph Alan Jones as Jerry
• Mike Riley as the Berserker
• Greg Dawson as Calvin
• Jennifer Lawson as Amanda
• Rex Chelsea as Nate
• Stacey Stanley as Nina
• Joanne Hoss as Nancy
• Drew Perry as Steven
• Jessica Room as Shannon
• Carly Wire as Ashley
• Penny Rice as Michelle
• Marnie Keele as Emma
• Benjamin Lyle as John
• Lynette Wire as Amy
• Charles Simmons as Carlos
• Beth Gibb as Karen
• Lisa Wrang as Carla
• Jeffrey Pimento as Kevin
• John Kay as Wesley
• Paige Rumor as Sara
• David Garrett as Nolan
• Paul Mason as Billy
• Jessica Brady as Daisy
• Frank Simone as Alex
• Tyler Makin as Jack
• Stanley Wire as Rod
• Ine Margano as Lara
• Josephine Kennedy as Carmen
• Mamie Dallas as Jen
• Davis Mulner as Mack
• Kylie Manners as Lesle
• Thom Grady as Shaun
• Dylan Mars as Bobby
• Kami Wire as Linda
• Seanna Buruss as Pam
• Gregory Lapine as Jim
• June Fleur as Summer (voice)
• Sammy Grey as Police Officer
• Kylie Shane as Paramedic

External links

• Berserker at IMDb
• Berserker at AllMovie