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All right, confession: I have a ton of irrational fears-socializing, concussions, claymation, Raggedy Ann-but clowns have never gotten to me. It's to the point where I, an easily jump-scared person, laughed my way through a haunted house last year because every other scare was a creepy clown. That said, I still feel this movie lives up to its hype, and to the title itself. More than that... it tells a great story.

In that regard, most of the film's success can be accredited to its protagonist, Ms. Sienna Shaw, whose strength comes down to both excellent character writing and a stellar performance by Lauren LaVera. This film is all about Sienna, who finds herself pursued for unknown reasons by an (un)surprisingly still-living, and still demented, Art the Clown a year after his rampage in the first film. Viewers really get to know Sienna and her family, from their grief over their father's recent passing to Sienna's talents, mental struggles, and loving dynamic with her brother Jonathan. Stories about siblings always speak to me. While the script behind it is not spectacular, the storytelling is straightforward, yet ambiguous enough to keep you guessing. And throughout, LaVera shines, particularly in wordless moments of panic, pain, and grief. Seeing Sienna find her strength for Jonathan's sake and her own is powerful and gratifying. But now let's talk about the part most people are interested in: the blood. The guts. There are an awful lot of entrails.

What most reviews talk about are the creative kills, which range from bloody in a semi-tame way to downright sadistic. Toned way down are Art's buffoonish antics from the first movie; instead we have a being of pure, if not still quite ridiculous, rage who tears through human flesh like fabric. Watched this movie with my dad, who all throughout kept asking, "Why is Art so angry?" Good question. The only things that saved this film from being unwatchably gory are its at-times dubious understanding of anatomy and the fact Leone's $250k budget is evident in certain effects-human skin doesn't stretch like that. Even so, I found myself listening for any out-of-place horn honks on my way to the bathroom. Just in case.

On the whole, a solid story, granted real momentum from its creative execution and a Final Girl worth rooting for. Excited to see Sienna's tale continue in the next movie... bonus points if Art's cute clown trike makes a return.

I'm a bit of a circus geek (pun quite intended), so when I learned Joan Crawford did a circus horror flick I had to watch it. For the most part, this film does not disappoint. Crawford plays Monica Rivers, a seemingly cold ringmistress caught up in a string of murders that take out her performers and colleagues and prompt the long arm of the law to intervene. As ever, the actress brings her A-game to the role, managing to show diverse shades of emotion even while tempering them under a cool, composed persona.

One other thing this film has going for it is its capacity for suspense. While the kill count is fairly low, you never know exactly when someone will die. The pacing can be uneven; I nearly docked Berserk! A star for all the random circus acts (including, yes, that poodle scene) that don't particularly move the plot along until I realized that, by the climax, there was a knot of dread in my throat as I realized someone else had to die before the scene ended. An earlier scene where Monica is chased around the dark circus at night by shadows yields a similarly unsettling effect. Variety acts lull you into a false sense of security until you remember that no one is safe. The characters will remind you of this fact repeatedly.

Outside of Crawford's scenes, that sense of danger is sometimes discussed by the characters more than it is shown or felt. The script often leans heavily into melodrama-another guilty pleasure of mine. I found this aspect entertaining, though your mileage may vary. However, the script DOES do a great job at keeping its cards close to the chest in terms of revealing who the murderer is. I'm not convinced the answer is all that plausible, but it is surprising. You will be left guessing until the very end.

Overall a fun romp. Recommended for fans of Crawford, circuses, and cinematic tension. Not everything about Berserk! Works from a storytelling standpoint, but the parts that do are hard-hitting. And when this film is scary, it is terrifying.

You *know* this thing is good if I, who loathes and fears claymation, refuse to dock it any points for the visuals. They are at times hard to look at. But, if anything, they just add to the effect.

"Opal" is what happens when you take the standard trope of characters traveling from their ho-hum lives to a fantasy world, then flip it on its head, and bash that head in once or twice for good measure. It is a story about escapism; dysfunctional families; and the desire to be loved, and to have your needs met in a world that can't provide for them. Everything in this film feels deliberately "off," from the misshapen characters to the lighting and eerie score, from Opal's happy family seen at the beginning to the dysfunctional one that lives in the spooky house across the street. By venturing into that house, young Opal will encounter three adults who each view her as their "Claire," a child who they can use to feed their own self-destructive lifestyles. Along the way, she'll start to learn why these people are the way they are, usually through weirdly catchy musical numbers... as well as learning something about herself she might just wish she didn't.

Fair warning: Those who have been victims of child abuse or neglect may find Opal a difficult watch. Though it may also make you feel seen in a way that few other stories do---and that is probably true for anyone who watches the film, not just survivors.

With a twelve-minute run time, this short does far better at crafting characters who feel human than do most full-length films. The three adults, while all objectively bad people, are just so trapped by their vices that it becomes almost impossible not to relate to them. In particular, Claire's vain and self-obsessed father stands out as a fully realized character. His song, "Mirror Man," is the most visually inventive song sequence I've seen in quite some time (and a total bop, at that), almost like being in a hall of mirrors. You don't see too many male characters that struggle with their appearance... even though feeling insecure about one's looks is pretty much a universal human experience. It's little touches like this, avoiding stereotypes, using clever symbolism and visual allegory, and drawing on the emotional core of common problems, that take this short from just another creepy animation to something that can speak to things beyond itself.

This is actually my first encounter with Jack Stauber's work, and I will no doubt be exploring more of it in the future. The songs are great... but really, the story and the characters are what I'm here for. As not to give away the excellent twist, I'll just say that the subject matter is treated with the horror and gravity that it deserves. Whether you want to escape from Opal's story or return to it is up to you. But it's well worth a watch.